Bad liar by Tami Hoag

Bad liar is the third in a series featuring Annie Broussard and Nick Fourcade, married detectives who work in Bayou Breaux, in Louisiana. It follows A Thin Dark Line (1997) and The Boy (2018).  Nick is not impressed at being called out to the horrific scene of a man murdered, his face and hands obliterated by a shotgun blast. Meanwhile Annie’s first day back on the job after a horrible attack is taken up with investigating the claims of B’Lynn Fontenot, who insists that her son Robbie, a recovering addict, has gone missing. During the course of the murder investigation it seems that Marc Mercier, a popular businessperson and former high school football star, has also gone missing. Is there a link between the two?

Hoag is a master at building up suspense. She uses the swampy setting of Bayou Breaux to great effect. Her first chapter is riveting, with a brief but searing introduction to alligators in the dark waters, a mother who cannot let go and a wife who celebrates her birthday alone. It is easy to imagine the  family jealousies, the lonely wife and the small-town inhabitants clinging to the past. Domestic violence, drug addiction and jealousy are major themes in this dark mystery. The plot is clever and all strands come together in a gripping conclusion.

Nick and Annie are a formidable pair of detectives, Nick is intelligent and tough, while Annie follows her investigations with compassion. I look forward to another book by Hoag featuring this pair.

Themes: Detectives, Murder, Domestic violence, Drug addiction.

Pat Pledger