cover image Tell Me

Tell Me

Lisa Jackson. Kensington, $25 (416p) ISBN 978-0-7582-5858-8

A case that true crime author Nikki Gillette is considering for her next book strikes too close to home in bestseller Jackson’s loosely constructed third romantic suspense novel set in Savannah, Ga. (after 2004’s The Morning After). Notorious Blondell O’Henry was convicted 20 years earlier of killing her pregnant teenage daughter, Amity, and seriously wounding her two younger children, Niall, then eight, whose testimony was key to the prosecution, and Blythe, then five. Now Niall recants his testimony, which means Blondell may soon be free. Amity was Nikki’s best friend, and Nikki’s uncle was Blondell’s lawyer. Now Nikki’s fiancé, Det. Pierce Reed, and his police partner are charged with reviewing the evidence against Blondell. As Nikki probes the O’Henry family past, she encounters people, both sleazy and respectable, with secrets—and someone who’s willing to kill to keep those secrets hidden. Readers new to Jackson should be prepared for cliché-ridden prose and strained plotting. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (July)