Title: Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 400 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
The police say it was suicide.
Anna says it was murder.
They’re both wrong.
Last year, Tom and Caroline Johnson chose to end their lives, one seemingly unable to live without the other. Their daughter, Anna, is struggling to come to terms with her parents’ deaths, unwilling to accept the verdict of suicide.
Now with a baby herself, Anna feels her mother’s absence keenly and is determined to find out what really happened to her parents. But as she digs up the past, someone is trying to stop her.
Sometimes it’s safer to let things lie….
Review:
Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh is a suspenseful mystery about a young woman who begins to suspect her parents’ suicides may have been murder.
Anna Johnson is living in her family home with her partner Mark Hemmings and their two month old daughter, Ella. On the one year anniversary of her mother Caroline’s suicide, she receives a card that makes her think her parents’ deaths might be murder instead of suicide. Taking her suspicions to the local police, retired CID officer Murray Mackenzie who is now a civilian desk clerk, decides to re-examine the closed cases on his own. When Anna’s family is threatened and she makes a shocking discovery, she tries to convince Murray to end his investigation, but he has uncovered information that might support her murder theory.
In her mid-twenties, Anna is trying to move on from her parents’ deaths and she is coping well enough until the one year anniversary of her mum’s suicide. She was quite close to her parents, only leaving home long enough to go to university. She is also close to her uncle Billy and her mum’s goddaughter Laura. Anna’s pregnancy was unintended but she is embracing motherhood although she is reluctant to say yes to Mark’s marriage proposals.
Murray truly enjoyed his career but he wanted to retire on his own terms. He is married to his beloved wife Sarah whose lifelong struggle with mental illness has also included numerous inpatient stays in psychiatric facilities. With Sarah currently in hospital, Murray quietly looks into Tom and Caroline’s suicides and he is puzzled by a few details from the original investigations. Since he is a civilian employee now, he must rely on his instincts and good old fashioned detective work to examine the cases. Murray still has a few friends on the force who are willing to do him a few favors when he needs a little extra help. Murray quickly concludes that Anna’s parents’ deaths are most likely foul play, but he is puzzled by her insistence he end his investigation.
Unfolding from Anna’s, Murray’s and an unknown person’s perspectives, Let Me Lie is an engrossing mystery. The characters are engaging and well-developed although some are more likable than others. It is virtually impossible to guess the unknown narrator’s identity and this person’s passages are a little dark and somewhat chilling. The novel is divided into three parts and each of them have plenty of twists and turns. Clare Mackintosh brings the novel to a breathless, action packed conclusion that wraps up all of the various threads and with one final, jaw-dropping revelation, the story comes to a stunning finale.
