Photo credit: TLC Book Tours

Alafair Burke, author of Never Tell, has 2 series featuring women leads- one is Ellie Hatcher and the other is Samantha Kincaid.  Alafair Burke writes her characters and stories based on her experience as a former prosecutor. Alafair’s interest in crime stories could be directly related to the fact that when she was a child- she lived in the area that the criminal known as BTK used as his stalking ground. To find out more about Alafair Burke- her reading interests, future books and more- please visit her website, like her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

Never Tell

ISBN: 978-0061999161

Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: Harper

Purchase: Amazon, Indiebound, Barnes and Noble

Photo credit: TLC Book Tours

Ellie Hatcher is called on the scene of a posh New York townhome and finds a young teenage girl, in a bathtub with wrists slit and a suicide note- it’s hard to not state the obvious fact- that this girl, Julia Whitmire, no matter how much she appeared to have- must have been deeply unhappy and wanted to end her life. Ellie feels “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck- then it’s a duck”. However, Julia’s parents do not believe their daughter would kill herself and they call in favors and connections to make sure the NYPD is doing their job. As Ellie and her partner go back to scene- a discovery is made that makes the NYPD detectives want to question this case a bit further.

As Ellie attempts to get to the bottom of this case- was it a homicide or suicide- she crosses paths and rubs elbows with all different kinds of people- the prep school that Julia attended that has quite a distinguished alumni group, the homeless kids that Julia and a friend of hers liked to hang out with, and many others.  Ellie is still fairly convinced that it’s a suicide until the computer tech at NYPD turns up some interesting findings that show Julia may have been engaging in cyber-bullying.

With each day that passes Ellie wonders if her and her partner will unravel the strings that are tying this case. With a little luck and a lot of persistence- they find the clues that are needed to solve this case. But by the time the case is over, Ellie is left to ponder that sometimes there are no answers to the questions- and asking the questions can sometimes do more harm than good.

Traveling With T’s thoughts:

A story that starts off with the question of a suicide or a homicide would have the reader thinking that this was the major crime of the story. Not in Never Tell, though. While Julia Whitemire’s death is what sets this story in motion- it’s the way the death happens and the deep, dark secrets behind it that make this a compulsively readable book. Each time, I thought I had this storyline figured out, Alafair Burke added another twist. Enjoyable, suspenseful, and Ellie Hatcher is a great character. I look forward to reading other Ellie Hatcher books- just to see how her mind works!