Monday, March 19, 2018

Let Me Lie - Clare Mackintosh

Let Me Lie is the third book from Clare Mackintosh. I devoured the suspense and twists in her first two books and was eager to dig into this latest.

Anna's parents both committed suicide within a year. On the one year anniversary of her mother's death, someone drops a card through her mail slot. Inside is a cryptic message ... "Suicide? Think again."

Anna always questioned their deaths. The bodies were never found and she can't believe her beloved mother would leave her. She decides to check in with the local constabulary on the case. Retired detective Murray Mackenzie is on the desk, now working in a civilian capacity. But old instincts die hard and he decides to look into the case further - on his own.

Murrary ended up being my favourite character. His personal story (his wife is mentally ill) was very well depicted and drew this reader in. Their relationship and how Murray copes were some of my favourite bits of the book. He's kind and intelligent as well as being a clever investigator. Anna's emotions and mental health are also explored. However, I wasn't as drawn to Anna, despite her being the lead character. I questioned some of her actions and decisions plot wise. But on the flip side, without some of those decisions, we wouldn't have as many  questions and avenues to explore. Mackintosh does give us lots of characters that may or may not have suspicious motives, keeping us guessing.

Interspersed are italicized chapters from, well, someone. These are deliberately vague and let the reader decide who it might be. In the beginning, these missives had me thinking things were going to unfold in a certain way (one I wasn't interested in). (Sorry, being deliberately obtuse. )As these entries continue, more and more detail is added, so that their identity becomes evident and the direction changes. Clues to the past are found in these narratives.

Let Me Lie was not as fast paced as the first two novels. I found the first part of the book to be a bit of a slow burn. Things do pick up in the last few chapters and one last final twist was a real 'gotcha'!Read an excerpt of Let Me Lie. I'll be watching for Mackintosh's next book.

4 comments:

Icewineanne said...

I really enjoyed her first two books and I’m eagerly waiting to read this one. Slow starts don’t bother me as long as the payoff is there in the end. So glad you enjoyed this one Luanne.
Cheers,
Anne

bermudaonion said...

I'm like Anne - I can tolerate a slow start if the ending is great.

Kay said...

I'm glad to hear your experience with this book too, Luanne. And yours is not the first review I've read that really praised the detective. Can't wait to read this. Have a bunch of others I want to get through first, but it will still be there when I'm ready. ;-)

Luanne said...

Icewineanne - once I got past the 'oh no it's not...", I really enjoyed it.

Bermudaonion - yep, the ending paid off!

Kay - the detective was really, really good!