Two Lethal Lies

By Annie Solomon

       Widower Mitch Turner and his daughter, Julia, have been on the road since her birth 11 years earlier. When Mitch saves a young girl from drowning, and takes the girl to her home, the father, Tommy Blunt, offers Mitch a place to stay. Julia longs to settle down in Crossroads, Tennessee and, though Mitch has excellent reasons for staying on the road, he agrees to remain in the Blunt’s carriage house for two months, until Christmas.

The local paper runs a story of Mitch’s heroism, along with his photo, and Mitch is soon offered a job as a cook at Crick’s diner by the owner. There he meets Neesy Brown, a pretty redhead who touches the lonely shadows in his heart. Naturally, she is attracted to Mitch as well.

Then the cops arrest Mitch, claiming he is a serial killer wanted by the FBI. Mitch’s brother, Dutch, arrives in town, claiming Julia is his child, and takes her. We learn throughout the plot that Dutch is a vicious killer whose dashing charm hides the psychopath within, and that Dutch wants to destroy anything that is part of Mitch, including Julia.

But who would believe the truth from a man who has been on the run for over a decade? Fortunately, Neesy believes. Together they hope to find Julia before Dutch kills her. But will they find her in time?

The characters, especially the hero Mitch, are sensitive, yet powerfully developed. While Julia is a charming young girl, and Neesy possesses the compassion that makes her desire to believe in and support Mitch when his brother kidnaps Julia all the more realistic, the main character of this novel is Mitch. He is the ultimate, caring hero, and I want more of his type.

Two Lethal Lies is a perfect, fast-paced, solid mystery with just the right touch of romance and suspense, a highly charged emotional read, one with excellent characterization and gripping suspense that kept me turning the pages well into the night. It’s a definite keeper and Annie Solomon has just climbed to the top of my favorite authors list!