Joanna Schaffhausen | ALL THE BEST LIES

Plot (via Goodreads):

FBI agent Reed Markham is haunted by one painful unsolved mystery: who murdered his mother? Camilla was brutally stabbed to death more than forty years ago while baby Reed lay in his crib mere steps away. The trail went so cold that the Las Vegas Police Department has given up hope of solving the case. But then a shattering family secret changes everything Reed knows about his origins, his murdered mother, and his powerful adoptive father, state senator Angus Markham. Now Reed has to wonder if his mother's killer is uncomfortably close to home.

Unable to trust his family with the details of his personal investigation, Reed enlists his friend, suspended cop Ellery Hathaway, to join his quest in Vegas. Ellery has experience with both troubled families and diabolical murderers, having narrowly escaped from each of them. She's eager to skip town, too, because her own father, who abandoned her years ago, is suddenly desperate to get back in contact. He also has a secret that could change her life forever, if Ellery will let him close enough to hear it.

Far from home and relying only on each other, Reed and Ellery discover young Camilla had snared the attention of dangerous men, any of whom might have wanted to shut her up for good. They start tracing his twisted family history, knowing the path leads back to a vicious killer—one who has been hiding in plain sight for forty years and isn't about to give up now.

Review:

The Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markham series is one of my most favorite series that I've ever read. The stories are harrowing, violent, and realistic. The characters are sensationally written and carry the series brilliantly. Almost a year ago, I remember reading the second book and immediately praying that my inclination as to where it was going with book three would be correct and I am happy to announce that I was right. It was a long year waiting for this book, but well worth it.

While the previous two books were mainly about Ellery and then Ellery and Reed, I really liked that this one mainly focused on Reed Markham and Ellery was almost a supporting character. Because of how the series began, it was refreshing to see Schaffhausen switch up what each book focuses on compared to many that only focus on the main character. That is why I consider these books the Ellery and Reed series and refer to them that way compared to the Ellery Hathaway series. Per usual with Schaffhausen's writing, the case with this one was personal if you follow the series, but could also be read as a standalone. When I found out what this one was about, I thought it was the best story for the third novel and really took things in a different direction instead of consistently putting our protagonist in another dangerous situation. It was emotional, realistic, and thrilling. I think there were some great secondary characters in this one and the larger cast was great because each character really took charge in serving their purpose. Ellery and Reed and their relationship was one of my favorite aspects of this book and I will never stop loving reading about them.

I kind of saw one of the twists in this one coming earlier on in the book and another twist completely blindsided me. Even the one I saw coming was still enjoyable because one thing about Schaffhausen is she will take you on such a wonderful journey with her characters and stories that it's not about the reveals or the twists, it's about the way she gets to them. Again, her writing blew me away and I was so thankful for another 300+ pages with these characters. The ending to this one was perfect and is the kind of ending where you could see this being the last sentence in the series, or opening it for a new chapter and direction if there should be another book...which I hope is the case.

Special thanks to Minotaur Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5