I enjoyed talking to NYT Bestselling author Rachel Howzell Hall about her latest crime thriller: We Lie Here.

Not many authors are able to write a crime thriller that is also funny. But part of the reason is the wide range of complex and interesting characters that we encounter in this story of a family celebration. We all know the kind –we have them in our own families. It takes a talent like Rachel’s to blend in the suspense and the humor seamlessly. Just when the tension gets overwhelming some family member offers a respite.

As with all her books she has great dialog — clever and compelling. 

I immediately felt drawn to her main character, Yara Gibson, who is a writer.  The entire Gibson family is filled with diverse personalities who lend substance to this book that touches upon racism and family secrets. 

Rachel Howzell Hall is a rising star in the crime fiction genre. Book after book proves that she knows how to tightly plot a book so that readers will have to catch their breath along the way. 

More about the book:

A woman’s trip home reveals frightening truths in a twisty novel of murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author of And Now She’s Gone and These Toxic Things.

TV writer Yara Gibson’s hometown of Palmdale, California, isn’t her first choice for a vacation. But she’s back to host her parents’ twentieth-anniversary party and find the perfect family mementos for the celebration. Everything is going to plan until Yara receives a disturbing text: I have information that will change your life.

The message is from Felicia Campbell, who claims to be a childhood friend of Yara’s mother. But they’ve been estranged for years—drama best ignored and forgotten. But Yara can’t forget Felicia, who keeps texting, insisting that Yara talk to her “before it’s too late.” .