The Good Liars
In 1920 nurse Sarah Hove goes to dilapidated Darkacre Hall to care for Maurice Stilwell, who was badly physically disabled in the First World War. The Hall’s other occupants are Maurice’s older brother Leonard, who is suffering from shellshock, his beautiful, but brittle, wife Ida, and arrogant family friend Victor Monroe.
They are visited by Inspector Hume and Detective Sgt Verity, a facially disfigured war veteran, investigating new evidence in the case of missing village boy Bobby Higgins. He vanished, suspected murdered, in Darkacre’s woods in 1914, the day before the men went to war.
The inquiry causes tensions between the Hall’s residents, but strange things are happening in the building too. Doors open mysteriously when they were shut, there’s the smell of pipe smoke from a dead man, and Sarah is convinced there’s a ghost. Has Bobby Higgins come back to haunt them, or is it something more sinister?
Tensions ramp up, Detective Sgt Verity comes to stay, and wartime secrets tumble out in this tautly paced Gothic thriller with a touch of Agatha Christie. Evocative descriptions of the Hall and woods add to the strained atmosphere. The story is told from multiple points of view, which can often be head-spinning for the reader, but in this case Frank’s careful writing gives each character great depth. Few of them are likeable, or trustworthy, and are the good liars of the title. I guessed some plot points, but that didn’t detract from me carrying on reading to ensure I was right about whodunnit and, more importantly, why.
