Truth Stained Lies by Terri Blackstock

Jay and his wife Annalee are going through a messy divorce and custody battle. When Jay gets an email from Annalee asking him to come over and talk without the lawyers present he takes it as a good sign. Jay rushes right over to Annalee’s. When Jay arrives a clown is just emerging from Annalee’s home. A bit confused Jay proceeds to the house only to find Annalee dead. 

Jay is soon arrested for the murder of his wife. Jay’s sisters Cathy, Juliet and Holly know that their brother would never kill someone. Nothing is going their way though when a judge grants temporary custody of Jay’s son to Annalee’s mother and brother. 

Cathy has been getting threatening letters for her blog that she writes. In her writing she has convicted several high profile criminals even though they have “walked free”.  She is determined to use her investigative powers to help find Annalee’s real killer. She has enlisted the help of Michael a private investigator and Cathy’s fiancés (who was killed by a drug dealer) brother.

Cathy’s sisters become temporary private investigators to help Michael keep track of several criminals currently out walking the streets. They all believe that the killer is somehow connected to Cat and her blog posts. Michael is determined to keep Cat safe even though she insists she can take care of herself.

When the killers next move is to try and kill Jay’s son; Michael, Cat and her sisters become desperate to catch the killer before it is too late.

MY THOUGHTS:

Not only does Terri Blackstock weave a great mystery, but while doing so she delves into her characters emotions and what makes them tick. There are so many emotional scars that Cat, her sisters and Michael are carrying around that they too become part of the story and a part of what makes the suspense and mystery even better. I have recently wondered if other people feel like me by getting so caught up in the story that you actually want to pray for the characters. I know they aren’t real, but that is the beauty of a great novel, when the characters display such real emotions and actions that you forget for a moment that they are fictional. TRUTH-STAINED LIES is a great suspense novel that kept me turning the pages way past my bedtime!

I received my copy of Truth Stained Lies from the publishing company Zondervan through NetGalley for review.