Author: Tami Hoag

Title: Secrets to the Grave

Publisher: Dutton

With some authors, you always know what you're going to get. In Tami Hoag's case, that means you're going to get a gripping story packed with realistic characters in suspenseful situations that will keep you on the edge of your chair until the last paragraph. That's certainly the case with Secrets to the Grave. 

Secrets to the Grave picks up the story told in Hoag's New York Times bestseller Deeper Than the Dead. It's 1986, back in the day when unwed mothers were still a scandal, computers were a luxury, and DNA evidence was more science fiction than scientific fact. 

It's the story of Marissa Fordham, a single mom found horribly murdered with her wounded four-year-old daughter next to her. Little Haley called 911 with the message "My daddy hurt my mommy." But who is her daddy?  It's a mystery.

It's not the only one. The sheriff's office calls in teacher-turned-child advocate Anne Leone (much to the dismay of her new husband, Vince, himself an FBI profiler). Anne, Vince, and a local sheriff's deputy start piecing clues together and come up with more questions than answers. Who (and where) was Haley's father? Why did Marissa's best friend suddenly disappear? And why does all record of Marissa's life only begin about the time of Haley's birth? Who was Marissa Fordham . . . did she really exist at all? 

If you're a fan of the many crime dramas on television, you'll feel right at home in the pages of this book. Likeable characters, snappy banter, sexual tension, suspense—it's all there. Having read some of Hoag's previous work I was pleasantly surprised to find she's toned down the love scenes in this one. They're still emotionally charged, but no longer include quite so much detail about who put what where. (Personally, I consider that a plus. There's a limit to what I need to know about someone else's sex life.) 

As a tale of suspense Secrets to the Grave is first-rate. Ditto as a character study: it takes a talented author to juggle that many people and still find a way to make each a unique, believable individual, while moving the plot along, no less. As a mystery . . . well . . . I spotted the killer long before the end of the book, but that didn't keep me from enjoying the rest of the story. 

Tami Hoag has thirteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers to her credit—for now. I expect Secrets to the Grave to push that number to fourteen very soon. At least, until her next book comes out . . .  

*This Review First Published 1/7/2011