Lies to Tell (DI Clare Mackay #3) by Marion Todd
Genre: Crime fiction, Police procedural
Read: 30th March 2021
Published: 25th June 2021
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer…
Early one morning DI Clare Mackay receives a message from her boss DCI Alastair Gibson telling her to meet him in secret. She does as he asks and is taken from St Andrews to a secure location in the remote Scottish hills. There, she is introduced to ethical hacker Gayle Crichton and told about a critical security breach coming from inside Police Scotland. Clare is sworn to secrecy and must conceal Gayle’s identity from colleagues until the source is found.
Clare already has her hands full keeping a key witness under protection and investigating the murder of a university student. When a friend of the victim is found preparing to jump off the Tay Road Bridge it is clear he is terrified of someone. But who? Clare realises too late that she has trusted the wrong person. As her misplaced faith proves a danger to herself and others, Clare must fight tooth and nail to protect those she cares about and see justice done.
A page-turning crime thriller perfect for fans of Alex Gray, D. K. Hood and Rachel Amphlett.
MY REVIEW:
It's always a pleasure to dive into Marion Todd's series set in the beautiful St Andrews featuring DI Clare Mackay. The first two books were solid procedurals and this one is no different with something a little different for Clare to sink her teeth into. This time she had three investigations to supervise and all three were tough. A breach in security, keeping a witness safe and a murder investigation. But were they all linked?
After her sculptor boyfriend Geoffrey Dark took the opportunity to take up a position in Boston in America, Clare found herself wondering if he had also moved on. His communication was either cryptic or self-absorbed which left her questioning if they still had a future. But there was no time to ponder. A brief text message from her boss DCI Alistair Gibson averted her thoughts to the present. They have been summoned to a secret and secure location in the highlands by ethical hacker Gayle Crichton due to a security breach within Police Scotland. Faced with the formidable problem, Clare and Alistair are to keep the meeting secret and to discuss it with no one.
Under the guise of setting up a new comms system, Gayle is installed at Clare's station in St Andrews to monitor activity and identify the source of the leak. Under no circumstances is Clare permitted to reveal the real reason she is there or discuss it with anyone. Should she ignore the warning, her career could be over. Trust no one means TRUST NO ONE! For anyone, even those closest to her, could be the leak.
As they are returning to St Andrews, both lost in their own thoughts, Alistair receives word that a protected witness' location has been compromised and they divert via Perth to collect her. Tamsin Quinn, wife of criminal weapons supplier Phil Quinn, has agreed to testify at the upcoming trial against her husband in exchange for immunity. Hence her being kept in a safe house out of harms way. But it seems Phil's right hand man, Paddy Grant, has discovered where she's been hiding and now they must move her to another safe house. This time on Clare's patch in St Andrews. Clare didn't even know they had a safe house in St Andrews but Alistair informs her they have them everywhere.
For Tasmin's protection, Clare takes her back to the nick until the new safe house has been cleared and ready for her where a distraught student is trying to report his friend missing. But before he can give them any more information, he scarpers leaving the desk sergeant scratching his head. Then Clare is called to a suspicious death is Craigtoun Park where she finds a young man who had been beaten before being strangled though with little blood at the site it is clear he died elsewhere. Police on scene found his ID which revealed him to be the young man Johannes the student back at the station had been trying to report missing. At least he had left his name before his disappearing act, so Clare and her DS, Chris West, head over to his flat to see if they can question him further. But upon arrival, they discover the student Marek has not returned and has seemed to have disappeared completely. A search of his room reveals £1,000 stuffed into a pair of boots, which is a lot of cash for any student to have. But a search of the dead boy Johannes' room throws up nothing but a few expensive items that he had been in no position to pay for himself. And soon Clare and her team find themselves thrust into an investigation of money laundering using unsuspecting students to move the money around.
In the midst of juggling three investigations, Clare still manages to find time to wind down at her newly purchased cottage in a more rural area of St Andrews. She has no one but her beloved bull terrier Benjy to come home to, who she rescued at the end of her first case after moving to St Andrews a year ago, and together they enjoy walks in the crisp fresh air. In her downtime, she finds herself wondering what's really happening with Geoffrey as he appears to have made plenty of new friends in America. But she also finds herself growing closer to Alistair, who was once a thorn in her side, and the pair enjoy a quiet evening together before taking things upstairs. Thoroughly confused as to what this means for her and Geoffrey, Clare throws herself back into the investigations as Gayle reveals her work in St Andrews is almost complete. Does that mean she's found the source of the breach? And would she tell her if she had?
With her eye on several balls at once, Clare suddenly finds herself thrown into the deep end without a life-jacket with a serious error made on an invoice for police services for £8,000 instead of the £80,000 it was meant to be as her past comes back to haunt her once again, leaving her fighting for her life. Will Clare's career come to a grinding halt as a result of the error? Or will it be too late for her to save herself?
What a delightful addition to this series as Marion Todd keeps us on our toes throughout. And while I had several suspects lined up as the breach, she completely hoodwinked me on that score. I didn't see it coming but when it did, it all made perfect sense. It was wonderful to meet up with the team again and of course the lovable Benjy. So glad nothing happened to him either!
While this is a series, LIES TO TELL works just as well as a standalone and can be read without having read the first two as Todd gives us enough backstory to keep readers in the loop. However, if you want to delve further, then I recommend starting from the beginning which is always preferable with regards to a series.
A fast paced book, LIES TO TELL takes us on a merry chase with not but three investigations and storylines as we try to work out how they all link together...if at all. When the ending comes, each of the mysteries are tied up nicely however readers are left with cliffhanger regarding Clare's personal life. Which I found frustrating...lol
A solid police procedural, LIES TO TELL is an enjoyable read that I read almost in one sitting...but I needed sleep. I love the St Andrews setting, although I've never been there, I feel as if I am and it makes a pleasant change from the bigger cities like Glasgow, London or Newcastle.
I look forward to seeing what's in store next for Clare and her team, as well as for Clare personally.
Recommended for fans of crime fiction and police procedurals.
I would like to thank #MarionTodd, #NetGalley and #Canelo for an ARC of #LiesToTell in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Life (and children) intervened and, for a few years, Marion’s writing was put on hold. During this time, she worked as a college lecturer, plantswoman and candle-maker. But, as a keen reader of crime fiction, the lure of the genre was strong, and she began writing her debut crime novel. When she isn’t writing, Marion can be found tussling with her jungle-like garden and walking in the beautiful Scottish countryside.
Now a full-time writer, Marion lives in North-east Fife, overlooking the River Tay. She can often be found working out plots for her novels while tussling with her jungle-like garden and walking her daughter’s unruly but lovable dog.
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