A fire has destroyed the Garrison's summer house on Tenney's Harbor. The occupants were murdered before the fire was set. Only one family member survived, a son, Tristan. Pearl's father, the caretaker, has been blamed for allowing this to happen on his watch, and Pearl is out to clear his name.
Usually, the year-round residents don't mix with the affluent summer crowd. But Tristan, who returned to the island by himself this summer, and his friends regularly sit in Pearl's section at the club where she waits tables.
Pearl starts hanging around with them and secretly is doing her own investigating of the crime. She slowly finds clues that don't mean much, but in the end, all is revealed, and she must fight for her survival against the perpetrator.
I suspected who accomplished this crime from the beginning but still wasn't sure until the end. There are a few tense moments throughout the story, and slowly secrets are revealed. But all hell breaks loose at the very end, and I did feel my heart pounding a little bit.
I read French's The Door to January and was fairly apathetic. The Lies They Tell is much more thrilling. It is also kind of interesting that I happen to be listening to Red Hook Road, which is an adult book about life on an island community where most of the people are summer residents and the relationships they form with the full-time residents. My review is coming soon.
The Lies They Tell is a bit slow to get going but other than that, it's an easy read that teen mystery lovers will enjoy. It isn't a must-read, but there aren't enough YA mystery books, so I'll be happy to recommend this one.
Published by HarperTeen, May 1, 2018
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
304 pages
Rating: 3.5/5
Too bad this one isn't stellar, but it sounds like it has good moments. We must be nearing summer if the books are in a similar theme...
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds like one I'd like. Even if it's a little slow, it sounds entertaining.
ReplyDelete