Behind Every Lie

October 28, 2019
At the start of this intriguing suspense novel from McDonald (The Night Olivia Fell), artist Eva Hanson is struck by lightning near her mother’s Seattle home. Eva later wakes up in a hospital with no memory of recent events, including the stabbing murder of her mother, Kat. The detective working the case thinks Eva killed Kat, but he doesn’t have enough evidence to arrest her. Eva is sure she didn’t do it, and after she finds a shocking letter in her mother’s house, she’s determined to find out who did. The letter leads her to London, where Kat lived when Eva was a child. As her memory starts to return, Eva discovers shocking secrets about her mother and herself—and a killer may still be on the loose. McDonald weaves together Eva and Kat’s narratives, which span past and present, to create a compulsively readable and fast-paced yarn that explores the lingering effects of trauma and abuse as well as the complex bonds between mothers and daughters. Readers who enjoy character-driven thrillers will be pleased. Agent: Carly Watters, P.S. Literary (Canada).

December 1, 2019
A second mother-daughter domestic thriller from the author of The Night Olivia Fell (2019), which has been optioned for film by a major studio. Eva Hansen is greeted with the news that her mother, Kat, has been murdered in her Seattle home as Eva struggles back to consciousness after being hit by lightning on the same street where her mother lived. The police are considering Eva a suspect. A shaky but defiant Eva flies off to London, Kat's former home, to search for answers, but the deeper she digs, the more confused she gets. Her mother had some dangerous, closely held secrets, and it becomes obvious that they are painful for several other people as well, one of whom may be trying to kill Eva. Told in alternating narratives from Eva's traumatic life and her mother's mysterious past, the story twists and turns with one shocking revelation after another until it threatens to careen out of control. But behind every lie there is always a reason, and there is a satisfying ending once everyone's hand is played out(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)