NetGalley Top Reviewer

NetGalley Top Reviewer
NetGalley Top Reviewer

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

The Lies You Wrote (Raisa Susanto #1) by Brianna Labuskes

 Absorbing and suspenseful crime thriller.


This is the first in a new series featuring FBI Linguist Raisa Susanto and it grabbed me from the beginning. She and her partner, forensic psychologist Callum Kilkenny, are investigating what looks like a copy cat crime from a situation 25 years ago when a son murdered his parents and then committed suicide.  In this present day case, a couple who was friends with the previously murdered are killed in a similar fashion. Since the perpetrator of the former is dead and posthumously convicted of the crime, who is carrying the torch now and why.  Could the FBI have made a mistake thinking that Alex Parker killed his parents? 


Raisa examines the language and idiolect of all involved in both cases to try and determine if previous confessions and current messages can help her and Callum find the truth. Meanwhile, the killings don’t stop. Who is next on the murderer’s list?


I confess that I had no real understanding of the term, idiolect, and the role of a linguist in crime investigation. It was very interesting to hear how Raisa worked and identified the tells that clearly indicated the author of the writing samples. The plot was also quite interesting with some really great twists along the way — some predictable and others not so much. I enjoyed being surprised and shocked. I really like the way this author writes and her use of language to express a thing or a thought. There are quite a few memorable lines and quotes along the way. 


I liked this so much that I immediately found the second in the series and have already started reading it. Highly recommend.

This is the first in a new series that should be read in order.

Genre - suspense, crime fiction, thriller, psychology, family drama

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