I have loved some of J.F. Kirwan’s previous books so I was excited when I found out he had a new book coming out.
Greg Adams, a criminal psychologist at Scotland Yard, specialises in bringing serial killers to justice. He tracks down a spree serial killer nicknamed the Divine, who has already killed six teenage girls and is about to kill a seventh. Greg works out the location where he is hiding and joins a raid. The police capture the Divine and save the girl, but on the very same night, Greg’s wife is brutally murdered by another serial killer, known as the Dreamer.
A year later, unable to bring the killer to justice, Greg has quit his job and is ready to end it all, when he receives a phone call from a man who tells him the Dreamer is dead, and that he didn’t kill Greg’s wife, Kate.
Greg returns to Scotland Yard to work for Superintendent Chief Detective Donaldson in the hope he can re-examine the case with the help of two new detectives, Finch and Matthews.
As Greg delves into the case further, he becomes more convinced that the Dreamer wasn’t the man responsible for his wife’s murder.
But if it wasn’t the Dreamer, who was it?
In order to solve the mystery around his wife’s murder, Greg is going to have to delve even deeper into the mind of a terrifying psychopath. And this time he might not make it back in one piece…
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I was at the same time excited and nervous when I picked this book up, I always worry when delving into a book by an author whose previous books I have enjoyed, if it will live up to my expectations. I’m so happy to say that I needn’t have been nervous at all, this is another amazing book from J.F. Kirwan.
From the moment I read the description I knew that this was a book I wanted to read, serial killers, a case that is too personal to the protagonist and the possibility that he has to compromise himself to solve, oh yes please.
The Dead Tell Lies has all the right ingredients and a perfect execution, it is tense and thrilling and at times you don’t know who to trust. Greg is an amazing character, I liked that he was every bit as clever as the killers he hunted and had the ability to really get inside their thought processes. I liked the grey area that gave him both as a character but also in his quest to discover what happened to his wife.
The team that he worked with were also great, the characters leapt off the page, especially Finch I liked her determination, her relationship with Matthews and that the trust between them and Greg is at times strained, it creates a perfect tension throughout an already suspenseful story. I wish I could say lots more about what happens in the book but I don’t want to spoil this wonderfully twisty journey for anyone, all I will say is that it is clever and will keep you on your toes.
I’m ecstatic that this book exceeded my expectations, although I am rather hoping that I will get to read about Greg and the team again, especially after that ending. In all honesty I would happily pick up anything that Mr Kirwan writes because I know it’s going to be good.
J. F. Kirwan is an insomniac who writes thrillers in the dead of night. He is also a psychologist, and has drawn upon this expertise, including being taught by a professor who examined serial killers for Scotland Yard, to pen the crime/mystery/thriller The Dead Tell Lies for Bloodhound Books. He wanted to shed light not only on the darkness of serial killers, but of those who track them down, who must inevitably step inside the serial killer’s worldview, and may not come out clean afterwards. He is also the author of the Nadia Laksheva thriller series for HarperCollins (66 Metres, 37 Hours and 88 North). His favourite authors include Lee Child, David Baldacci and Jo Nesbo. He is married, and has a daughter and a new grandson, and lives between Paris and London.
Reviews of other J.F. Kirwan books
66 Metres | 37 Hours | 88° North
everywhere-and-nowhere.com 
I have to read this book. Seeing it everywhere
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It is really good ☺️
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