Book Review: Tell No Lies by Gregg Hurwitz

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters and plot with awesome writing

Cons: Lost sleep

The Bottom Line:

Letters and murders

Daniel is in the middle

And must stop killer

I Have No Problem Confessing How Much I Love Tell No Lies

What’s a cozy mystery reader like me doing reading Gregg Hurwitz?   It certainly doesn’t make since if you stop and think about it.  But I can’t pass up a great story with vivid characters, and so I find myself racing through all his stand alones.  Tell No Lies is his latest and it’s another great read.

Daniel Brasher works as a therapist leading a group of violent offenders who are trying to get their lives back on track after being paroled.  One night, he goes to check his department mail, and he finds a letter telling a complete stranger to “Confess what you did or you will bleed.”  When he learns the man was brutally murdered, he freaks.  But then he spots another envelope, and the deadline is just minutes away….

One reason I find myself drawn to Gregg’s books is the compelling characters.  These people are real from page one.  Even the secondary characters come across as completely real and vivid.  Couple that with the fact that these are ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events.  I related to Daniel and his wife, and found myself wondering what I’d do in these circumstances.

The plot is just as strong.  I was turning pages as quickly as I could to find out what would happen next.  I stayed up late a couple of nights to get just a little further, and one night I set the book down at a decent hour only to find myself too keyed up from what I just read to sleep.

Of course, the downside of turning pages as quickly as possible is not savoring the writing.  It paints wonderful pictures, and I always find myself marveling at the lyrical quality of it.  And it really makes the suspense scenes perfect.  Gregg is a master at keeping us on the edge without bogging down the story.  Even as I’m caught up in things, I find myself marveling at how he pulls it off.

Obviously, the subject matter, language, and violence is much greater than in the books I normally read.  It’s a side of life I don’t always enjoy visiting in my entertainment, but it all feels real to me.  I have to be in the right mood to enjoy one of Gregg’s books, but I always find the trips worth it.

There really is no downside to Tell No Lies.  Gregg Hurwitz is at the top of his game, and if you want to read a first class thriller, you need to buy this book.