Keith Miles is probably best recognised by readers under the pen name of Edward Marston. He writes several well-received historical mysteries spanning the 11th century through to the 19th century. His website is www.edwardmarston.com
Clara Solberg’s world is blown apart by the news that her husband, Nick, has been killed in a car crash. The police assure her that no other car was involved. The one consolation is that Maisie, their four-year-old daughter, somehow survived the crash. Clara is already under great pressure, still recovering from the birth of a second child and having to cope with a mother who suffers from dementia. What she clings to is the memory of a happy marriage that was based on love and complete honesty. She is about to discover that Nick was less than honest and she will even begin to question his commitment to her.
Maisie insists that they were followed by a “bad man” in a black car but the police refuse to believe her. They point out that Nick had a number of tickets for speeding and argue that he lost control of his vehicle on a bend that was notorious for causing fatal crashes. Only when someone in a nearby house turns out to have CCTV coverage of the accident does the truth finally emerge.
The novel is largely retrospective with Clara and Nick narrating alternate chapters, each providing some piercing insights into the nature of their marriage. In the wake of the funeral, Clara needs ready cash but, when she tries to claim life insurance, she learns that Nick had cancelled the policy without telling her because his dental practice was in financial trouble. It’s not the only thing that he never got round to telling her.
Having decided that someone else was responsible for Nick’s death, Clara is horrified that anyone could hate her husband enough to contrive his death. She torments herself by looking for potential suspects, even among his so-called friends. She soon begins to wonder if there’s anyone she can actually trust. EVERY LAST LIE is a tense psychological thriller in which a woman’s life starts to unravel like a ball of wool. It might never reach the heights of THE GOOD GIRL, Mary Kubica’s best novel, but it’s a chilling study of the way that a marriage based on secrets is a potential time bomb. When it explodes, Clara Solberg’s life will never be the same again.
