Galley Talk

Susan Mercier, manager, Edgartown Books, Edgartown, Mass.

by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 1/8/2007

I was hesitant to start Patry Francis's debut novel, Liar's Diary [Dutton, Feb. 1], as mysteries are not usually my first choice. However, I was drawn in after just a few pages. The novel starts off with two very unlikely women who are vastly different becoming friends. As it progresses, it becomes an obsessive love story and murder mystery. You won't see the disturbing ending coming. The story line is very intriguing, with fantastic character development. Francis, who is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee for her short fiction, does a great job at illustrating the complex relationships that can occur with friends, lovers and children. This is a quirky, well-written and well-constructed mystery with an edge to it. It reminded me of Sarah Dunant's venture from historical fiction into darker waters in Transgressions. Customers who enjoyed Kate Atkinson's Case Closed or Eden Collinsworth's debut roman à clef set in the publishing world, It Might Have Been What He Said, will enjoy discovering this new novelist.