Warner, March 2004, 23.95, 358 pp.
ISBN 0446529435
He has an afternoon opening that Samantha Kent grabs up because she urgently needs to talk to psychologist Dr. David Remier. She confesses to him that she wants to kill her husband because that is the only way she can escape her marriage and keep her son. David tries to talk her out of it, but soon after their second session she calls him to tell him she killed her spouse.
He rushes over to Samantha's apartment but only finds the murdered body of her spouse. Neither Sam nor her son is anywhere to be found and the police have a difficult time believing his story. When the police search David's apartment, they find one of his kitchen knives missing and that the remaining knives match the murder weapon found near the crime scene. Perhaps the most shocking aspect is that the woman who called herself Samantha Kent was an imposter. David is arrested and his lawyers must find a way to make sense of this incredible scenario since nobody besides David has seen the mystery woman masquerading as Samantha.
THE PROMISE OF A LIE is an excellent legal thriller. The courtroom scenes are full of drama and excitement and there is a surprise twist that halts the trial temporarily. The protagonist, who tended to see the best in people, learns to never again take anything at face value again; trust remains to be seen (not so subtle hint to the author). Howard Roughan has provided so many twists, turns and shocking developments in his latest crime thriller that readers will be unable to stop reading until the last page is turned.
Harriet Klausner
This report prepared by Harriet Klausner
