To Tell You the Truth
The book opens with a flashback. Nine-year-old Lucy arrives at her suburban home in the middle of the night, returning from the woods where she sneaked out to watch summer solstice celebrants dancing around a bonfire. Her parents are frantic: they think her little brother Teddy must be with her, and ask where he is. Lucy says “Isn’t he here?”
Teddy’s disappearance was a shock and a scandal at the time, but Lucy thinks it’s all in the past. She’s moved away and grown up, and now she’s a famous author. She’s just finished the latest in her bestselling crime novel series; while she was immersed, her husband Dan has been looking after the household. Now he’s booked them a weekend away to celebrate the new book.
Dan announces a surprise: he’s bought them a house. It’s on an exclusive cul-de-sac near the woods where Teddy disappeared. Lucy hates the idea, but reluctantly agrees to the move. Then her editor rejects the new manuscript; she’ll have to rewrite it. Dan seems to have an agenda of his own, and their new neighbors know more about Lucy’s past than she realized.
Lucy has to decide who she can believe, and whether she can even trust her own memories.
Macmillan is a master of suspense, and the novel rises at a fast-moving pace to a final terrifying conclusion.
A former art historian and photographer, Gilly Macmillan’s writing career took off in 2015 with her first novel, What She Knew (titled Burnt Paper Sky in the UK). It was published in twenty countries, hit the New York Times Bestseller list, and was a finalist for the International Thriller Writers’ 2016 Best First Novel award. Since then she has produced a book a year, expanding her popularity with each one. To Tell You the Truth is her sixth.
Macmillan lives in Bristol, UK with her family and writes full time. She’s currently working on her seventh novel.
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