Cover Image: Never Tell

Never Tell

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Member Reviews

I couldn’t get enough of this book. First time I have read a book by this author but I enjoyed the pace and the characters, albeit a little unrealistic but nothing too out there.
A story with so many angles it could at times be a book to really concentrate on. I was really pleased as well to find all the main characters were female, but also had depth, it was a nice change for crime, mystery genre.
I will certainly be checking out more of this author would recommend this book, particularly if you’re a fan of Karen Rose, James Patterson etc

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Terrific and action packed book full of twists and turns on every page! The characters were alive and I couldn’t determine who was innocent and who guilty. Did Evie shoot her father and then repeat the same crime years later? If yes can she get away with it twice? Brilliantly written and highly recommended!

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What a splendid tale Lisa Gardner tells. Full of nuances, beautifully crafted characters and a plot to die for! You will likely do as I did and decide, several times, that you have worked out who did what to whom but I will posit that you will not have done so. The solution to discovering who did what and to whom is to lock yourself away from the world until you discover the truth - you will be glad that you did; it is that sort of book.

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I love reading anything by Lisa Gardner! A real fan. I have followed all the DD Warren stories and it has gotten better and better. Never Tell did not disappoint. Beautifully written with many twists and turns that kept me guessing throughout. Even the ending was unexpected. I cannot wait for another installment in the DD Warren series and Flora Dane series. She is proving to be quite the heroine!

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What a masterful story this turned out to be. I couldn't put it down, it was so compelling; a couple of late nights that were well worth it! It was fairly obvious to me early on, that the accused was not guilty of the crimes, but I certainly did not predict the character that actually was! With plenty of action, and twists and turns along the way, it was a thoroughly exciting and enjoyable read. Highly recommended.
Thank you Netgalley, the Publishers and of course, Lisa Gardner for this ARC.

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Another great read from Lisa. The story is played out from the viewpoint of three women - Evie, Flora and D.D.
Evie at 16 accidentally killed her father and now many years later admits to killing her husband. D.D. is the detective who worked the first cas and is now working the second case and Flora is her Confidential Informer.all three have great personalities and stories and the intertwining of these has been magnificently written. Flora is a recovering victim of being abducted, kept in a wooden coffin box a lot of the time and finds life difficult adjusting.
Throughout the story the reader is led to many different possibilities of what really did happen in both murders by introducing new aspects right up until the ending.
A fantastic book that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes this genre.

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A book that begins with many questions, and then adds more and more. It is quite a convoluted plot, bringing together many strands. However it is exciting enough to keep up a cracking pace, and so maintains our interest. Some of the characters seem a little two dimensional, but the main ones are well drawn.
A good, pacy read.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

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#Nevertell #Netgalley. A 16 year old girl admits to shooting her father years ago, 16 years later she's arrested for shooting her husband. Now fighting for answers to both shootings. Evie and DD need to work together to get to the truth.
There are many female characters within the story that are strong and have their own Arcs. I enjoyed the narrative and the twists in and out of what was happening. The author keeps you guessing, but gives you enough to make assumptions. This is book 10 of the DD Warren series, but I didn't feel I missed anything as this was my first read of hers. I don't think you have to read all of the others to catch on.

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My reading of Lisa Gardner's DD Warren series has been shockingly inconsistent. In fact I was surprised it'd been three years since I read Find Her, in which we first meet Flora, former kidnap victim turned vigilante... who's since become DD's confidential informant.

Flora's back in this outing with someone else from DD's past.

his book unfolds from the points of view of all three lead females. Interestingly (as I'd noticed this in <em>Find Her</em>) from Evie and Flora's points of view in first person, but third person from DD's.

Gardner didn't include much from DD's private life in this book, though she does bounce ideas off crime-scene specialist husband Alex.

I started off a little confused as the book opens with Evie arriving home feeling on edge or nervous. I assumed something had already occurred or there was some big secret / reason to dread coming home, but it's not the case. I wish I'd realised that sooner as I'd been waiting to find out where exactly she was coming home from or waiting to uncover some sordid secret she'd been keeping. (Well, other than the obvious....)

Either way, her husband's body greets her and - thankfully the whole 'did she do it?' thing isn't drawn out as there's evidence that clears her. Subsequent crimes also make it kinda obvious there's something bigger at play.

We get hints of that via Flora who recognises Evie's husband from her days in captivity. It feels like Evie shows mostly antipathy towards her husband Conrad so it's easy for readers to see him as a villain of sorts, with secrets Evie feels she needs to keep.

And then there's the original case from sixteen years earlier, in which Evie 'accidentally' killed her father. She wasn't charged. Her devastation and shock was obvious and even now the maths genius / professor seems to have been idolised equally by both his wife and his daughter.

I liked that the case took an unexpected turn and Conrad, Evie's husband, was not who he seemed to be. I mean, that was obvious, but Gardner took us in an entirely different direction.

I should mention - for fans of Gardner's work - FBI agent Kimberley Quincy pops up here, looking for links between the murder of Conrad and Flora's kidnapper. It's a chance to unpick that storyline a little more and touches on other potential victims (before Flora).

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## A new author to me but a quick look on Amazon showed a prolific writer and this is book 10 in the Detective D D Warren series, although book 9 and this book are not published as books 9 and 10, maybe the thinking is that having book 9/10 on a cover for some readers ( inc me has to be said ) would be maybe too much of a back story to get to grips with ( I may be totally on the wrong track there!! ) however it has to be said that this is a book in its own right and even though its Book 10 there is only the briefest mentions of any back story in it ##

13 years ago Evie is found with a gun, her Dad is dead, it was accidental

Now Evie is again found with a gun, this time her husband is dead....she claims she didn’t kill him, either!

And so starts a great adventure as told by Evie, Detective DD and Flora ( Flora is the 3rd main character in the story, she was held captive for 6 years by an evil predator and her experiences help in hard to ‘fathom out’ cases ) each of the 3 take turns to narrate and tell how the story is progressing from their angle....we are also introduced to a plethora of other cast including a functioning alcoholic Mum of Evie,and a dark web expert/true crime buff and investigator amongst others, all adding vital ingredients to make this a true meal of a book!
Its a busy book, lots happens, quickly and the ‘mood’ changes rapidly and it can appear slightly chaotic but once you embrace if and get involved the fast paced excitement is contagious and carries you through
Its has equal adventure and thriller and crime procedure but this is explained well and doesn’t drag on and the information given is relevant and helps you build your own picture as to what could have happened....I didn’t have a clue tbh until all was revealed and I liked the book even more for that!
A punchy book written with gusto and read with enjoyment

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I loved this book. Well written and enthralling a total page turner.

I adored D.D and Flora, what great characters. A very enjoyable read.

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Evie had no choice but to pick up the gun she couldn't allow the world to know about Conrad's past times. She can't believe that Conrad would be involved as awful. She has to protect their unborn baby. She is now a suspect in her husband's murder and she just hopes that they don't find what they are looking for. Evie can't go through this again. But she knows that no one is going to believe her again. Sergeant Detective D.D Warren can't believe that the suspect is someone that she investigated so many years before. Evie might have gotten away with her father's accidental death but D.D knows that there is something more to his case. What made Evie snap this time?
D.D knows that there is something more to this case than a wife just shooting her husband what is Evie hiding? And now that her CI Flora is involved things are just going to get worse. Flora has met Conrad before when she was still been held captive. And she fears that they are more victims out there and that she needs to find out what Evie knows about her husband. Flora knows that she can find out where she was kept all those years ago and this time she will need help. She has to put her trust in an true crime blogger that has wanted to meet her for years and she will need to get the FBI involved as that is the only way that she can see the file on Jacob Ness. She knows it is going to irate D.D by doing this but she has no choice. She needs to know if Conrad was part of Jacob's network.
The more they start digging the stranger things become as Conrad was living under an assumed name and he was using the dark web looking for certain people. Could Evie be telling the truth that she never killed her husband? Can they find out who Conrad was looking for and if that is what got him killed?
Flora knows that they are close and there were more victims and she just hopes that they can find some clues as to where the cabin was were she was kept.
Will they be able to find out the truth about Conrad and why he was killed? Evie knows that things are going to get harder as she knows that her father never killed himself she just took the blame but who killed him then? Will the killer be found before even more people die?
Another great read in the series. We are getting close to find the hideaway and I think that it will give us so many more answers. Really enjoyed it. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.

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Lisa Gardner never disappoints. Her stories grip you and I finished this in one sitting. The storyline consumed me and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.

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4 Stars from me

I haven't read 'Find Her' so am able to say with conviction that you don't 'need' to have read that one for Never Tell to make sense. I can see from other reviews that it would maybe have added some depth to Flora but for me the backstory was clear anyway and I honest didn't feel it detracted from the story in any way.Never Tell contains some really strong and distinct female leads and pulls no punches in terms of the battles that women fight every single day - without making it preachy.The storyline is good and strong and hooks you in from the first few pages where you meet Evie literally holding a smoking gun. I enjoyed her character and her mixed up relationship with her mum. Flora is a whole different kettle of fish - boy has she been through the mill! She's a great character and I'm sure 'Find Her' is brilliant and although I say you don't need to have read it in order to read and enjoy 'Never Tell', I would suggest that if you are planning to read both then definitely read 'Find Her' first. The reason I say that is because now I know that Flora survived her ordeal I don't see the point in going back in reading it - if that makes sense.D. D. Warren is also a great character, one tiny niggle though... reading D. D. as her name throughout the book felt really clunky. Deedee or even just Dee would have been easier on the eyes.That said, this is a great thriller and look forward to reading more from this author.

Synopsis: 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.D.D. Warren arrives on the scene and recognizes the woman--Evie Carter--from a case many years back. Evie's father was killed in a shooting that was ruled an accident. But for D.D., two coincidental murders is too many. Flora Dane sees the murder of Conrad Carter on the TV news and immediately knows his face. She remembers a night when she was still a victim--a hostage--and her captor knew this man. Overcome with guilt that she never tracked him down, Flora is now determined to learn the truth of Conrad's murder. But D.D. and Flora are about to discover that in this case the truth is a devilishly elusive thing. As layer by layer they peel away the half-truths and outright lies, they wonder: How many secrets can one family have?

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Never Tell is the tenth book in the D.D.Warren series. This has a complex plot revolving around three women, action packed and a tale full of lies. Lisa Gardner has written another great thriller with an ending you won't see coming. This series just keeps improving. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC. reviews on Goodreads, Amazon and Facebook.

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Yes it’s my favourite time of year again…LISA GARDNER HAS A NEW BOOK OUT! I’m a HUGE fan of this author and have been since the very beginning of her DD Warren series and even before that with her Quincy series. Just recently her books have also featured Flora Dane who is now working as a CI (confident informer) for DD. If you’ve been reading this series you will know that this is the third book she is now in and her story is quite an horrific and disturbing one. But because of what has happened to her, she’s the perfect foil for DD and the investigation that follows in Never Tell.

Evie is an incredibly interesting and intriguing character and her story is a compelling one. Her husband is found shot dead and Evie with a gun in her hand. And in an unbelievably bizarre twist, she was found guilty 16 years ago of the shooting of her father in very similar circumstances. So is Evie a very clever serial killer or has there been a terrible miscarriage of justice? DD is convinced of the former but when she starts to look into Evie’s husbands past, things don’t quite add up. Evie was perfectly crafted as a character as I was never quiet sure about her motives or the decisions that she made. Her relationship with her mother was a difficult one, even before her fathers death, as she disapproved of Evie’s marriage but Conrad’s death seems to push them further apart than bringing them together. The mother/daughter complexities gave an added frisson to the narrative that kept me glued to the pages searching for the truth about the murders.

Flora is again a bit of a closed book who is still impulsive, throwing herself into dangerous situations with no respect for her own safety at all. She works well with DD even though they don’t agree with everything the other does at times but I enjoyed their sparring and the development of their partnership.

I had no idea where this journey for Evie was heading but I was completely gripped by it! Lisa Gardner just keeps getting better with every book she releases and I’m never disappointed. Never Tell is involving and dark with a current vibe that feels authentic at all times. I absolutely loved it!

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When Evie was 16 she was convicted of shooting her father in an ‘accident’ while cleaning his rifle. 16 years later when her husband is also shot to death, D.D Warren is drafted in to work out whether she got away with murder in the past, and whether she is about to again!

I must admit that this was my first of the D.D. Warren detective stories and it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the tale at all. I also didn’t realise that the Flora Dane storyline had been explored in a past book – I had thought that it was more of a historical character backstory than a story a reader would have known. This may mean however, that going back to read past books in the series may now be ruined by spoilers!

Refreshingly the plot is spearheaded by three strong female characters, Evie; whose husband has just died, D.D Warren; the lead detective and Flora; CI and previous victim of a kidnapping. The chapters alternate between them in a way that keeps the pace up nicely throughout and I didn’t find myself ‘skimming’ one more than the other to get to a more interesting storyline. All three women are nicely fleshed out and you got a good depth of character from each of them. The story itself is also interesting with a lot of nice threads and interesting lead which kept me engaged all the way through. I particularly liked the insight into the ‘Dark Web’ and thought it gave a nice, rarely explored dimension to the story.

Overall Never Tell is a great read with three strong, interesting female leads and has certainly inspired me to read more of the series as well as keeping my eye out for the next one! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK – Cornerstone for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This jumps right into the action from page 1, where Conrad Carter and his computer are found shot to pieces in his home with wife Evie holding the gun – and, it turns out, this same woman was known to have killed her father with a shotgun at the age of 16 but the shooting was determined at the time to have been accidental. Sergeant DD Warren of the Boston Police Department really struggles to believe that lightning strikes in the same place twice … surely Evie cannot be innocent of both murders? But then things get even more complicated as her confidential informant, Flora, sees Conrad’s face on the TV news and believes she met him in the past during the time when she was herself abducted and held captive for over a year. Is he linked to her abductor? All hell breaks loose as DD tries to get to the bottom of the two killings 16 years apart, Flora wants to find out the truth about Conrad Carter, and the waters become very muddied by linked arson attacks. What on earth is going on and who is really responsible for all of it?

I understand this is one in a whole series of books about DD Warren and although the book stands alone well and there are well set-up references to past events, particularly the relationships between DD and her CI Flora, I found myself really wanting to read those previous books to learn about the history of the characters – and indeed I shall.

This author managed to achieve that hard-to-get excellent balance of good story, with plenty of action and tension along the way, whilst still giving us well rounded and sympathetic characters along the way that we could believe in. As the story progresses, we discover one lie after another forming a tangled web that is unpicked bit by bit and ultimately reveals to us the motives behind all that has taken place. A cracking read. I’ve already ordered the first couple of DD Warren books so I can learn about her and some of the other characters from the beginning!

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WOW! 4 1/2 stars! I have not read many Lisa Gardner books but on the strength of this title I will definitely be reading more. This was such a plot-driven tale which kept me guessing and changing my mind all the way through. Very cleverly plotted with the story coming together through the different main characters - Evie accused of shooting her husband, D.D., investigating the case and Flora, D.D.'s CI who has a terrifying past of her own. The characters are well drawn, the writing is good and the story is very fast-paced. What is not to like? Read this book, you won't be disappointed.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Lisa Gardner/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own

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I have read many books by this author and she never fails to deliver. Can be read as a stand alone, but great if you read the series. Look forward to reading more by this excellent author *****

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