Depth of Lies

by E. C. Diskin

Overview

If you think you know your friends, think again. A page-turner of a thriller for fans of The Couple Next Door.

When Shea Walker, a sunny, easygoing mom, is found dead in a bathtub with a stomach full of booze and pills, the shocking discovery shatters the complacency of her comfortable suburban community.

Kat Burrows, Shea’s longtime friend and former neighbor, is hit hardest. How could a woman she thought she knew so well come to such a sordid end? What could lead happy, well-adjusted, responsible Shea to accidentally overdose on alcohol and narcotics? Or, worse, drive her to suicide?

Compelled to uncover the truth of Shea’s final months, Kat delves beneath the orderly surface of her familiar world to discover a web of thwarted desire, shameful secrets, and shocking betrayal that suggests a scarier explanation for what happened to Shea. As her carefully constructed reality begins to crumble, Kat must question every reassuring assumption her life is built upon to solve the mystery…and summon the courage and resourcefulness to survive it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781542045735
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	09/26/2017
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

E.C. Diskin is the author of the bestselling novels The Green Line and Broken Grace. She lives outside Chicago with her family. Find out more about E.C. and her work at www.ecdiskin.com.

Editorial Reviews

2017-08-01
A woman's search for answers after her friend is found dead in a bathtub uncovers secrets and lies in this novel. Kat Burrows recently moved to Texas with her husband, Mack, leaving behind their group of friends in Maple Park, a leafy Chicago suburb. Three months later, she's returning for one friend's funeral: Shea Walker, who always seemed sunny, helpful, and easygoing, drowned in a lakeside B&B's bathtub with alcohol and painkillers in her stomach. Suicide doesn't seem likely, but that possibility haunts Kat, because Shea phoned her the night before she died, and Kat didn't take the call. After the funeral, Shea's old friends talk about how she was always there for them. Determined to know more, Kat starts asking questions and learns some disturbing facts: that Shea was planning to leave her husband, who was cheating on her; that Shea was talking to a man in a bar the night she died who disappeared; and that Shea may have had an affair that destroyed another marriage. Confessions from friends and flashbacks from Shea's point of view reveal the cracks in multiple marriages, and slowly clarify the story of what really happened the night she died. Kat perseveres to discover the explosive truth. Diskin (Broken Grace, 2015, etc.) is an able writer, delivering a well-orchestrated plot that offers some surprises, as well as increased tension in its final pages. However, her style seems overly slick at times, with characterizations that have the artificial feel of a house that's been carefully staged for a magazine spread: "Shea was the go-to volunteer—be it at the kids' schools, fund-raisers, or block parties—to stand atop the nearest furniture or finger whistle until a crowd was tamed, usually offering a silly pose or brief dance while she had everyone's attention." However, as the ongoing investigation cracks these façades, the tone becomes grittier and more effective. A sometimes-glib mystery that's at its best when it explores what lies beneath the surface of suburbia.

Kirkus Reviews

Diskin deliver[s] a well-orchestrated plot that offers some surprises, as well as increased tension in its final pages…[Depth of Lies is] at its best when it explores what lies beneath the surface of suburbia.” —Kirkus Reviews

 

“Depth of Lies is a fun mystery that starts out as a good read and builds momentum as it moves along, achieving can’t-put-it-down, page-turner status as it builds to a great climax. Its plot is pleasingly complex and beyond the mystery, and its characters let us explore the trials and tribulations faced by many women in their fifties. E.C. Diskin has created a reading experience that is both pulse-pounding and intellectually engaging.” —Windy City Reviews

 

“Fans looking for a twist on classic mysteries and thrillers will find Depth of Lies to be an unexpected favorite. Readers hungry for a different perspective on whodunits will find plenty to love.” —BestThrillers.com

 

“In her third thriller, E.C. Diskin shifts her focus to the loyalties and lies that emerge among a close-knit group of friends when one of them suddenly dies…A brilliant examination of the shadows lurking in every relationship and what happens when you step into the darkness.” —Mindy Mejia, bestselling author of Everything You Want Me To Be

 

“Fans of E.C. Diskin’s thrillers will cheer her foray into domestic suspense with this juicy mystery…You won’t want to miss this one!” —Emily Carpenter, bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls and The Weight of Lies

 

Praise for E.C. Diskin:

 

“Diskin is a thrilling new voice on the literary landscape.” —Rick Kogan, WGN Radio Chicago

From the Publisher