To Tell You The Truth, by Gilly Macmillan {Book Review}

Oh Lucy…..why do people go missing around you? First your brother Teddy when you were 9yrs old, and now as an adult…..your husband is missing. To tell you the truth….it’s time you tell the truth my dear Lucy….

What is To Tell You The Truth about?

Bestselling mystery writer Lucy Harper’s talent for invention has given her fame, fortune, and an army of adoring readers. It has also saddled her with dependents, namely her fawning husband Dan.

When Dan suddenly goes missing, his disappearance evokes dark memories that take Lucy back more than thirty years—to the day her brother vanished without a trace. That’s when Lucy began conjuring stories. The police investigation revealed few confirmed details, so she created tales to fill in the gaps, to explain what happened that day her brother disappeared—and young Lucy was the only witness.

Now decades later, with the whole world watching, Lucy’s past and present are colliding, and this bestselling author skilled in telling stories is losing control of her own narrative. 

Where is Dan? What happened to Lucy’s brother? And is the brilliant mystery writer—an expert in devising red herrings and hidden clues—revealing all she knows about both disappearances?

My Thoughts

This book’s storyline, I thought was really promising. We’ve got a cold case, where Lucy’s brother went missing 20 plus years ago. We’ve got Eliza, who is either an alter ego or a really lifelike imaginary friend. Then add to that a missing husband, who was acting really suspicious before he disappeared, and we’ve got the makings of a really interesting plot!

To Tell You The Truth is what I consider a slow burn…. There isn’t any frantic suspense to turn the page as with some of the books I’ve been reading lately. The narrative is that of the present, and then chapters that are a retelling of what happened on that fateful night that Teddy disappeared. I found the storyline in the past to be really interesting, and just told with a different voice to what we are reading in the present. Dan being missing was a mystery, but WHAT HAPPENED TO TEDDY?? That was what I wanted to know.

The writing is a bit exaggerated, but I think that was part of the writer’s intention, that Lucy is a writer and she is dramatic. The descriptions and her feelings were all very over the top. Something interesting I found was that in some instances Lucy seemed to be talking directly to us, the readers.

My rating

To Tell You the Truth has a Goodreads rating of 3.93 stars. My rating is 3 stars. I found the plot so unique and I think this book had the potential to be an extremely gripping one, but the ending made no sense to me. All the mysteries of the book, left me wanting. I have a theory w.r.t why the book ended as it did, but time will tell…..

To Tell You The Truth is available from all leading book retailers, at around R315, currently you can find it on Takealot.com for R269.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.