Review: Never Tell by Lisa Gardner

Title: Never Tell

Author: Lisa Gardner

Series: Detective D.D. Warren, #10

Published: February 2019, Dutton Books

Format: ARC Paperback, 416 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary: 

#1 New York Times
bestseller Lisa Gardner returns with an unpredictable thriller that
puts fan favorites D. D. Warren and Flora Dane on a shocking new case
that begins with a vicious murder and gets darker from there. 

A
man is dead, shot three times in his home office. But his computer has
been shot twelve times, and when the cops arrive, his pregnant wife is
holding the gun.

D. D. Warren arrives on the scene and recognizes
the woman—Evie Carter—from a case many years back. Evie’s father was
killed in a shooting that was ruled an accident. But for D.D., two
coincidental murders is too many.

Flora Dane sees the murder of
Conrad Carter on the TV news and immediately knows his face. She
remembers a night when she was still a victim—a hostage—and her captor
knew this man. Overcome with guilt that she never tracked him down,
Flora is now determined to learn the truth of Conrad’s murder.

But
D.D. and Flora are about to discover that in this case the truth is a
devilishly elusive thing. As layer by layer they peel away the
half-truths and outright lies, they wonder: How many secrets can one
family have?

My thoughts: This is the 10th book in the Detective D.D. Warren series and I am such a huge fan of not only this series, but of Lisa Gardner’s books in general. They are such addicting thrillers that just pull you in, and when you put a tough detective together with a victim-turned-vigilante it just makes for a great team! 

I loved the way this story was told, alternating between three view points – Evie, who was found holding a smoking gun over her dead husband, Detective D.D. Warren, and Flora, who realizes she has seen Evie’s husband before, when she was held kidnapped all those years ago by Jacob Ness. Getting into each of these three women’s heads really gave a different perspective into what was going on as the story builds and let me tell you, it really keeps you guessing as to where things are going to end up.

Each of these three women are strong, fierce women in their own right. You might not always see it, but trust me when I say when it comes down to it, they can hold their own. These women are tough and willing to get the answers they need to figure out what the heck is going on. There are quite a few twists thrown in here and there that might just leave your head spinning, but it also keeps you flipping the pages to see where it ultimately all ends up. 

Each of these characters are fully developed and I loved that while I thought I knew where things were going, I couldn’t have been further from the truth. This is one of those cases where things are definitely not what they appear to be. This book is dark and intense and is filled with lies upon lies. And the part about the dark web was utterly fascinating…disturbing, but fascinating nonetheless.

With each installment in this series, I find myself more and more invested in these characters and I find the character development to be top notch. This is definitely a case where the books can be read as stand-alones, though I do feel that you would be missing out on so much if you haven’t read the previous books. They really do build on what has happened before – especially this book.

I cannot wait to see what happens next…I think Detective D.D. Warren and Flora Dane make a great team and I love that we have started to see some cracks in the armor that Flora has held around herself. I can’t wait to see that developed further in the next book(s).

 

Books in this series: 

     1.  Alone                              

     2.  Hide                       
     3.  The Neighbor         
     4.  Live to Tell                               
     5.  Love You More

     5.5  The 7th Month

     6.  Catch Me

     7. Fear Nothing

     7.5  3 Truths & a Lie

     8.  Find Her

     9.  Look for Me   

     9.5  The Guy Who Died Twice

     10.  Never Tell