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LIES THAT BIND
by Maggie Barbieri
Minotaur Books, February 2015
336 pages
$25.99
ISBN: 1250011701


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

One of the dilemmas facing an author of a series is to have each book stand on its own, and at the same time, allow the characters to grow and develop in a meaningful way without alienating readers who haven't read all the books. LIES THAT BIND, the second book in the Maeve Conlon series, reintroduces a likable, plucky heroine who is a single mom running her own successful bakery. She worries about losing her father, who is an Alzheimer's patient in an assisted living facility. Her two teenaged daughters, one in college, also present realistic challenges to which I suspect most parents will be able to relate. Yet from the opening scene, it is clear that this is one heroine with some dark secrets – she is (illegally) purchasing a gun, which sets an ominous tone and at the same time, lets you know she is not your "ordinary" single mom.

The book is well-written, with carefully crafted characters that this reader enjoyed getting to know. The plot lines left me a little dizzy, however, as there are really two different story lines: following the death of her father, Maeve searches for the sister she never knew she had, and the dangerous relationship her younger daughter has with a scumbag boyfriend. My issue was that the story lines never did seem to mesh together very effectively. The only connection I could really come up with was the book title itself. LIES THAT BIND certainly paints a picture describing the lies that families tell each other to "protect" one another almost certainly end up back-firing.

A more nagging issue for this reader was the relationship of our heroine to her father. On the one hand, Jack Conlon is described in loving detail as a supportive, wonderful, appreciative parent. And yet, Maeve was unable to tell him when she is abused and harassed as a child? That simply didn't ring true to me. Perhaps that is explained more clearly and coherently in the earlier book (which I have decided to read). It also seemed a bit of a reach that Jack would have hidden the fact that Maeve had a sister – that also felt very out of character.

Maggie Barbieri deftly brings each of the plot lines to a successful conclusion, with a pleasant blend of humor, romance, and coincidence, and with more than a touch of spine-chilling suspense when called for. Once in a while, Maeve didn't seem to operate with a lot of good sense - there were a couple of occasions when I wanted to scream at her – "don't open that door!"

LIES THAT BIND was an enjoyable read and a satisfactory entry in the cozy genre. A good sign for the author is that I enjoyed the second book of the series enough to order the first.

§ Phyllis Onstad has been a writer, editor, civil servant, teacher and voracious reader. She currently lives in the California wine country.

Reviewed by Phylllis Onstad, April 2015

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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