This Is How I Lied

 This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf    332 pages

Summary from Goodreads: Twenty-five years ago, the body of sixteen-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa—discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold.

For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.

And here's what I thought: This is a suspenseful story with a moody undertone, where you have a feeling that perhaps the characters aren't completely truthful (i.e. that what you're learning from them may or may not be the truth). You get perspectives from multiple characters, including Maggie, Eva's sister, and Eva, herself.  Maggie is sure that some piece of evidence was missed all those years ago, and now with newer forensics, she's sure she can find out who killed Eve. However, there are some complications --- one of them being Eve's sister Nola. Nola is definitely what most of us would call a strange bird.  She's always been that way, even when Eve and Maggie were children. But now, as an adult, Nola isn't just strange --- she might be very, very dangerous.

As expected, there are some twists in this book that are revealed as the story moves back and forth in time. And, as Maggie gets closer to discovering the truth about what happened to Eve, she's having to face some very dark things in her own past and her own role in Eve's death.

Good story for a weekend read.