The Lies We Tell

In this nuanced, thought-provoking crime novel from Edgar-winner Schwegel (The Good Boy), Chicago cop Gina Simonetti struggles to hide her multiple sclerosis from her department. If her disease is revealed, she fears losing her job as well as her ability to care for toddler Isabel, her addict brother’s child. She’s raising Isabel alone because her feckless ex, Tom Sheridan, bailed when Gina got her diagnosis. After an altercation with Johnny Marble—who’s suspected of assaulting his frail mother, among others—leaves Gina in the hospital and risks exposing her diagnosis, she becomes torn between the hunt for Johnny and her fear of being called to testify against him, which will require confessing the reason for her physical weakness. Eventually, Gina uncovers a deeper web of exploitation stretching far beyond domestic abuse. Schwegel fleshes out a slow-burning plot with compelling portraiture as she addresses larger questions about the nexus of profitability and care among society’s most vulnerable. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management. (July)