Never Lie by Freida McFadden

Hello everyone.  I hope your day is going well.

Hubby and I are old house addicts.  Not just ours but other peoples'.  We have talked our way into gobs of various old houses, some personal residences, some historic sites.  I can't help it; I'm curious and poor hubby gets pulled along to insure I don't end up in jail (which one of my sisters insists is coming any day now). One of the houses looked like ghosts would be frightened haunting it, in fact, it had been used in a haunted house movie.  Finally, someone purchased it to restore and we were right there, getting the full tour.  It was amazing inside, great raised paneling under each window.  There were a few, not open to the public, houses in Colonial Williamsburg..."gosh I'm so sorry, isn't this part of the tour?"  Then there were closed off rooms in Carter's Grove, various other James River plantations, all our neighbors' houses and then some.  Old houses are fun and always surprising.

I recently read Never Lie by Freida McFadden.  This is the author of the very popular books The Housemaid and The Housemaid's Secret. I've read, enjoyed and reviewed both.  Never Lie is about a couple that want to buy a house.  Tricia and Ethan are enjoying married life and are ready to purchase a home.  While going to see a listing, they are trapped in a snowstorm and are forced to walk to the house they were hoping to see.  Although the realtor never shows in the dangerous weather, they count themselves lucky to find a key and shelter in their possible new property.  Impressed with the grand rambling estate, they discover curious things. A light on upstairs, yet a thick layer of undisturbed dust on every surface, including the footprint free floor.  They find fresh food in the fridge, yet again, no evidence anyone has been in the old mansion, just the opposite, it has been and remains vacant.  As the story progresses, we find out that the house last belonged to a famous psychiatrist Dr. Adrienne Hale, who disappeared four years ago and is presumed dead. Despite the troubling history it is worth it to live in such an elaborate home, until odd things start happening.  

This story is told in dual timelines following the modern-day homebuyers, Tricia and Ethan, and another exploring the life of Adrienne revealing what happened leading up to her disappearance.  This story is fast moving, never really letting the reader catch their breath.  It is one of those that you gasp out loud wondering how you could have missed the amazing twists that leave you shaking your head and grinning. A wild ride and fun from beginning to end.  A classic domestic thriller.

I might be a bit more careful about seeing old houses, they may hold more secrets than I want to know!