by Debra Webb
Release Date: September 17th 2019
2019 MIRA
Kindle Edition; 352 Pages
ISBN: 978-1488085802
ASIN: B07L6YKZHG
Genre: Fiction / Suspense / Murder
Source: Review copy from publisher
3.5 / 5 Stars
Summary
Doctor Rowan Dupont knows a serial killer is coming for her. Julian Addington has been waiting. Watching. And it’s only a matter of time before he strikes. But what Julian doesn’t know is that Rowan is ready for him. And more than anything she wants answers. How well did the depraved killer actually know her mother? And how many lies have been spun in the years since she took her own life?
Working alongside her childhood friend Police Chief Billy Brannigan, Rowan is determined to get to the bottom of her mother’s puzzling suicide once and for all—even if it means exposing an unsettling past. It certainly seems like her family’s Victorian funeral home has borne witness to more than one dark secret, but when a recent double homicide leads to an even grislier discovery, separating the truth from the lies might be the last thing Rowan does.
My Thoughts
The Lies We Tell was somewhat more intriguing than the first book in this series, The Secrets We Bury. While the first one dealt with Rowan's return to her hometown after years of working with the Nashville police as a psychological profiler, this one deals more with her sorting through the past and buried secrets as she copes with living a different life than the one she thought she would live. Personally, I liked this one better, except for the silly murder that got in the way of what would have been a really good book.
While I was not a big Rowan fan in the first book, she kind of grew on me in this one: first of all, she didn't do as many silly and dangerous things, and secondly, there was a lot less repeated introspection that went on and on. And while Rowan was still dealing with the fallout from the first book as well as the terror she felt every time she thought about Julian being free, it didn't hold her back as much and she was willing to do more things. I guess you could say she was getting her backbone back, something I would have expected her to have after working all of those years with the police. This Rowan who fought back was a bit better, even if she could be annoying as heck at times. But Billy, I adore. Who wouldn't want a chief of police who is strong enough to stand up to anyone, but who also has a sense of humour?
Luckily, I had read both the first book in this series as well as The Undertaker's Daughter so I had no problem being dropped right into the story line which pretty much picked up right after the events in the first book ended. Unfortunately, if you started with this one, you would know who did what in the first book as the author couldn't really hide it. What I liked about this one was the secrets. I am a sucker for the word 'secret' and there are plenty going around in this town. The plot moves rather quickly from one thing to another, but Julian and Rowan's mother are definitely still at the center of things. The only thing that jarred, which is why the rating is the way it is, was the murder mystery in this book. I was not opposed to the murder itself, but I really wish its execution had been a bit better as it seemed forced and contrived, just to add another mysterious twist. Not a fan of how it was done.
Verdict
The Lies We Tell was more intriguing to me than the first book, and I definitely liked Rowan a lot better. The plot moves quite quickly and there is definitely a lot happening, building to the last book in this trilogy. I do recommend you read the first book first however, as well as the prequel book, as it will give you a better understanding of what is happening. I am looking forward to reading The Darkness We Hide.
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