LET ME LIE

4 stars out of 5

If plot twists were swooshes, this book would give Nike a run for

its money. Just when I thought I had it nailed, the next chapter came along and forced me to think again.

The whole thing starts on a faulty premise: Anna Johnson's parents, Tom and Caroline, committed suicide seven months apart (each waiting for high tide before jumping off a cliff into the ocean). Anna is devastated, but she's beginning to deal with the heartbreak with the help of her new baby, Ella, and Ella's father, Mark Hemmings. She's never been convinced that her loving parents would have done themselves in, so a year later when she gets an anonymous note telling her that the deaths weren't suicides, she becomes even more determined to find out what really happened.

Needless to say, that ruffles some feathers; for sure, Mark (who's a mental health counselor) isn't pleased, and neither is Tom's brother Billy, co-owner with his brother of a once highly profitable car dealership. Despite their misgivings, Anna takes the note to the police, where it ends up in the lap of retired detective Murray Mackenzie, who's still with the department but relegated to a desk job. He's got personal issues as well, in the form of a much-loved wife who is in more than out of a mental rehabilitation facility. In fact, Murray no longer has any real authority to investigate, but something about the case piques his interest and he forges ahead while skirting official channels.

Much of the focus is on what's going on with Anna and Murray (the latter of whom I'd love to read more about). Chapters shift from Anna's and Murray's perspectives to that of an unknown person familiar with the situation, as the TV news wonks are fond of saying. Each chapter adds tidbits of new information, culminating in an exciting, and for the most part surprising, final chapter.

Notice I didn't use the word "ending;" that's because what it actually means isn't clear (I think I know, but then what do I know, really)? And if I'm honest, much as I loved the book, even though we see Anna grow more and more paranoid, some of her reactions somehow didn't seem to "fit."

But hey, it's the sum of the parts that make a whole, and this book is a whole lot of good. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh (Berkley, March 2018); 395 pp.