Lies, Lust, and Larceny, by Lisa Marie Shankles, is a satirical novella about twin sisters, Lilah and Laylah Larceny, whose retirement plans spiral into jealousy, identity theft, petty crime, Norwegian prison fantasies, and an unexpectedly strange adventure involving aliens, a mysterious cat named Dyngus, and a trip to Scandinavia. At its heart, this is a comic crime adventure with satirical and light sci-fi elements, built around sibling rivalry and the wild places envy can take a person.

What stood out to me first was the book’s sheer willingness to be odd. It doesn’t ease into its weirdness. It jumps. One moment I was reading about Dyngus Day in Buffalo, family tension, retirement, and salon life, and the next I was following a plan to use Norway’s humane prison system as a retirement strategy. That’s a bold premise, and I appreciated how fully Shankles commits to it. The humor is broad and often deliberately ridiculous, but there is an energy to it that keeps the story moving. It feels like the kind of tale someone might tell over coffee after saying, “You will not believe where this goes.”

I also found the contrast between Lilah and Laylah to be the book’s strongest engine. Lilah is more open, curious, and impulsive, while Laylah is driven by resentment and the ache of always feeling second-best. That emotional thread gives the absurd plot something real to stand on. The writing can be uneven at times, with long explanations and some jokes that land harder than others. It’s going for chaos, color, and momentum. The author’s choices are playful and unafraid, especially in the way she blends crime comedy, travel fantasy, paranormal touches, and alien strangeness into one offbeat package.

Lies, Lust, and Larceny is a light, eccentric satire for readers who enjoy strange premises, flawed characters, and humor that leans into the outrageous. I would recommend it most to fans of quirky novellas, comic crime stories, and anyone who likes their fiction a little unhinged, a little mischievous, and not too concerned with staying inside the lines.

Pages: 182 | ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C9S88LGB