Title: All the Best Lies
Author: Joanna Schaffhausen
Series: Ellery Hathaway, #3
Published: February 2020, Minotaur Books
Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
FBI agent Reed Markham
is haunted by one painful unsolved mystery: who murdered his mother?
Camilla was brutally stabbed to death more than forty years ago while
baby Reed lay in his crib mere steps away. The trail went so cold that
the Las Vegas Police Department has given up hope of solving the case.
But then a shattering family secret changes everything Reed knows about
his origins, his murdered mother, and his powerful adoptive father,
state senator Angus Markham. Now Reed has to wonder if his mother’s
killer is uncomfortably close to home.
Unable to trust his family
with the details of his personal investigation, Reed enlists his
friend, suspended cop Ellery Hathaway, to join his quest in Vegas.
Ellery has experience with both troubled families and diabolical
murderers, having narrowly escaped from each of them. She’s eager to
skip town, too, because her own father, who abandoned her years ago, is
suddenly desperate to get back in contact. He also has a secret that
could change her life forever, if Ellery will let him close enough to
hear it.
Far from home and relying only on each other, Reed and
Ellery discover young Camilla had snared the attention of dangerous men,
any of whom might have wanted to shut her up for good. They start
tracing his twisted family history, knowing the path leads back to a
vicious killer—one who has been hiding in plain sight for forty years
and isn’t about to give up now.
My thoughts: I am so glad I discovered this series and even happier that I was able to read the two earlier books before this new book came out this year. Sometimes I stumble upon a series midway – like this one and don’t always have the time to go back to the beginning, but this time I did and I’m so glad…this is definitely becoming one of my favorites!!!
I will say this about the series…while
each book does stand alone and contains a case that is self-contained
to one book, I would strongly suggest reading the series in order for
the character development and backstory. You will understand and
appreciate the main characters, Ellery and Reed, so much better if you
do so, in my opinion. Particularly in this third book, as threads do come up that were started in the earlier books and are now being fully developed here.
This latest installment really focuses on Reed digging into his own background. There is one cold case that has always bothered him and he is determined to finally get some answers – what really happened to his birth mother. And who better to help him with this case than Ellery.
I love this mismatched pair. I think they balance each other so well. And in this case, he really needs her for more than just the case work…he needs her support as a friend as well because this case isn’t going to be an easy one. But it turns out that Reed isn’t the only one dealing with family issues while they work this case. Ellery’s dad is back in the picture and she isn’t sure how she feels about this.
This book is perfectly paced with just the right amount of twists and turns. Between the mystery of what happened to Reed’s mother, all the family dynamics and of course the on-going magnetism between Reed and Ellery, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I cannot wait for the next book to come out and see what is in store next for this dynamic duo!
Books in this series:
- The Vanishing Season
- No Mercy
- All the Best Lies
- Every Waking Hour – due out 2021
