Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

Another suburban noir but this time set in Eastbourne. New mum Anna Johnson is painfully working through a horrific double bereavement, after her father committed suicide by a leap from nearby Beachy Head, followed six months later by her mum. The trouble is, Anna felt they were the last people in the world to kill themselves – they always seemed so happy, positive and full of plans. The details from the police investigation are hazy and Anna suspects foul play. Unfortunately, retired detective Murray Mackenzie, who now fills a lowly front-desk civilian role and has no business to be investigating anything, is the only person prepared to take her seriously. As we begin to explore reveals from mum and dad’s past, something is definitely amiss. A warm and readable fiction, with enough suspense and twists to keep us interested and guessing. Anna is a vulnerable character, in her unstable new-mum state, her other-half a man she hardly knows, and her ability to make decisions is somewhat off. Ex-detective Murray has, of course, problems of his own (don’t they all) but does have the ring of truth about him, Clare Mackintosh having been a police officer herself, and in the end we’re glad someone is keeping an eye on poor Anna. I would have liked a bit more of the South coast setting, rather than just ‘anytown’, and there are some rather absurd happenings but, well, those of us who like a good thriller expect such things, and Clare Mackintosh is a master of her craft.