Val Collins’s latest release, Only Lies Remain, is a psychological thriller filled with red herrings and surprising twists. Danny disappeared fifteen years ago, presumably deserting his family after being involved in a bank robbery. When his body is found at a construction site and evidence points toward murder, suspicion falls on his wife, who believed she was receiving money from her missing husband each month. Refusing to believe her mother-in-law is anything but innocent, Aoife Walsh mounts her own investigation to prove what happened all those years ago. But no one is trustworthy, and someone is determined that long-held secrets stay buried. 

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This tale begins slowly but finds its footing a third of the way through. The author’s strong use of dialogue drives the plot. Collins’s strength lies in her characters. Each one is layered, authentic, and believable. No one is quite what they seem, and throughout the course of the story the characters’ motives and machinations are revealed. Not even the narrator, who is in turns naive and clever, fragile and possessing a hidden core of strength, is completely reliable.

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This is a classic “whodunit” in the vein of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. The shocking twists keep the pages turning. Only Lies Remain is a compelling murder mystery filled with family drama, treachery, and secrets.