THOSE WHO LIE by Diane Jeffrey
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I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from the publisher in order to write this review.
Emily doesn’t know why the police are next to her hospital bed. She doesn’t even know why she’s in a hospital bed. But as the memories start to come back, she finds the explanation for the pain in her head and the questions the constable is asking about her argument with her husband. The car accident. She was driving, and Greg is dead.
The suspicions of the police follow her home, along with the confusion from her memory loss. What were she and Greg arguing about when the car crashed? Is it possible she did it on purpose? The only memory that lingers is that they were talking about her abusive father, who died over a decade ago, for whose murder (or voluntary manslaughter) Emily has already served her time. But when Emily begins getting messages from a dead man, she begins to wonder if someone is stalking her–or if maybe she’s losing her mind–again…
This psychological thriller is a page-turner! I wouldn’t call it twisty, but the narrator’s constant withholding of information–and the protagonist’s possible mental illness–keep the suspense high throughout. The timeline jumps from present to past, but dates at the start of each chapter as well as a change in tense help you keep track as you read. I’d recommend this novel to fans of psychological thrillers.
Susan the Librarian 