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Where The Truth Lies
By Anna Bailey
Atria Books, 9781982157166, August 3, 2021, 384pp.

The Short of It:

This story keeps you guessing.

The Rest of It:

At a party in the woods, seventeen-year-old Abigail leaves her friend Emma to hang out with a boy. The next day, she turns up missing. Emma keeps revisiting the last moments she had with her. The moment where she pleaded for Abigail not to go but Abigail always had a mind of her own and now, she’s gone. Emma’s only friend.

The community is rocked by her disappearance but small communities, ones that know everyone, also know their business and Abigail’s family left a lot to be desired. A father who drinks too much, beats his wife and children, a mother who is powerless to protect them, it’s no wonder the girl went missing. She probably ran away the first chance she got.

Emma knows better though. And as the police come up short again and again and don’t seem to care whether she is found or not, Emma begins to investigate on her own and secrets begin to reveal themselves. Did she even know Abigail? Can you ever really know a person?

There are a lot of stories out there about missing people. Especially, young girls. What I liked about Where The Truth Lies is that it’s more than just a missing person story. The level of abuse that Abigail’s family is forced to endure and the relationships they seek as a means to survive, really carried this story for me. You will care about these characters even though they don’t always make the best choices. They are flawed and damaged but I felt that the story came together beautifully given how many characters the author chose to focus on.

Well done. Recommend. Trigger warning for sexual abuse.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Watching You
By Lisa Jewell
Atria Books, 9781501190087, August 2019, 352pp.

The Short of It:

Twisty and full of surprises.

The Rest of It:

Melville Heights is one of those pristine English neighborhoods with brightly painted houses and manicured landscaping. Newly married Joey Mullen and her husband are invited to move in with her brother and his wife. Her brother and wife are expecting their first baby and could probably use the help down the line. Although Joey loves being close to her brother, she also feels like their company is not wanted and feels out of place at times.

In the same neighborhood is a good looking man who happens to be the head at the local school. Tom Fitzwilliams has this sure way of carrying himself and Joey finds herself looking forward to their run-ins as innocent as they seem, until they aren’t so innocent anymore and she can’t ignore this feeling of being watched. Tom has his own family but Joey doesn’t know much about them except that his son spends a lot of time at home and doesn’t seem to have many friends of his own.

Then, there is a murder. A woman is found dead and the details of the event slowly unfold and become more complicated as various parts of the story are revealed. There is so much more to this story than just the murder. The dynamics of family, teens, married couples and the past all collide in a satisfying way. At times I could see where the story was headed, but in the end, there are surprises that I did not see and it made for a very enjoyable read.

I’ve read four other books by Jewell, see below, but this is probably my favorite of the ones I’ve read.

Invisible Girl
The Family Upstairs
The Girls in the Garden
Then She Was Gone

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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