This is Why We Lied - Karin Slaughter

 This is Why We Lied - Karin Slaughter

Pub. Date: Aug. 20, 2024

She read

Will Trent, special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Sara Linton, pediatrician turned Medical Examiner with GBI, have finally married and are honeymooning at a secluded resort in the mountains.The guests must hike in to the individual cabins and lodge.There is no WIFI for guests and phone reception is not the best…and then a storm further isolates them.  When Mercy McAlpine, the manager and daughter of the owners, is viciously murdered, Will and Sara get caught up in the investigation. Good thing they are there as the dysfunctional, vile McAlpine family could care less about Mercy, the local sheriff seems uninterested in the investigation, and many of the guests appear to be harboring secrets.   

Faith, Will’s partner, characterizes the situation as “an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery with a VC Andrews twist” and that is a perfect descriptor for this dark story. It is a long book and I thought it a bit of a slow read, but there were twists, turns, red herrings, near death experiences, and some humor. The McAlpine family is particularly abhorrent and for those who need them, there are lots of trigger warnings here which, as I understand it, is not uncommon in this author’s books.  TWs include child abuse, domestic violence, brutal treatment of women, incest, substance abuse, rape. 

This is the twelfth in the Will Trent series and while the main characters’ stories progress with successive books, each one can be read as a stand alone. I started the series at number eleven.

Thanks to #NetGalley and @WilliamMorrowBooks for the DRC.

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