by D.S. Butler
Release Date: September 8, 2026
2026 Thomas & Mercer
Ebook ARC; 422 Pages
ISBN: 978-1662535765
ASIN: B0GXX3Z8J1
Audiobook: B0H1NL84XJ
Genre: Fiction / Mystery
Source: Review copy by publisher
3.75 / 5 Stars
Summary
As soon as he picks up the phone, Arnie knows something is terribly wrong. ‘We’ve found him. Damon’s finally been found.’ For thirty-five years, DS Arnie Hodgson believed his childhood friend was dead. But he didn’t die back then. He was murdered yesterday.
DS Karen Hart’s heart breaks for her colleague as she joins the investigation, but soon the case takes a darker turn. Burned into Damon’s chest is a vivid scarlet mark—a Victorian branding iron shaped like a scythe. Why did Damon vanish that night? And why has someone killed him now?
As Karen and Arnie track down his old friends in the small coastal town of Humberston, they become sure answers lie buried in Arnie’s past; they were all together at the fairground that summer night thirty-five years ago when Damon disappeared. And when the detectives uncover another body, it’s clear someone will kill to keep their secrets buried.
DS Karen Hart’s heart breaks for her colleague as she joins the investigation, but soon the case takes a darker turn. Burned into Damon’s chest is a vivid scarlet mark—a Victorian branding iron shaped like a scythe. Why did Damon vanish that night? And why has someone killed him now?
As Karen and Arnie track down his old friends in the small coastal town of Humberston, they become sure answers lie buried in Arnie’s past; they were all together at the fairground that summer night thirty-five years ago when Damon disappeared. And when the detectives uncover another body, it’s clear someone will kill to keep their secrets buried.
My Thoughts
Lie to Me is the next installment in the Detective Karen Hart mystery series, and this time it focuses on her partner Arnie and something that happened in his past. Arnie is the one character over whom I have struggled throughout this series, sometimes finding him sympathetic, other times having difficulty finding empathy for him although he had been growing on me as the books progressed. And while this book was full of twists and turns, I did feel like a major weakness of it was the fact Arnie was allowed to work on the case as that would have compromised the entire case.
One of the things I have enjoyed over the years with this series is the way the characters have developed this easy working relationship, where they seem to understand their roles and how important each role is to the final outcome of a case, and how everyone is made to feel important to the team. Naturally, there is a whole new cast of characters in this book for a new investigation and while I enjoyed their colourful descriptions, I did feel like the author tried too hard to make them feel distinct and sort of went over the top. So, instead of making them distinctive, it made them feel more stereotypical, if that makes sense. You know, you've got the angry cook/restaurant owner, the anxiety-ridden character who always felt left out of everything, the driven control freak, the handyman, and the history geek. Yeah, that kind of summed up how they were described in the book. To be fair, I did enjoy the characters, but I just wish they weren't made to feel so stereotypical and had their own personalities that were more quirky and distinct.
The plot moved along rather quickly and there quite a few twists and turns that I rather enjoyed. However, underneath the plot, I was annoyed at how much Arnie was involved in the investigation as there was no way he should have been interviewing people nor should he have been involved in searches and other investigative details. Arnie did claim he was completely drunk the night his friend disappeared, and everyone believed him, but why would they not remove him from the case and question that. Anyone else would have been hauled into the station for major questioning, but because it's Arnie, they automatically believe him? Shoddy police work, at best. That being said, it did take me a while to figure out the culprit as the twists and turns were good and I was constantly questioning myself and who I thought it was.
Verdict
Lie to Me had an interesting plot and I did enjoy the twists and turns very much as it took a while for me to figure out the culprit. I was a bit disappointed in the character development in this one as I felt the characters were quite stereotypical and not the usual quirky and interesting ones that we are used to seeing in this series. I was also disappointed that the author went the easy route and allowed Arnie to continue investigating while being directly connected to the case. We could have easily had chapters with him doing some investigation at home, online, or in archives rather than directly compromising a case or just allowed Karen Hart to work alone for a book, as readers we wouldn't suffer. That being said, I have enjoyed this series quite a bit and will read the next book when it releases in July 2027.
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