The Last Lie Told

Finley O’Sullivan, Book 1

By: Debra Webb

Narrated by: Megan Tusing

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

From USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb comes the thrilling first installment in the Finley O’Sullivan series, featuring a legal investigator haunted by her past and obsessed with the truth.

Legal investigator Finley O’Sullivan searches for evidence the police overlooked, wading through secrets, lies, and betrayal to find answers. With the unsolved murder of her husband still very much on her mind, Finley must confront her own personal trauma on a daily basis. Lies are part of her livelihood, but they’re also the reason she can’t get justice for the man she loved.

When a man imprisoned for murder recants his confession, claiming he cleaned up the mess for his girlfriend—the victim’s own daughter—Finley takes on the case. She discovers the victim had identical twin daughters...and the sisters have very different accounts of the crime.

As she dives headlong into the twins’ traumatic past, Finley will have to contend with her own demons to get to the truth—before it’s too late.

©2022 Debra Webb. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Deftly narrated by the vocal storytelling talents of Megan Tusing, this…offers a true theater of the mind experience and is highly recommended.” (Midwest Book Review)

“A complex case fraught with angst and danger ends with surprising revelations.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Debra Webb writes the kind of thrillers I love to read. Sure, there is a murder or more. Yes, a twisted mystery to be solved. Once again, in The Last Lie Told, her characters are fully rendered and reveal themselves authentically as her novel unfolds and careens to its stunning conclusion. The Last Lie Told is her best yet. Webb is the queen of smart suspense.” (Gregg Olsen, number one New York Times best-selling author)

Legal investigator unfolding lies

Finley’s mother is a judge. Her husband is dead. She’s living in the house her husband bought to refurbish. She suffered a breakdown after her husband was murdered. She’s back working a murder case with Jack. Jack is representing the Lenard family. Jack Finnegan is an attorney representing the Legard family. Five years ago Charles Holmes admitted to murdering Lance Legard. He recently shared with Mr. Siniard his attorney that he’s found God and has evidence to prove his innocence.

Attorney Jackson Finnegan directed Finley to reconstruct the events surrounding the murder of Lance Legard. Finley interviewed the relationships between the Legard family members and Charles Holmes. Every lead led to another lie.

There were many introductions to be made early on in the story making it difficult to find my footing in the story.
There’s two murder investigations taking place at the same time. One involving the murder of Finley’s husband and one involving the murder of Lance Lenard. The blending and meshing of the two is difficult at times to separate in my mind.
The story settled on interviewing numerous characters following lie after lie. Every lead led her to more people to interview.
This is a character driven story. It’s a busy read. For me I struggled with all the connections.
This is my first read by Debra Webb. It’s also my first time reading a storyline about a legal investigator. It wasn’t like police procedures or typical detective investigations. Most of the time Finley reminded me of a dog chasing his or her own tail.
This was my Prime free Read selection. I purchased the audiobook as my whispersync voice selection. I listened using the audible app at 2.1x speed.
Megan Tusing is the solo female performer. This is my first listening experience by this narrator. I found her voice was ideal for Finley’s character. I enjoyed her voice acting skills.
The Last Lie Told read like a cozy read. This is a light, comedic read with Finley was playing a juvenile game of Hot and Cold. A lie is hidden and it’s Finley’s job as an investigator to find the lie.

Still missing answers

Loved the story. I almost had to make a chart to keep up. But I was left with lots of questions.

Quite a twist in the story v

Had a hard time getting into the story line but once there it held my attention and it had took me by surprise with the ending. Enjoyed listening to this book.

Uniquely Qualified

This is a really interesting story with a uniquely qualified heroine who is determined to get to the bottom of her current case. While she’s quite the risk taker, she doesn’t carry a gun and has to rely on her wits.

Good Story Nice Twists

A little slow to get going and in a few places repetitive, otherwise, the plot was interesting and character development was good. It could have been a bit deeper but the storyline is complex as it is. Finley is definitely a heroine who struggles with demons from her trauma shows a fierce inner strength to fight back for what she believes in and most of all justice.

Narration was excellent!!

Thrilling

A must read. Great story. Kept me wondering. I love these types of mysteries. I'll be finding more from this author.

Not Believable

As a twin (fraternal), maybe I have more knowledge of twins than the author. Plus, my aunts are identical. But things weren't as plausible as was outlined in this book. I figured out pretty early on where the author was taking the conclusion.
Also, it was extremely distracting for the narrator to keep misprouncing agoraphobia. She mispronounced as if it was spelled "agraphobia". How hard is it to google words and double-check? If she had taken the few seconds to do that, she could have verified or corrected her mistake. it is feasible the author misspelled it...which googling would have also clarified.
There were some interesting threads, so I am giving it 3 stars...it could have been so much better if both author and narrator had put a bit more effort into checking facts.

4 stars overall

This was pretty good. I still have questions. And am wondering where her story will go next. I think when book 2 comes out if there is a fee listening ill probably pick up the book and listen to it.

Not Exactly Bad

but not on the on the same level as her other novels. An interesting premise that either fell flat, didn't have legs, or got lost in the sauce. I finished an hour ago, and I still can't decide which is more accurate. Fairly simple to figure out, and Ms. Webb tried to save it at the end. Almost kinda sorta not quite. But it's set in Nashville, which I got a kick out of since I've lived here my whole life. That was pretty cool.

Great Bookl

Interesting story and characters. Deborah web once again doesn’t outstanding job with her mistress. Narrator Megan Tusing also does a great job. I really like this and I’m certain it’s sequel will be just as good!