This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

The summer that she was fifteen, Eve Knox was found brutally murdered by her friend, Maggie and her sister, Nola.  That was twenty-five years ago and Eve's case was never solved.  Everyone else has moved on.  Maggie is now on the police force, following in her ex-chief father's footsteps.  Nola is a veterinarian.  Both have lives changed forever by their discovery of Eve that day.  Who would beat her and then strangle her? 

Unfortunately, the list is long.  Eve was dating the rich, handsome teenage son who everyone thought could do no wrong, but Maggie and Nola knew he was different in private and was physically abusing Eve.  There was the teacher who seemed to have a crush on her.  Nola was considered the town weirdo and had a propensity for dissecting animals, roadkill mostly but there were tales that if she couldn't find a dead animal, she would kill one.  Maggie's husband, Shaun, had been one of the last to see Eve that day and has never confided in Maggie about that.  There was the drifter who came through town most weeks and seemed to lurk around young girls.  Even Maggie and Eve had an argument that day as Eve had discovered Maggie's biggest secret and was threatening to tell someone.  Will Maggie find  the killer before they find her?

Heather Gudenkauf has written an interesting mystery.  She is a new author to me and I'm now interested in reading her other seven novels.  The book is written in a mixture of present day events and throwbacks to twenty-five years ago.  It is fascinating to watch Maggie reevaluate events that happened then with the eyes of an adult rather than those of the teenager she was then.  The only caveat I have is that in books and films, it is a miracle whenever someone has a routine pregnancy and this was not that miraculous book.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.