Up around the moon and back again: WHO TO BELIEVE.

Who to Believe by Edwin Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow -- what an amazing ride filled with murder and mayhem!

In a small town in Massachusetts, every resident pretty much knows everyone else's business. There's Damian, a documentary filmmaker and his wife Alice. Georgia, mom to Chloe and the town's beloved minister, struggling with her divorce from Richard, who is now dating Farley, the local therapist. (And Farley has a front row seat to everyone's thoughts!) Everyone is watched over by the police chief, Max. As for Max, he is busy trying to solve the recent murder of Laurel--where the main suspect is her restaurateur husband, Simon.

This dark, dynamic story is told from the POV of many of these main characters, one-by-one. What could be a repetitive device (hearing about the same event from each person, for example) turns out to be a suspenseful one, as we get new tidbits of information here and there, slowly revealing the story. Everyone has their own secrets and confessions and there's an interesting choice to reveal a killer up front. (But do not despair, there are plenty of killers and death to go around here!)

Our story revolves around a party held for Alice's 40th birthday, followed shortly by another death. It dips back a few days before via flashbacks. This is a wild ride as so many characters are dark and evil! So much drama, so many secrets, so much sneaking around in a small town! While there are plenty of messed up folks to go around here, I found some to love, especially spunky teenage Chloe and Alice's adorable dog, Harper. The book gets a little wild by the end, maybe requiring a bit too much suspension of disbelief, but overall I really enjoyed this dark web of lies and twisted narratives. If you want a dark, complex, well-written mystery that will keep you guessing, this one is for you!

I received a copy of this book from Kensington Books and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

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