James Grippando is one of my favorite contemporary mystery authors, evidenced by the rave reviews I’ve given to the first six books in his series starring lawyer Jack Swyteck. He creates these very intricate and improbable plots, somehow held together by the witty banter and close relationship of Swyteck with his Cuban grandmother and the inimitable tough guy Theo Knight.
LYING WITH STRANGERS is a stand-alone effort, and doesn’t feature these characters. Unfortunately, it suffers somewhat from their absence. Our protagonist is Dr. Peyton Shields, a beautiful pediatrician who is being stalked without her knowledge. Her marriage is on shaky ground, and the stalker is adept at manipulating circumstances so Shields and her husband both think the other is cheating.
As they tend to do with stalking, things go from bad to worse. Shields begins to realize something is wrong, but can’t convince her spouse that she is being stalked, at least not until the first body appears. And when both Shields and her husband are brought up on a murder charge by an ambitious prosecutor, Shields’ story of being framed isn’t going to hold water in a jury trial.
Grippando’s technical excellence and masterful storytelling are definitely in evidence here. The process of stalking and the mind of the stalker are truly creepy, and Shields and her husband’s desperation at the mounting circumstantial evidence are well-drawn. But this is one time where the plot doesn’t quite make sense.
After the ending, with its final unforeseen twist, one tends to sit back and think, “Well, that couldn’t have happened that way” or “That seems an unlikely thing to have done.” One problem may be the female protagonist, which Grippando admits in an afterword was difficult for him to write as a male. One problem may be that the plot just got to be a little too much.
It’s a good effort to try something different, but if you’re new to Grippando, go with the series character first, then try this novel. —Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BEYOND SUSPICION by James Grippando
• GOT THE LOOK by James Grippando
• HEAR NO EVIL by James Grippando
• LAST TO DIE by James Grippando
• THE PARDON by James Grippando
• WHEN DARKNESS FALLS by James Grippando
Related posts:
- Got the Look
- When Darkness Falls
- The Pardon / Beyond Suspicion / Last to Die / Hear No Evil
- Stalking the Puzzle Lady
- You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled
