Never Tell

Finished November 18

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner

This is a police mystery that has additional elements. It is part of the Detective D.D. Warren series, but we also have the presence of FBI investigators and a former victim who now acts as a confidential informant and seems to be doing unpaid undercover work. 

The novel starts with a crime with a man, Conrad, shot in his home office and his pregnant wife, Evelyn, with the gun in her hand. But she says she shot the computer, not him. And there is an eight minute gap between the first shots reported and the most recent ones. But she has a history. Back when she was a teenager she confessed to accidently shooting her father in the kitchen of their home when he was teaching her about the gun. And that case was one of D.D. Warren's as well. 

Flora, who was a victim years ago of a man who kidnapped her and held her as a prisoner for more than a year, has seen the story of the crime on the news, and she recognizes the victim from her time with her captor. What does that mean, and is she ready to dig deeper into those horrific experiences from her past. It is her that brings Kimberly Quincy, the FBI agent who rescued her into the case, and surprisingly another civilian, one who has extensive knowledge of his own. 

Evelyn has a difficult relationship with her mother Joyce, who idolized her father. Since his death, the two have grown further apart, with Joyce trying to bring her closer through the purchase of material things and Evie determined to build her own life. 

There is a lot going on here, with ties far into the past for both Evie and Conrad, and with Flora opening up those past traumas of her own as well. 

Many people have secrets, and those secrets often lead to more anguish and sorrow. Good intentions, but not always good outcomes. As the truths begin to emerge, this case takes on a different tone, and has more interesting dynamics.