I read and enjoyed the first two books in this series so I was glad to read this one.  It's another excellent addition to the series.  The characters are interesting , the story was intriguing, and the descriptions vivid.  I did guess who the killer was a bit before it was revealed and then guessed the final shocking surprise just minutes before it, too, was revealed. Great way to end the book!!!

To me this was the best book in the trilogy I have just read. So good to read Ellery and Reed finally got together and if more in the series to see how they progress.

Who murdered Reed's mom Camilla?What seems like a case gone cold Reed will not rest until he finds out the truth so with Ellery at his side they delve into the case of his murdered mom. This book starts a bit slow but after you start reading it gets more intriguing as you try to figure out who and why would someone kill Camilla. There is two huge twists in this book especially the end which I loved! I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed the book. I would definitely recommend the Ellery Hathaway series. Every book has enough mystery to keep you interested and Ellery and Reed are two great characters to follow.

Ok, I need to tell you first that I was already a big fan of the Ellery Hathaway series. I love love LOVE a loose-cannon female detective. Right in my wheelhouse.

All the Best Lies is the third in the series and centers around Ellery's sometimes partner in (solving) crime Reed Markham. They are off to Las Vegas to try to solve the very cold case of Reed's mother's murder. As it is primarily set in Las Vegas, there is less Massachusetts content I usually look to this series for. Dang.

Like any good page turning mystery, you are going to need to suspend your disbelief a bit here. Some of the plot devices are a little bit . . . ridiculous. BUT! Don't let that scare you away! It is fun and fast paced and, as always, leaves you wanting more Ellery and Reed!

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a bit of a thriller-y mystery or who likes tough as nails female detectives.

FBI Agent Reed Markham has always known he was adopted. How could he not, living within a family with 3 light skinned blond sisters and him with his Spanish coloring. He also knew that his mother had been killed and her killer had never been apprehended. It’s 40 years later and Reed has learned that the book will be closed on her murder as no new clues have surfaced. Reed isn’t about to let that happen...he wants to know who the killer was. Along with Ellery Hathaway who is on suspension from the  Boston police department, they have come to Las Vegas to dig into the old files. 
Reed and Ellery have a history of their own, albeit a strange one, but one that keeps them coming together. 
“All the Best Lies” provides more questions than Reed or Ellery could have ever imagined. A book I could not put down with enough suspects to keep my interest and a hope that even after 40 years, a mystery could be solved. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press..Minotaur Press for an ARC of this book. The comments and review are my honest opinion.

I loved this book! Well-written, descriptive, and enjoyable! The author consistently paints a vivid, imaginative scene. So many books of this genre are over the top and far-fetched.  This is not one of them. I did figure out who the killer was before the reveal but the author still had some surprises up her sleeve and kept me engaged through the last page. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

ALL THE BEST LIES by Joanna Schaffhausen is a crime thriller, a police procedural and the third book in the Ellery Hathaway mystery series. It is set mostly in Nevada and worked for me as a standalone novel.

The main characters are FBI agent Reed Markham and a suspended police officer Ellery Hathaway. Reed decides to pursue a cold case; the unsolved murder of his birth mother. He enlists the help of Ellery and they head to Las Vegas, the site of the murder. I don’t want to say any more about the story details because that would detract from a reader’s enjoyment of the book.

The characters are compelling, fascinating, and felt three-dimensional. There was enough at stake to keep me engaged throughout the story. The world-building was absolutely fantastic and gave a clear sense of place. The different thought processes and methods of the two main characters lent a fresh perspective to the story. Their strong connection adds to the story line without detracting from the main case. While I was able to determine the villain, there were a lot of twists and one reveal that completely surprised me. A variety of themes are woven into this novel including murder, friendship, the relationships between local police departments and the FBI, family relationships, how past events impact our current lives, emotional healing, DNA testing, and much more.

Overall, the plot was creative, absorbing and well-paced. I would recommend it to those that enjoy police procedurals and crime thrillers. I look forward to reading the next book in this series as well as checking out the earlier books in this series.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Press and Joanna Schaffhausen for a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

I loved the characters of Reed and Ellie and want to read more of them. I have not read the first two books in this series but I liked this one so much that I will be starting on the others. 
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

All the Best Lies is the third in the series of mysteries featuring Ellery Hathaway and Reed Markhan. When Ellery was a child, she was kidnapped by a serial rapist/murderer and Reed was the FBI agent who found her. Ellery became a cop and the two of them have already caught a serial killer and a serial rapist. Now they have a more personally challenging case, solving Reed’s mother’s murder. Reed was adopted by a politician when his mother was murdered during his infancy. Having learned through a DNA test that his adoptive father is also his biological father has him wondering if his father is implicated.

They fly to Las Vegas to investigate the murder and find a strange helpfulness and resistance from the Sheriff’s office. That may be because his murdered mother Cammie was dating a police officer who was a bit of a player. She also was testifying against a local drug dealer. There are plenty of suspects and it’s possible that her death was part of a series as there are some similarities to a murder a year earlier. With so many suspects, there’s plenty of misdirection to keep the suspense going. While this murder happened long ago, the killer must still be alive because they are being followed and sabotaged.



I have enjoyed every book in the series of Ellery Hathaway mysteries. They are fair, suspenseful, and full of red herrings. All the Best Lies brought in intense family emotions, anger, resentment, betrayal, and disappointment. And it is not just Reed facing family trauma, Ellery is contacted by her father who disappeared during her childhood, who did not get in touch when she was rescued or when her brother died. Now he wants her help.

I also like that we have moved past the will they/won’t they suspense. They will, they did, and not a moment too soon. I have little patience for this old, tired idea that folks want the sexual tension to never be resolved. Not true. Look at the success of J. D. Robb’s “In Death” series.

So, I now look forward to another in this series. I expect it will be well-done, with lots of possible solutions and suspects, and smart detecting that combines equal amounts of procedural investigation and intuition.

All the Best Lies will be released on February 11th. I received an e-galley from the publishers through NetGalley.

All the Best Lies, cleverly written by Joanna Schaffhausen, is a fine addition to the Ellery Hathaway series... Ms. Schaffhausen has cultivated these characters so wisely, that this new addition is a fantastic read that stays true to their story. Full of twists and turns as Reed seeks to find out who killed his mother -- Ellery is along as she may or may not be on suspension and is providing much-needed fresh eyes. As they explore his mother's last days in Las Vegas, as well as dig through old evidence, they are overwhelmed with family from both sides, as well as another case that may be linked. This is fantastic book - I read it in a day (and way into the night) as I could not put it down until I learned how the story line was resolved..

This series just keeps getting better! Ellery and Reed are on another case and the chemistry is off the charts! The character development throughout this series has been fantastic. I loved watching these characters fully emerge in this installment! The mystery was incredibly suspenseful and well plotted. I finished this in a day as I just couldn’t put it down! Thank you to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

I was not as excited by this book as the previous books because I was not sure I really liked the idea of Senator Markham, Reed's adopted father, being his biological father (which is revealed at the end of Book 2) or Reed trying to solve his mother's murder forty years ago, with his father being his prime suspect initially.  However, I like the Ellery and Reed characters and I was interested to see how Ellery would be utilized in this storyline.  In the end, it was an enjoyable book.  The mystery behind Camilla's death was quite good, with some surprising twists.  I liked the interaction between Reed and his adopted mother, as she sought to protect the family.  There was an interesting side-plot involving Ellery and her father.  The author did a job good with the evolution of the relationship between Reed and Ellery.  She also did a good job of portraying that there is more to "family" than blood relations and the extents that people will go to protect the ones they love.

I received a review copy via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Schaffhausen’s latest Ellery and Reed adventure take us to Las Vegas where Reed seeks to uncover the truth about the murder of his mother 40 years ago. As always, the writing is superb, the plot flow is excellent and the mystery is a wrought with suspense. I can’t wait for the next on the series!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Minotaur Books and Joanna Schaffhausen for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This series just keeps getting better. I really enjoyed how this one delved into Reed’s background. Great plot and lots of twists, had me guessing til the end. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Another good read in the Ellery Hathaway series. Really did not expect what happened in this book but enjoyed it nevertheless. Hope there are more to come.I received an advanced reader copy of this book which in no way had any effect on my enjoyment of this book. Really enjoy this series.

Great addition to the series with another skillful plot and great characters.   Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

This is a really good series, well written, characters i've come to care about.  I read this series in order, though it doesn't have to be, i think the first book was my favorite, but this one is  very good.   we get the see the growth of the characters, prickly as she is and of course for good reason and of their relationship, i figured out the final twist just before it happened but didn't take away from the story.  the emotions feel real in this story which often isnt the case, that the mystery is stronger than the depth of characters.  will keep reading this series .  it is a 4.5

Thank you to Minotaur books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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What I loved: The characters in this series are well written. They have trauma, they have redemption, but they are real. The mystery was interesting and though I got some of the ending, I did not get both parts! The last "twist" made it for sure. I loved getting a deeper look into Reed's character. 
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What I didn't: Not a huge fan of the thing between Reed and ellery. I understand the attachment, but I hope their relationship does not become the front and center plot of any book.
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Who should read this: Those who like a good mystery without theatrics or unreliable narrators. Just straight up mystery here!

Great addition to the Ellery Hathaway series. A strong, suspenseful read that I couldn't put down. I've grown so fond of Ellery and Reed! Delving more into Reed's present and past, and positioning Ellery as the one who helps him, deepens the story.

I don't know how, but this series just keeps getting better! In the eagerly-awaited third-in-series, Schaffhausen ups the ante yet again, this time bringing Ellery and Reed together to explore their most significant case together: the murder of Reed's mother forty years ago... The story line hooked me from the description; Schaffhausen's writing sealed the deal once I started reading and throughout much of it I literally couldn't put it down.

The character development in this series is incredible. Schaffhausen has done a magnificent job creating wholly damaged, wholly three-dimensional characters that you cannot help but find yourself rooting for - even (especially?) when their decisions are obviously self-destructive. These characters are all damaged - life has thrown the worst it can at many of them, but their ability to ride out the damage and emerge on the other side (albeit battered and dented) with a sense of the importance of survival, even when it seems impossibly difficult, is both impressive and inspiring. Add to that well-paced and perfectly balanced action, mysteries long-thought unsolvable, and clues hidden in the most unlikely of places and the result is a near-perfect mystery/thriller that grabs you by the throat, throws you against the wall, and forces your eyes open even when you think you'd do anything to look away...

I really enjoyed the opportunity to explore Reed's family in this one, as well as to get a peek behind the curtain at Ellery's own family history. There's so much potential for future storylines expanding on both of these sets of relationships - as well as the continuing intertwining of Reed and Ellery's lives - and I, for one, cannot WAIT to see where things go from here. It's tough to imagine how Schaffhausen could keep besting herself, but given the successful way she's navigated those waters so far, I don't doubt that she will!