Never Tell

In Thriller Award winner Gardner’s nail-biting ninth novel featuring Boston PD Sgt. Det. D.D. Warren (after 2017’s Look For Me), police break into the home of pregnant math teacher Evelyn Carter, who’s standing over her husband Conrad’s dead body with a freshly fired gun in her hand. Though Evie claims her innocence, D.D. pegs her as the killer. She remembers investigating Evie 16 years earlier for the accidental shooting and murder of her own father, Earl Hopkins, and concludes that two point-blank-range shootings aren’t coincidental. Once the news of Conrad’s murder goes public, kidnapping survivor-turned-vigilante and D.D.’s unofficial informant, Flora Dane, asserts that she recognizes Conrad as a man who was acquainted with her kidnapper, Jacob Ness. Flora revisits her dark, disturbing past with the help of a true crime blogger in an effort to connect the two men. As readers unravel secrets that tie these two murders together, Gardner questions how well anyone can truly know spouses and families. The conclusion may not come as a shock, but Gardner’s commendable storytelling will keep fans eagerly waiting for the next outing for D.D. and Flora. [em]Author tour. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.) [/em]