Review of LIVE TO TELL by Lisa Gardner

Review of LIVE TO TELL by Lisa Gardner (see her website)

A DETECTIVE D.D. WARREN NOVEL

Bantam, July 2010

When Danielle was a child, her father came home drunk and wipes out the entire family, except for Danielle. At least, that is how she remembers it. Now she works as a nurse in a facility for severely disturbed children, and someone is out there murdering families in a way eerily similar to that long-ago crime.

Even worse, the evil has come closer to Danielle. A feral child, recently admitted to the facility, is murdered--or kills herself, it's not clear. And Danielle, because of her past, is suspect #1. This is the mess thrown at Detective D.D. Warren, on the first night she has any chance of getting lucky in a very long time. Also part of the puzzle is a mother trying to protect her own disturbed, homicidal child, who also winds up at the facility.

This is a superb who-dunnit mystery set in a world few of us know, the world of children with severe mental illness. The only reason I did not give this review four stars was because it was so painful to read, at times, a terrible reminder of the horrors that could befall any family. I've read many books dealing with child abuse, rape and sexual abuse, but this one had such a ring of truth about it that it really did make me squirm at times.

See more BooksForABuck.com reviews of mysteries by Lisa Gardner.

Three Stars

Reviewed 9/06/10

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