Living Lies

In this small town murder mystery, we follow Lane Kent, and Marine-turned-deputy Charlie Lynch, as they both race against the clock to solve the murder case and hopefully keep others from dying too.

I enjoy a good mystery novel, but in the past I've always stayed away from the “small-town” mysteries because the closeness of the little towns and how the characters always know the suspects is just a little too convenient for my taste, but Living Lies broke through most of those stereotypes!

To be truthfully honest, I only considered picking up this novel because it's written by an Army wife, and I'm a sucker those books right now, and it was recommended to me by my author friend Vanessa (who wrote Soldier On). Then, Charlie was a Marine wink, so I was definitely interested and I'm happy to report that it exceeded all expectations!

I loved the characters so much! All of them, they were so well done and developed, unique in their personalities, and their diversity really drove this novel forward. The “background characters” weren't in the background as much as most mysteries, and I loved that some of those characters were the ones that made big contributions to the case, because it felt more like reality than a lot of novels that like to keep only one or two characters in the spotlight at all times.

The story is good. Really good. I love to try to solve the mysteries ahead of the characters, but this one had me stumped. There were a lot of suspicions to keep you grappling for leads and even though towards the end, I had my suspect, I couldn't answer the “why?”. So Mrs. Walters did a great job of keeping the mystery all the way through to the end.

Overall, I really enjoyed Living Lies, and I'm so looking forward to the release of the second book in November, and the third, next May! I give it 4 out of 5 stars!

I received this book from the author/publisher for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

This is a LiteratureApproved.com Review.

Wow, a fun new author to follow! I loved this book!

The suspense is excellent in this. But paired with the suspense is a very good small-town vibe, which generally isn't done or is just done by a Love Inspired Suspense author with scant chance for nice atmospheric descriptions. With Lane as a small-town restauranteur, there's so much that revolves around the quieter side of things, as well.

The mystery is edge-of-your seat as a killer not only can't be found but continues to make cryptic threats and damage things; what sense does it make? This part took me a good while to sort out and kept my brain delightfully busy. It's also hard to guess how things tie in to issues in nearby Savannah and to work out what possible interest the small town could have in a possible larger crime scene.

Two other major elements, the gentle romance and Lane's struggle with clinical depression, are more than enough to make this book sparkle. I loved every moment and had a hard time putting it down to do other things. I'd read a few chapters in an ebook, but the very day my review copy came in the mail I dropped everything and read to the end while toting it around the house in one hand during chores!

Thanks to Revell for a free reading copy. A positive review was not required.