Book Review: LET ME LIE by Clare Mackintosh

Title: Let Me Lie

Author: Clare Mackintosh
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Read: February 2018

Expected publication: 13 March 2018

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2

"You never know what goes on behind closed doors."

Book Description:

 The police say it was suicide.

Anna says it was murder.
They're both wrong.

One year ago, Caroline Johnson chose to end her life brutally: a shocking suicide planned to match that of her husband just months before. Their daughter, Anna, has struggled to come to terms with their loss ever since.

Now with a young baby of her own, Anna misses her mother more than ever and starts to question her parents’ deaths. But by digging up their past, she’ll put her future in danger. Sometimes it’s safer to let things lie…

My musings:

Having loved both the author’s last two books, I Let You Go and I See You, Let Me Lie was one of my most anticipated new releases of 2018, and boy-oh-boy, this woman can write! I’m not sure how she does it, but Mackintosh has a way of drawing you deeper and deeper into the story until it is impossible to get the characters out of your head. This is a difficult review to write, since so much of the story’s impact relies on diving in blindly and letting the current sweep you away into the great unknown. I will just say that this story swirls and eddies like a deep dark water, with so many undertows that you’re never quite sure what the author will throw at you next. I love nothing more than a twisty, unpredictable thriller, and this one certainly had me totally stumped – I could never have predicted how the many knots finally unfolded!

Readers’ expectations generated by previous novels must be the most impossible, frustrating obstacle faced by any successful author. Comparisons will be made, no matter how carefully you try to make each book a completely separate entity. I admit I am guilty of this crime myself, even though I try very hard to begin the journey without expectations. But if comparisons must be made, let it be clear that Mackintosh has done well to highlight a different aspect of her writing talent in each of her books. Whilst I Let You Go will forever be in what one book blogger termed the “twister hall of fame”, with the most gob-smacking plot twist I have ever discovered, I SeeYou was a more traditional psychological thriller which featured a constant undercurrent of tension and a slowly building sense of danger and dread.  Let Me Lie is a completely different type of story altogether, focusing strongly on family dynamics, interpersonal relationships and the emotional state of the characters involved. Here we have Anna Johnson, a young woman grieving for her two parents, both lost to suicide just over a year ago. As a new mother of a baby girl, she is finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that her parents would choose to end their lives and leave her behind. When a mysterious note arrives on her doorstep questioning their suicides, it doesn’t take much to make her suspicious that there may be more to their deaths than previously thought.

Most of the first part of the book is a slow-burning exploration of Anna’s state of mind, which lays the foundations for her actions as the story progresses. I love a good dysfunctional family drama, so was instantly intrigued by the strange dynamics that revealed themselves. But no more said, you will need to read it yourself to get to the murky bottom of it all.

My favourite character, however, was not young Anna, but Murray, the retired policeman who first looks into Anna’s claim that her parents may not have committed suicide. Previously one of the best detectives on the force, Murray is now employed as a civilian at the local police station, filing reports and liaising with the public. However, his instincts for something shady lurking beneath the surface have never left him, and he finds himself irrevocably drawn into the mystery of Anna’s parents’ deaths. With his private life overshadowed by his wife’s mental illness, the investigation is also a means to escape his daily personal struggles, and my heart went out to him! Murray seems like such a genuinely lovely person, a total opposite to your stereotypical troubled alcoholic detective, haunted by demons and scarred by the darker aspects of his career. This is just a man who loves his wife, and who will try anything to make her happy.

There are a few other characters in the story, who will not be revealed here, as they contribute to much of the mystery and tension – and the red herrings thrown into the story! 

Conclusion:

I have already read some divided opinions of this book, and undoubtedly there will be many more to come. Personally, I enjoyed the story and loooooved Machintosh’ writing style, even though Let Me Lie did not manage to topple I See You off its pedestal in my favourite-thrillers list. Let Me Lie is a slow burning, character driven story that will appeal to lovers of dysfunctional family dramas rather than those looking for action-packed thrillers (even though there is some heart-pounding action featured in the later part of the book). There are plenty of twists for those readers who love surprises, but which may frustrate those who are looking for Hänsel-and-Gretel breadcrumb types of clues to work out the mystery for themselves. Interpersonal relationships feature strongly here and drive much of the storyline, and this is where Mackintosh skills really come to the fore, as she delivers real-to-life characters the reader can empathise with. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

PS: how gorgeous is this book cover! 

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.