Fictional detectives such as Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot – or even Jazatha Christie from The Traitors – can often spot a liar from just a few obscure clues. But in the real world, it’s not as simple.
“A lot of people say they can always tell when someone’s lying,” says Danielle Chandler, 38, who is doing a PhD on the topic of deception at the University of Portsmouth. “But research shows there’s just over a 50% chance of being able to accurately tell, so you might as well flip a coin.”
