Brilliant from start to finish. Kat is trying to find out if her best friend Shea committed suicide, or if she was murdered. A fast paced page turning thriller the whole way through. The characters are so well described I felt I was there with them and felt an empathy with them. The twists and turns in the plot are brilliant. The ending is a total surprise and was a great ending to the story. I really enjoyed this book. I feel it really does deserve 5 stars. The short chapters added to the suspense and I got totally wrapped up in the plot. I would definitely recommend this book.

EXCERPT: 'It was the perfect opportunity to mention Shea's call, but Kat's guilt was like a gag. She hadn't even told Mack about it. Every time Kat thought about how she had ignored that call, tossing the phone aside as if Shea were a nuisance, her heart ached. She had died the next day. Alone in a bathtub. Far from home. Leaving a husband and kids and an entire community baffled and heartbroken. She'd obviously needed her friend. She'd reached out to Kat and Kat had tossed her aside. '

THE BLURB: “A brilliant examination of the shadows lurking in every relationship and what happens when you step into the darkness.” —Mindy Mejia, author of Everything You Want Me to Be

When Shea Walker, a sunny, easygoing mom, is found dead in a bathtub with a stomach full of booze and pills, the shocking discovery shatters the complacency of her comfortable suburban community.

Kat Burrows, Shea’s longtime friend and former neighbor, is hit hardest. How could a woman she thought she knew so well come to such a sordid end? What could lead happy, well-adjusted, responsible Shea to accidentally overdose on alcohol and narcotics? Or, worse, drive her to suicide?

Compelled to uncover the truth of Shea’s final months, Kat delves beneath the orderly surface of her familiar world to discover a web of thwarted desire, shameful secrets, and shocking betrayal that suggests a scarier explanation for what happened to Shea. As her carefully constructed reality begins to crumble, Kat must question every reassuring assumption her life is built upon to solve the mystery…and summon the courage and resourcefulness to survive it.

MY COMMENTS: Secrets, lies and friends. An intoxicating combination in the hands of author E. C. Diskin. We all lie, to our friends, for our friends and sometimes about our friends. We all have secrets, with our friends, and from our friends. But ultimately the secrets Shae kept and the lies she told are what killed her.

Depth of Lies by E. C. Diskin is told in two timelines, 'now', when Shae is dead and Kat is trying to find out why, and 'then', as we follow Shae to her death. Did she kill herself, was it a terrible accident, or was she killed?

Diskin ratchets up the tension and suspense as the book progresses. We see behind the facades that each of the women present to each other, to their husbands, to the world at large. They might think that they know everything about each other, but they only know what their friends want them to know.

Depth of Lies is compelling reading. It is a deftly written, unpredictable journey through the emotional entanglements of a group of women in their early 50s, women who have raised their families together, who have been there for each other in sickness and in health. Will Shae's death bind them even closer together, or will it be the catalyst that rips them apart?

A very enthusiastic 4☆.

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of Depth of Lies by E. C. Diskin for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page for an explanation of my ratings. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

Depth of Lies could not be a more appropriate title for this story! It seemed as though nearly everyone in this story had some secret, or outright lie that they were covering up, and I loved being there along with Kat as she tried to unravel the truth among the stories. In fact, more than once I had a feeling I knew how the ending was going to go only to be pleasantly surprised. This was a brilliant look at the fact that things are not always as they appear to be, and sometimes - even the happiest of people are hiding things you never would have suspected.

The characters are all diverse, from the ones we see a lot of, to the ones we only see in the background - each brings something to the story (even if we might not like their attitudes all of the time).

I think it is worth noting that normally, I am not a big fan of stories that include flashbacks as I typically find them tedious and hard to distinguish between them. However, this author did a wonderful job of blending what happened then (i.e. when Shea was alive), and now.

Overall, I am sure this story may still appeal to those who enjoy a good whodunit novel.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

I really enjoyed this book and the plot line. There was lots of intrigue surrounding the different characters and it made me stop and think about what could have happened / who could have done what to whom etc, which I love when reading a book. The portrayal of the characters was very good and the book was very well written. The girls changing relationships /friendships was explored and I liked how there were secrets and guilt amongst them all. I'll keep my eye out for more books from this author.

Absolutely loved it!
A Traveling Sister Read with Brenda, Norma and Lindsay!
The girlfriends are back together again. Sadly, this time it’s to mourn and celebrate the life of one of their own. Their beautiful friend Shea was found dead, alone at their favorite vacation island. How could this have happened? Is it even conceivable that she may have killed herself? An accident? Or could someone else have been responsible?
Katherine, known to all as Kat, is determined to find out what happened to her best friend. Even if it means digging into the lives of all her friends. After all, friends don't keep secrets from each other…right?
Even though there were so many players to keep track of, amazingly I had no problem. The character development was so vivid. Everyone had a distinct voice. Very well done!!
What sets this book apart from others with similar themes (groups of girlfriends), was that these women were a bit older. In their early fifties, facing an empty nest. They were still portrayed as vibrant, young and sexy. (Fifty is the new thirty!) Very refreshing!!
An absolute edge of your seat thriller. Kept me engaged and guessing throughout! Has everything you'd want in a suspenseful read. Highly recommend!
4.5*
Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and E.C. Diskin for a copy to review in exchange for an honest review.
For this review and our Full Traveling Sister review please visit The Traveling Sister section of Norma and Brenda’s fabulous book blog:
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereading.wordpress.com

DEPTH OF LIES (extremely fitting and the perfect title) by E.C. DISKIN is a tense, suspenseful, and a fast-paced whodunit mystery with unique characters and an engaging storyline that I really enjoyed.  What I found to be quite different and enjoyable about this book was the cast of characters, as the group of girlfriends were in their early 50’s and empty nesters.

E.C. DISKIN delivers a character driven and well-written read here with lots of drama, betrayals, secrets, and lies within the storyline that kept me guessing and trying to figure out what actually happened to Kat’s best friend Shea. The story is told in the present from Kat’s point of view as she plays detective to find out the truth about the death of her best friend Shea and through flashbacks from Shea’s viewpoint leading up to her death.

To sum it all up it was an entertaining, interesting, thrilling, suspenseful, and a perfectly paced read with an ending that I found to be completely satisfying and well thought out. Would recommend!!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and E.C. Diskin for the opportunity to read and review a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars! This was an addictive and suspenseful thriller that had me racing to the end to solve the mystery.

This story starts with the drowning death of Shea, a 52-year-old stay at home mother and housewife. The question is: Was it suicide? Was it an accident? What happened? The novel flips between ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ where pieces of the story are revealed through interactions between Shea’s rather large group of close friends. Even though there was such a large cast of characters, the author, E. C. Diskin, did a fantastic job keeping me right on track with getting to know each and every one of them. The character development was excellent and kept the storyline flowing smoothly.

There were a few things within the plot that I found a tad on the unrealistic side, but I was able to push them aside and just go with the story. I got caught up in the fast-paced plot and found myself flipping through the pages as quickly as possible to figure the mystery out.

This was my first book by Diskin and I look forward to getting my hands on a copy of her previous novel “Broken Grace”.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and E.C. Diskin for providing a copy of this in exchange for an honest review!!

Depth of Lies is an engaging, slightly different take on a whodunit plot surrounding a large group of empty-nesters of suburban women.

The story is told from Kat’s point of view as she is determined to find the truth to her friend Shea’s death and through flashbacks from Shea’s point of view leading up to her death. Through confessions from the group of friends and from Shea’s flashbacks secrets, lies and betrayals are revealed.

E.C. Diskin does a fantastic job at pacing this story. The story starts off slow as we get to know each character and a bit of their back stories and as Kat searches for answers things start to get a bit gritty and the tension and suspense increases till the explosive satisfying ending. I highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer and E.C. Diskin for a copy to read and review.

All of our Traveling Sisters Read Reviews can be found on Norma’s and my sister blog:
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereading.wordpress.com

Shea Walker is a happy, bubbly personality, part of a close knit group of friends who seemingly tell each other everything. But when she is found dead in a hotel bathtub, full of pills and alcohol no one knows what she was doing there or suspected that she was suicidal. Hers friends get together to mourn her, including Kat Burrows her lifelong best friend who had recently moved away. All the women feel guilty that they weren't there for Shea but can't believe that she would take her own life. Kat decides to find out what was happening to Shea in her last weeks and days and starts to put together the events leading up to Shea's death.

Told mostly from Kat's perspective, the novel moves from the events before Shea's death to Kat's investigations afterwords. The suspense builds slowly in this novel as Kat discovers she doesn't know her friends as well as she thought and wonders who she can trust. Uncovering lies and secrets, Kat is eventually able to uncover the devastating truth.

First of all, I enjoyed reading this novel, it was a slow burning mystery, never boring and with a good characterization, even though there were a lot of people with their own stories and secrets, and it could have been a little confusing, for me it wasn't because I had clearly in mind each character from the start.
About the plot. It was good and well developed. I don't think anybody will find out who the bad one-ones are before it's revealed and I would have liked to have some more hints but that's just me. The final part is to be read in one sitting, you can't really wait a minute more to know the outcome. I only have some doubts about the epilogue. I found it a bit sad but again that's just me, and I must admit that it was right and logical. Someone is dead. (Shea, in the first page of the book). The protagonists are her closest friends. Knowing how this happened won't make them happy, just may bring some closure to their suffering and make it possible to go on with life.
This was my second E.C.Diskin's book, after Broken Grace, and I loved this one more than the other, so I'll be waiting for her next book!

I read this book in less than 24 hours, so it’s safe to say that I really enjoyed this book!

Shea Walker is dead – this we know for certain – but how? The police and everyone else believe it to be suicide, until Shea’s best friend Kat shows up from out of town for the funeral and just won’t accept it. But as Kat digs into this mystery seeking to absolve herself of the burden of guilt and clear Shea’s name – she finds that Shea had many secrets. And she’s not the only one. Depth of Lies is a great whodunit style mystery with a lot of drama that really delves into the complexities of marriage and friendships!

These ladies are in a new stage of life where (most) of their children have just left the nest for college. This has brought new focus to their maybe neglected marriages for some of them. Who are they now as wives and friends, rather than mothers? Even though this is not the stage of life I am in now, I found that the author did an amazing job of making me relate to and feel really invested in the main characters and their lives.

I really had no clue what actually happened to Shea until the end – I suspected each possibility in turn. And I loved that! I had to keep reading – I had to know! Did she really kill herself? Was it someone else? Was it her? Was it him?

Wonderful book! In the vein of Liane Moriarty.

Why YOU need THIS book:
Lots of drama
Whodunit mystery
Characters that feel real and that you’ll love and love to hate

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of DEPTH OF LIES in exchange for my honest review.

Oh how I wanted this to be a 5 star book. The story was part women's fiction novel mixed with a bit of a cozy mystery feel. I kept thinking of Desperate Housewives while I read through it. If you enjoyed that show, you will enjoy the drama that unfolds in this novel. There was scandal, and secrets, and so much deceit. The ending fizzled a little for me so that is why it didn't get the entire 5 stars. That said, I still think this book is worth the read.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, E. C. Diskin, and Thomas & Mercer publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

This is an excellent novel, portraying the honest friendship possible between women, and the damage that even the smallest deception can escalate and break hearts. The mystery remains well hidden until the end, and the love and lives of these neighborhood families warms your heart. Diskin is an author I will follow.

A group of friends come together after one of their own is found in a B and B bath tub dead with her belly full of booze and pills. As everyone is ready to dismiss the Shea’s death as suicide, Kat is unable to shake the feeling that something else entirely is going on here and she cannot leave back home until she finds the truth.

This was an interesting read, the story follows Kat as she tries to unfold the lies and get to the bottom of the truth to what really happened to her best friend and we also get to see Shea’s part of the story with the events leading up to the death with the big collision that reveals everything in the end.

I really enjoyed this format. I think it was easy to follow and it made the book hard to put down. The storyline was interesting and it kept my attention. The friends had a lot of skeletons in their closet and it was interesting to see how a tragedy could reveal some very dirty laundry.

I liked how loyal Kat was to her friend and that she did not believe that Shea would kill herself and stuck with her gut feeling. I did find that her loyalty could be felt as overwhelming at times because she was really prying into some personal things and re-opening really fresh wounds.

I was also struggling with how open Kat was at times. I understand that she had no reason to suspect any of her friends, but she basically kept telling everyone what she learned of Shea and some of the dirty secrets including to her widowed husband. I felt like at times she didn’t even understand the damage she could be causing, especially to Shea’s husband Ryan due to all the things he didn’t know about his wife and it was like rubbing salt on an open wound. Regardless, in the end that is probably the only thing that saved her life when the mystery was unrevealed.

Overall, an interesting read, fast paced and easy to follow. The ending was definitely not what I expected, so there is a twist.

This is my second book by this author and I have been very impressed with both. This book starts with Shea Walker found dead in a bathtub in a bed and breakfast. Was it suicide or something more sinister? Enter Kat, Shea's close friend and long time neighbor who does not believe Shea would ever commit suicide and thus starts trying to find answers.

How well do you know your friends? So many secrets, so many lies. Who is telling the truth? This was a well written, engaging story and I will look for more from this author! A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

3.5 stars - I enjoyed Diskin's previous book Broken Grace so I was looking forward to reading this one. It took me a minute to get into the book because it was hard to keep track of the group of girls. As the story continued I enjoyed myself and wanted to keep reading but it was less of a "thriller" than I anticipated and I didn't find the twists very shocking. I found it had a similar feel to books like Big Little Lies, so it was good but didn't make me race to turn the page. I wish we could give half stars since I found this book better than 3 stars but couldn't quite round up to 4 stars.

Kat and her husband have recently moved away from their friends and neighbours but returns for the funeral of her friend Shea Walker who died alone and Kat thinks there is more to her death than just an accidental drowning in a bath. This book takes in the complex relationships between friends, neighbours, spouses, infidelity and lust, moving backwards and forwards through time as the author expertly spins the story. A wonderful tale that had me guessing til the end as to what had happened. A pleasure to read.

Not as much mystery as the unfolding of relationships among several women friends. A few stretches of credibility but the feelings, understandings & misunderstandings along the way rang true and authentic.
We all think we know and what the 'real' scandal is, choose to react based on false assumptions with a variety of outcomes- some tragic.
Nice to read,, characters we may all recognize, behaviors we all share.

*** Actually 4.5 stars **** Just spent a rainy Saturday afternoon totally engrossed in this book.

Shea Walker, an outgoing suburban mom, has been found dead in a bathtub in a B&B, her death rocking her circle of close female friends. Was it suicide? An accident? Or even something more sinister. Should they have known something was wrong?

Her friend, Kat, starts asking questions, mainly to assuage her guilt for not being around. But appearances aren't what they seem. Uncovering a web of lies and secrets, she begins to question how well she knew her friends. And who is telling her the truth.

Excellent thiller. recommended!