3.8/5.0

Even though this is the 10th book of the D.D. Warren series, I was totally able to understand the story without reading the previous books.
And I know there are other books after this one, keeping the story going. I enjoyed the book; the mystery is very good, but I don’t think it tempted me enough to keep reading the series.

Evie is married and she goes home one day to find her husband dead with the gun in front of him. Her husband, Conrad, was at his home office facing his desk when he got killed. Or killed himself? His computer was on the desk and Evie shot it twelve times. From this moment, I was really intrigued to figure out why she did that. What was in his computer that made Evie so desperate to eliminate?

D.D. Warren knows Evie from years ago when Evie’s dad allegedly killed himself with a gun. And guess what? Evie was at the crime scene as well. Back then, D.D. Warren accepted that Evie was a teenager and was not to blame. But now, the story is repeating itself and D.D. Warren isn’t sure about Evie’s innocence.

Flora was held in captivity for over a year, six years ago, until her kidnaper Jacob died. She sees Conrad’s face on the news and immediately recognizes him. She had met him years ago when Jacob introduced Flora to Conrad in a bar. Apparently, Jacob and Conrad were “doing business” and Conrad knew for sure what Jacob was into.
That brings the memories of her horrible past back, but she thinks she can be helpful in Conrad’s case.

Things get even more complicated when Evie’s house is set on fire, destroying the crime scene. D.D. Warren knows there’s way more to this case than she thinks. They must collect all the information they have about Conrad and Evie will find out her husband is not the man the thought he was.

I really liked the mystery and it never got dull. I would read the previous two books to know more about Flora’s story.

This story is about women, and is written from the perspective of women. It is a compelling read, and I enjoyed it very much. Highly recommended.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.
Sergeant D.D. Warren of the Boston Police Department and her confidential informant Flora Dane combine their investigative talents to help solve the murder of Conrad Carter. This is a great series.

A man is dead, shot three times in his home office. But his computer has been shot twelve times, and when the cops arrive, his pregnant wife is holding the gun. Lisa Gardner never disappoints

So this book is #10 of a series. Going into it I was a little apprehensive being so many books previously that I may have missed information. However that was not the case at all.

The book follows D.D a Detective and Flora her CI. You find out quickly that Flora was abducted at age 20 and spends her time helping others. She is the perfect CI for D.D..

Now you have Evie who seems to have bad things happen around her. And she just seems to be the first the cops look at. She walks into her home and her husband has been shot. But it’s what she’s done after that, that makes the cops suspicious of her.

This book is a well written murder mystery with some not to realistic helpers. However that does not diminish how great this book is.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton Books for my review copy.

I didn't realize that this book, Never Tell by Lisa Gardner was the tenth book in the series. If I would have known that I wouldn't have requested it. I got confused because there was 9 other books with different plot points that I didn't know about.

My first Gardner. What I liked is that the story, even though not the first in the series was easily read as a stand-alone. Most characters had backgrounds that were easily explained and I loved that it wasn't complicated.

The story was a fun twisty ride. It had had lot of interesting characters - the run of the mill detective and a CI that is definitely broken in their own way. The evil doers, and a twisty mystery that seems to be overlapping everything. Maybe Flora as a CI had too much freedom for me (especially when the detective seemed to trust her judgement more, and gave her more responsibility than necessary) but it kept her involved in the story more.

It was an easy mystery read for me, and I still would love to keep following Flora on her journey. 3.5 rounded up overall.

Another hit by Lisa Gardner. I love her characters and the plot. This series has kept me reading book after book. It is full of mystery and leaves you wanting to finish the book as soon as you can. It is a hard book to put down. You get hooked right from the beginning and feel like you are on the journey with the main characters.

Gave it a spotlight on the Dew on 11.5.19. Have not had a chance to read it yet, but looks interesting.

RATING: 4.5 STARS
2019; Dutton/Penguin Group

I really hope that Flora Dane continues to be paired up with D.D. Warren in future novels! The two are different as night and day, but it's that chemistry and banter that make them a great match. To give mystery novels a balance of lightness, often writers will use romance or humour. Usually, Gardner's books are gritty so it is the "buddy relationship" between D.D. and Flora that adds to the balance. This relationship reminds me of Rizzoli and Isles in Tess Gerritsen's books.

Gardner is one author I am caught up with (I have read every book under her name Lisa Gardner name, except one standalone novel The Survivors Club - I have either read it so long ago I don't remember it, or I missed it somehow) and when I finish her newest novel, I can't wait for the next book! This novel is twisty turvy and also (view spoiler) While I am sure you could read this as a standalone novel, there is a lot of background stuff that may make you feel like you are missing something. If you haven't started this series...why haven't you??? lol. If you have not read any Gardner books, I would recommend reading them in publishing order as some books have characters from other novels by Gardner.

***I received an eARC from the AUTHOR/PUBLISHER via NETGALLEY***

This story captivated me from the very beginning! The book is written from the points of view of three women. DD and her unofficial assistant, Flora Dane, work together to solve this mystery. Evie was found standing over her dead husband’s body with a gun in her hand. She had shot his computer 12 times. She was also found in a similar situation when her father was murdered. Lisa Garner does a fantastic job of making the characters seem real, and moves the story along without bogging it down with superfluous information. I highly recommend this book!

I love Lisa Gardner and this book is no exception. I loved it. A woman comes home to her husband dead. She thinks he killer himself and she found things on his computer so she shot it to avoid embarrassment for him. The police catch her with the gun in her hand and now she has to prove she didn’t do it. The past comes back to haunt her when her mother made her confess to killing her dad when she was little. This was great. Yes, I knew who the killer was but it was great getting there.

My mind is.. 🤯 at the level of detail Gardner puts into her characters and the crime in her story. I still can’t believe this was my first book by her, and that I’ve missed out on so much!

Each chapter is a perspective from different characters, and it was so. well. done!!!! I could not stop turning the page and for the majority of the first half of the book, I had no clue where the story was going or how this case would be solved.

HOWEVER, I did end up figuring out the perpetrator behind the murders in this book much earlier than the book revealed, so call me Nancy Drew 🕵🏻‍♀️ BUT, this isn’t to say it was because of a fault within the story telling - the thing is... the story was so carefully detailed, so thought through, that you need to take your time reading through it in order to not miss anything, and solve the mystery! By the end.. I was in tears because I ended up being so invested in the story 😭😂

Goodness, I could go on but.. bravo Lisa Gardner! You are a master story teller in the world of crime fiction, and I am officially a big fan, and will be going to the store ASAP for more of your books!

This book was a complete surprise. I thought I had read other books by Lisa Gardner but I clearly had not.
Her wonderful wacky characters appear in other books and, after reading Never Tell, I immediately went out to get some more of her books. I wanted to know more about the personages as well as read more of her fast-paced, page turning, fascinating prose.

Never Tell starts with a bang--a wife finds her husband dead, shot three times, picks up the gun and shoots his computer twelve times. Detective Warren is quickly on the scene and recognises the wife from an early case of hers many years earlier. The wife, then a teenager, had been absolved of shooting her father-- it was an accident. But this is so similar that D. Warren starts second guessing everything. Enter many of Gardner's wonderful characters and this book winds and twists and is completely fascinating and compelling.

If you like a good detective thriller/mystery and haven't yet discovered Lisa Gardner, you will love her writing. I have to go backwards to learn more about these characters and I prefer watching them grow book by book but I'll take Ms. Gardner the way I found her: last first.

Gardner is always a good read...I'm always excited by the prospect of a new release by her, and this one was no different. Check it out!

Detective D.D. Warren and Flora Dane are back on another case, and this one hits close to home for Flora. Evie Carter finds her husband shot dead in his office and she is the prime suspect. Sadly this isn't the first time Evie has found herself standing in the middle of a crime scene. Sixteen years prior she accidentally shot and killed her father and ever since has had to shoulder this incredibly heavy burden. Secrets abound in this heart pounding novel and even when you think you know the answers you find yourself realizing that nothing is as it seems.

What I love about Never Tell is that you really get more insight into Flora and what she had to endure during her time in captivity. There are a few characters that were introduced in this novel that added quite a bit of depth.

All the details surrounding the case were utterly fascinating and the novel truly kept me on the edge of my seat. This series continues to be one of my favorite suspense series and I can't wait to read what's in store for Detective D.D. Warren.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

D. D. Warren and Flora Dane join forces when a man's death ties them together. Evie Carter has just found her husband dead and sees a gun lying there. She computer several times. This begs the question: Why?

Detective D. D. Warren recognizes Evie immediately when she arrives on scene. Several years previously, when Evie was a teenager, she was exonerated in the shooting death of her father. Is the death of Evie's husband another accident? D. D. is hard put to believe in coincidences. She not only begins an intense investigation into the death of Evie's husband, but she reopens the case of Evie's father.

When Flora Dane sees the news of the murder of Conrad Carter she is shaken to the core. Flora survived a horrid year in the clutches of an insanely abusive kidnapper. On one rare night, the kidnapper took her to a bar, and that is when she first saw Conrad Carter. Determined to make the connection with Conrad Carter and her former captor, Flora decides to investigate his murder. Working with D. D. once again is about to open up an incredible can of worms.

This story had me in knots! It was incredibly multi-layered. For starters, there is Evie and what happened to her husband. Conrad was a man with secrets. Also, there is much more to what happened to Evie's father all those years ago. Furthermore, Flora has never gotten over her past, and that certainly comes as no surprise. What is a surprise, what is shocking, however, is the connection between the man that took Flora and Evie's husband Conrad. Deciphering that connection will take quite a bit of work and reveal some painfully disturbing facts.

Although this is the tenth book in a series, but only my first time meeting D. D., I found the story quite easy to follow. Quite naturally, all attention was placed on the crimes both past and present, so becoming invested in the story presented no difficulty. Admittedly, I would have loved to see how D. D. and Flora met and I hope to one day backtrack and read the previous titles in the series.

I was captivated by Never Tell. This was a fast-paced book with more than one story. Everything blended together seamlessly and thus this was quite an engaging read.

Many thanks to Dutton Books and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

Favorite Quotes:

D.D. gave the childless detective a look. “If pregnancy hormones led to homicide, there wouldn’t be a husband left alive.”

You know, anyone will hang with the lit department, but tell someone you teach math or science, and it’s like you’re personally reminding them of every test they ever failed.

In movies, everyone loves the kickass heroine. I’m less convinced the average man wants one in real life.

I do not shoot my exes. Frankly, I couldn’t afford that many bullets.

My father was brilliant, my mother was melodramatic, my husband was a hero and a liar, my family was complicated.

My Review:

Never Tell was a cleverly crafted, maddeningly paced, complicated, and slowly developing tale with multiple POVs and complex storylines full of secrets, lies, and manipulations. Other than the recurring police offices none of the other characters were as they were initially presented; I couldn’t decide where several fell on the spectrum of good vs. evil. I spun wild theories that spiraled, flamed, and flip-flopped every other chapter. Sigh, this deviously talented author bested me, I couldn’t get a firm handle on a number of her compelling and intricately fabricated characters; they were so annoyingly slippery.

The plot evolved at a fiendishly slow pace while each new hard-won yet oddly intriguing revelation just seemed to add several additional layers of complexity and confusion and led nowhere but a new itchy and brain-teasing rabbit hole. I was fully vexed and taut with tension yet deeply engrossed and totally invested. It was exceedingly cunning, and while I should be ashamed to admit that I was so very wrong, I’m actually not. Lisa Gardner has mad skills, although she must be a bit scary to know.

Captivating, edgy & wholly satisfying!

LISA GARDNER has done it again with her latest installment to the Detective D.D. Warren series with Book # 10. This is one author I can always count on that never disappoints and always delivers such fantastic thrillers that are gripping, action-packed and packed full of nail-biting suspense. I am a huge fan and have read all of her novels to date.

NEVER TELL by LISA GARDNER (Detective D.D. Warren #10) is a dark, suspenseful, emotional and intense thriller with absolutely wonderful and captivating characters. The story is told between the alternating perspectives from three fascinating and exceptionally well-developed characters. LISA GARDNER creates such compelling, fabulous and dynamic characters that you can’t help but love and be fully invested in. I absolutely love D.D. Warren and Flora Dane! There was another character that popped in to help D.D. with her investigation and I was pleasantly surprised and loved the appearance.

The storyline’s are always intense but I thought this one was a little more complex than her previous novels which slowed down the pacing a tiny bit for me. Even though I had to pay a little more attention to the details while I was reading it, all those carefully hidden clues still stumped me until closer to the end.

Norma’s Stats:
Cover: Hauntingly beautiful and fitting representation to storyline. (Paperback version which releases on August 6, 2019.)
Title: A fabulous representation that definitely depicts the storyline perfectly with all of its secrets and lies it withholds until that explosive and perfectly timed ending.
Writing/Prose: Compulsively readable, notable, strong, impressive, well-written, entertaining, engrossing, and prolific.
Plot: Suspenseful, raw, complex, riveting, fast-paced, dark, thrilling, captivating, taut, twisty, and entertaining.
Ending: An action-packed, surprising, thrilling, and explosive ending!
Overall: Another stellar read from the Queen of Thrillers that had me immediately hooked and completely riveted in this tangled crime thriller. Would highly recommend!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dutton and Lisa Gardner for the opportunity to read an advance digital copy of this book.

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner is the 10th book in the Detective D.D. Warren series. The books are all about the cases that D.D. Warren takes on and solves. Often the stories twist and turn as she follows the clues. The books are part of a series, but I have not read them all, just a few and find I can pick them right up. I enjoy the character of D.D. Warren, she is dogged, intelligent, and manages to find and understand clues and people’s behaviors only too well.

D.D. Warren is called to a murder scene only to realize that she recognizes the wife of the murdered man. The wife who was once a teenager who ‘accidentally’ shot her father has now shot her husband. D.D. knows that this case is not going to be a open and shut case and that there is more going on. Luckily, she has help from her CI, Flora Dane who recognizes the shot husband and this opens up still another case about Flora’s past. Add in a computer geek, a fed investigator and D.D. Warren’s team and the stories slowly start to unwind.

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner is a thrilling, glued to your seat, waiting for everything to happen read.