Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

Anna still misses her parents.  First her father committed suicide, then a year later her mother did.  She's devastated and can't understand why her mother would leave her alone.  Anna is now a mother of her own and she wishes her mother was still here.  Be careful what you wish for...

Berkley and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 13th.

Anna thinks she sees her mother around, out of the corner of her eye, standing in the shadows when she walks by.  When she tells her boyfriend about it, he tells it is part of grief and part of postpartum.  She still thinks she sees her.

When she gets a threatening note, she goes to visit the police.  The cop she talked to is a civilian now and he can't take on the case, but she's got his interest.  He decides to look into and see if he can find something concrete that would reopen the case.

This author always works in personal relationships that are a bit off kilter in her stories.  It's not just a mystery, there's more than that going on.

Eventually, she finds out it wasn't just suicide; it was murder.  Anna thinks it's her father coming after her and her child and her mother, who faked her suicide.  Then she finds out the dead body was her father's.  So who is after them now?

With relationships going sideways, mixed up feelings in Anna, and the fear her mother inspires in her about what happened keeps your attention and makes you wonder how a perfectly normal family could have found themselves in this situation.  You won't forget this one easily.

I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Zoe has a routine for work days.  She goes the same way all the time, has her favorite seats and reads while on the underground.  She likes where she lives, so she commutes.  All is well until she looks at an ad in the back of the paper and finds they have escort services, dates and more listed.  That's not what bothers her; it's her picture staring back at her that's scary.  She didn't put that ad in; who did?  And why?

Berkley Publishing and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 21st.  

This author has a way of getting under my skin.  She creates insidious crimes that make you shiver.  She maintains the pace and the tension from the beginning of the story to the end.  And I'll most likely read her next book, too.

When Zoe notices another person in the old ads that she's seen before, she begins to realize it's not just happening to her.  The original police officer is very interested in the case but she's not assigned to it.  The new officer is not as concerned but he soon has reason to be.

Someone is creating these ads and men are paying for details.  Some are raped and assaulted.  Two of them end up dead.  Zoe has good reason to be worried.  Soon she can't even trust the man she's living with.  She has no idea who's after her but she doesn't want to get hurt.

This is a very twisted tale.  The person running the website is someone very close to her.  It comes to a death threat up close and personal.  What's most chilling is even though one person is dead, the original perpetrator is still on the loose.  This story is over but it's not finished... 

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

This story teases you, taunts you and the author manipulates you.  Ms. Mackintosh messes with your head.  It starts with the death of a five year old who was running across the street and it gets worse.  But I couldn't stop reading...

Berkley sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published today.

The child's death was a hit and run.  The mother saw nothing to report because she was trying to help her son and then shock set in.  The detectives are trying hard, but it was dark rainy evening and no one was out and about.  They have almost nothing to work with.

Jenna moves to a remote cove and lives in a small cabin.  She wants to leave behind the car accident and try to get over the pain of the child's death.  As time goes on, she finds a few friendly faces and ends up adopting a puppy.  She's even beginning to date the veterinarian.   But then cops show up and pound on her cabin door.

This story turns 180 degrees in mid-book.  I had no inkling anything like that was going to happen.  It gets even more tense when her husband from the past shows up.  Jenna has secrets, deep dark secrets.  She also has fear...

The story gets more and more intense until the end.  I wasn't sure who was going to win and how much damage would be done by the central monster of the story.  The story flows well, there are a lot of things going on, it will take a while before I forget Jenna's story.  Read it.  You won't be bored.