REVIEW: TRUTH BE TOLD, BY HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN

 

 

For Jane Ryland, a reporter at the Boston Register, it started as a story about foreclosures. But as she waits outside the home of one of the properties, she soon learns that something more is afoot. There is a dead body inside…and very quickly, Detective Jake Brogan, Jane’s “secret” lover, is also involved.

Meanwhile, back at the station, a man is confessing to a twenty-year-old murder dubbed the Lilac Sunday killing, and nobody believes him. His attorney, Peter Hardesty, gets him released, and within days, there is another killing. Similar to the cold case. What is happening? Who is lying? And what is the truth hiding beneath the lies?

Other plot lines involve bank employees falsifying cases and illegally profiting from the foreclosures.

Lizzie McDivitt works for one of the banks and was an intriguing character, but I couldn’t decide if I should root for her or not…some of her questionable actions were puzzling. Her boyfriend was definitely someone I did not like. Aaron Gianelli was one of those characters who has surface charm but little else.

Fast paced and moving from subplot to subplot, Truth Be Told kept me intrigued throughout. More questions arose as I wondered what master manipulator might be behind all of the crimes, including the murders, and as I reached the final page, I was stunned by what unfolded. 4.5 stars.