Tell Her No Lies by Kelly Irvin
Published by Thomas Nelson on November 13, 2018
Genres: Mystery, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, eBook
Goodreads
In Tell Her No Lies, a new romantic suspense novel, talented author Kelly Irvin explores the question of what makes a family—nature or nurture?—in a fast-paced race to the truth.
As children, Nina Fischer and her sister were plucked from foster care in Florida and brought to Texas by a wealthy uncle they’d never met after their mother went to prison for selling drugs. Now, as an adult, Nina loves her adopted father and wants to please him, but she’s chosen her own career path as a photographer and poet—choices state district court judge Geoffrey Fischer can’t appreciate. When she finds him murdered in his study on a night they’re home alone, she’s the prime suspect and has to prove her innocence or face her own prison term. Is she her mother’s daughter, after all?
The two men in her life want to help, each for their own reasons. Can she trust her on-again, off-again boyfriend, attorney Rick Zavala, whose political aspirations seem more important than Nina’s tragic loss? Can she trust her friend, photographer Aaron McClure, or will he use their friendship to break the biggest news story of his career?
While cleaning out her father’s things, Nina discovers a box of old letters and photos, revealing the secrets her father had been concealing for so long. When her biological mother makes an appearance at Geoffrey Fischer’s funeral and asks to be welcomed back into her daughters’ lives, Nina is even more determined to find the truth about her past. Following the evidence leads her on a journey of discovery about her father’s shocking masquerade as a law-abiding, family-loving Christian. Unlocking these secrets could prove deadly, but it’s the only way Nina will ever be able to trust love again.
This was my first book by Kelly Irvin that wasn’t an Amish story and WOW, was I impressed. While I couldn’t even begin to imagine how she would transition from being the Amish author that I’ve come to know to being a mystery/suspense writer, but I read some of the other advanced reviews and knew I would have to check it out.
Nina Fischer lives life through the eye of her camera. She is up late listening to music while she does work in the dark-room in her third floor apartment in her family’s home. She’s the only other person home when one night she gets hungry and heads downstairs to get a snack in the kitchen only to hear a noise in her father’s study. When she heads in, she finds his body laying on the floor, calls the police and starts CPR. Nina instantly becomes a suspect in this and possibly two other murders as well.
I’m not going to write a spoiler here, but I’m going to say the book is packed full of suspense, twists and turns. The characters are very well developed and I’ll admit I didn’t know who did it until the very end. I loved how the romance in this story wasn’t like one of those Hallmark love stories, all predictable and mushy (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but just not in a suspense story), but overall, I loved the way the romance worked in this story.
I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good clean romantic suspense story. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of this type of book from Ms. Irvin!
A graduate of the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism, Kelly wrote nonfiction professionally for thirty years. She studied for three semesters at the University of Costa Rica, learning the Spanish language. As a journalist, she worked six years in the border towns of Laredo and El Paso, where she was exposed to culture and language that serves as fodder for her fiction writing.
Kelly has written hard news, features, entertainment pieces, restaurant critiques, editorials, and weekly columns. Writing awards include the Silver Star Award from the Texas Mental Health Association for articles pertaining to mental health and numerous awards in news, feature, and editorial writing from the Texas Press Association and Texas Press Women.
Kelly has been married to photographer Tim Irvin for almost twenty-nine years, and they have two young adult children and two grandchildren. In her spare time, she likes to write short stories, read books by her favorite authors, and visit the babies. You can connect with Kelly on social media ~
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I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
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