#14. A Grieving Character – Eleven Liars by Robert Gold (Audible)

In 2020, as part of Hatchette publishers “secret reader” scheme, I received an advance copy of Robert’s book, “Twelve Secrets.” I enjoyed the book, so when I saw the second book in the Ben Harper series titled “Eleven Liars” pop up on Audible, I thought I would listen and see how the storyline had progressed.

 

“Journalist Ben Harper is on his way home when he sees the flames in the churchyard. The derelict community centre is on fire. And somebody is trapped inside.

With Ben's help the person escapes, only to flee the scene before they can be identified. Now the small town of Haddley is abuzz with rumours. Was this an accident, or arson?

Then a skeleton is found in the burnt-out foundations.

And when the identity of the victim is revealed, Ben is confronted with a crime that is terrifyingly close to home. As he uncovers a web of deceit and destruction that goes back decades, Ben quickly learns that in this small town, everybody has something to hide.”

 

This book starts pretty much from where the last one left off. Whilst it isn’t strictly necessary to read the first book in the series, I would recommend it, mainly because it helps to understand who the characters are, how their relationships fit together, and what issues have affected them in the first book. That said, the plot of the book is straightforward enough to follow, in chronological order, and Gold adds bit of information from the earlier novel, so you can quickly pick up on the back story without it hindering the rest of the plot.

The action starts immediately when investigative journalist Ben Harper takes a shortcut home  through the local cemetery and saves the life of a man who is trapped in a burning building. Despite Ben’s heroics, the man flees the scene before Ben can recognise him. The next day a skeleton is found in the ruins of the burnt-out building. No-one claims to know the identity of the body, or how it ended up in the foundations of the church’s community centre.

Ben’s natural journalistic nose for a story has him intrigued as to why someone who he has just saved from imminent death flees the scene, rather than stopping to say thank you. Obviously, the man doesn’t want to be recognised, so it’s almost certainly someone from the town that he might know. Once the discovery of a skeleton is made whilst clearing through the buildings remains, he can’t help himself from inserting himself into the police investigation. Who was the person who escaped the fire? Why were they there? Was the fire an accident or arson? There was someone he could turn to who could help him find answers to these questions.

PC Dani Cash from the previous novel is now newly promoted to Detective Constable at Haddley CID; she has been assigned to the case, which means the detecting dyad are back! Harper and Cash make for a likeable pair, however, as per most male/female detective duo stories, there is a romantic “will they, won’t they get together,” style storyline running though the novels.

Alongside the arson, the mystery of the dead body and the romantic dalliances, Robert Gold weaves various storylines through the novel to add questions and misdirection’s to what appears at first a simplistic storyline.

The townsfolk of Haddley are not what they seem; there are dark secrets lurking that they would prefer to remain buried. This is a book where you can trust nobody, as the title of the novel implies. Once the identity of the body is discovered, it opens a whole new can of worms and Ben discovers that there are secrets too close for comfort that have been harboured for many years.

Written in eleven parts which start on a specific day in the investigation, the novel is mostly told in short, snappy chapters, from Ben’s perspective, but unlike Twelve Secrets, which concentrated on Ben’s family history, this novel is interspersed with chapters written from Dani’s perspective, as she explores and uncovers her past. Dani’s backstory is a complex and interesting one as she begins to stumble across things from her father’s past. As Dani delves into her childhood, uncomfortable truths are brought to the surface, and she realises her memories of her early years are little more than works of fiction.

Dani’s move to CID allows us more access to her various work colleagues. Her relationship with Detective Sergeant Lesley Barnsdale opens new storylines which may or may not be resolved in this book. Seemingly unrelated themes are carefully crafted together to produce a satisfactory conclusion for this novel, but whilst one set of questions are resolved, others are opened for the next storyline in the Ben Harper series of books. Gold is rather clever in using this writing technique, as he’s ensuring his audience has a thirst for the next book in the series!

This is a book I enjoyed listening to, full of dramatic twists and turns with an exciting beginning, however, there were times in the book that the pace dropped and some of the additional storylines drained rather than enhanced the narrative. As mentioned above, some of these plotlines just seem to be the foundations for another novel. I enjoyed listening to this book and I would be more than happy to sit and read the physical book too, it’s a perfect easy read for holidays or wet weekends!

 

Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Murder Mystery, Crime, Suspense,

Release Date: 30^th March 2023

Publisher:  Little, Brown Studio

Listening Time: 9h 26m

 

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