Things Aren’t Always As They Appear

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In Where They Lie by Joe Hart, Child Protective Services Agent Nora McTavish is driven to investigate what appears to be a tragic accident involving a foster family she had contact with. An observer of the “accident” reports seeing a struggle before impact, indicating intent may have been involved. The apparent sole survivor points the finger in a surprising direction. Nora’s recent incident report review with the family haunts her with the feeling she overlooked something. Nora is drawn to her career in child protective services because she grew up in an abusive situation that cost one of her siblings his life, a sibling who appears to her from time to time as a silent specter. 

At one point Nora observes, “In the family unit things like morality and justice and right didn’t always hold sway. Sometimes a tarnished sense of love reversed things in a weird mirror image of what should be. Normal became split lips and bruises and inappropriate touching. The rotten center of a fine-looking fruit.”  In her work she seeks to be the person she wished had been in her own life when she needed it the most. The sense of urgency she feels about this case clashes with the bureaucratic nature of her agency’s administrator who feels the case is closed.  

Domestic/family violence reports are among the most deadly calls law enforcement receives, costing officers’ lives who show up at a scene where emotions run high, often fueled by a combustible mix of adrenalin, alcohol, and desperation. Nora reflects, “The truth was the system was deeply flawed because people were. The law is one size fits all, while reality is a series of chaotic events we raft through like white water.” 

For the reader, Nora’s search to learn the truth of what happened becomes a trip in a white water raft through swiftly churning waters. The tension and suspense make it hard to put the book down. Things are not always as they appear, and the path leads to a climax where time is of the essence as life and death hang in the balance. At the end Nora makes a career adjustment which seems much better suited to her skill set and motivations, putting her into a situation that could generate an equally good storyline for the next book in the series.

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