Murder for Liar by Verlin Darrow

Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press (May 15, 2023)
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Tour Dates June 26-July 27, 2023
ISBN: 978-1509248971
Available in Print and ebook, 298 pages

Description Murder for Liar by Verlin Darrow

Award-winning novelist Verlin Darrow delivers a standout thrill ride in his newest mystery, Murder for Liar, an engaging, enlightening, and entertaining novel of psychological suspense.

About Murder for Liar:  Private investigator-turned-psychotherapist Tom Dashiel doesn’t know it yet, but he’s hurtling towards discovering where his threshold lies—the point of no return for his sanity.  So begins a surreal spiral when George Arundel enters Tom’s Santa Cruz office on a Tuesday afternoon in April.

To say George Arundel is a puzzle is an understatement:  the local psychiatrist who referred Arundel to Tom described him—rather astutely—as “a substantial challenge.”  Working to treat the enigmatic Arundel, Tom soon realizes he has been tasked to treat a client unlike any he’s ever encountered.

But how is George Arundel related to the uncanny coincidences Tom begins to encounter?  Are these mere coincidences…or something else?  Could a young woman named Zig-Zag really be an angel?  How could a dog—a rather cute one at that—reveal one of the most important clues? What’s the deal with that alluring, albeit mercurial, woman named Dizzy?  And what’s Arundel’s connection to the escalating spate of unsolved murders plaguing the typically calm but always colorful Santa Cruz community?

Swept up in a perilous world where nothing is as it seems, Tom struggles to make sense of the decidedly dangerous, downright deadly scheme in which he has somehow unwittingly become a key player. Tom is about to discover that in this treacherous reality, the truth is far, far stranger than fiction…but the real danger is not knowing which is which.

Verlin Darrow has crafted an exhilarating, briskly paced page turner with a to-die-for plot in his latest novel. An extraordinary read that is alternately dark and lighthearted, tragic and comic, wildly entertaining and highly enlightening, Murder for Liar is one of those books destined to stay with readers after the final page is turned.  Meticulously plotted, populated with a charismatic cast of unforgettable characters and bustling with twists and turns, Murder for Liar is a true standout.

Murder for Liar by Verlin Darrow: Review

Guest Review by Bookgirl

I absolutely flew through this book! Darrow’s prose is so lively and engaging that I found myself reading ‘Murder For Liar’ in it’s entirety, in one night. This was so excellent and the main character, Tom Dashiel stole my entire heart.

‘Murder for Liar’ revolves around Tom, a therapist living in California who specializes in tough cases. Tom has gotten pretty successful doing this, and enjoys his job, despite it’s difficulties.

That is, until he meets George Arundel. George has Dissociative Identity Disorder, and has several different personalities that present at different times. Tom knows that this illness most likely stems for George’s childhood, some neglect or abuse before the age of four that caused him to revert into himself and set up these other personalities to handle things in the outside world.

Even though George is reluctant to talk about himself very much, Tom begins to feel that he is getting inside of the other man’s head, but just as he begins to feel this, George admits something to Tom that changes his view of the sessions entirely.

George believes that Tom is an angel that has been reincarnated into human form, and that he has been sent to “wake” him, essentially informing him of his angelic fate. But can he possibly be telling the truth? Is Tom really an angel in human form? Or is this just the crazed ravings of a very deluded man?

Tom begins to ask himself this very question as the book goes on, and the answer is one that I don’t think many readers will expect (I know I didn’t!)

I’ve never read another book that had such an out of this world concept and executed it so rationally. Darrow is an incredibly talented writer, and I hope I get to read more from him sometime soon!

5 out of 5 Stars!

About Verlin Darrow

Award-winning novelist, Verlin Darrow is a psychotherapist who lives with his psychotherapist wife in the woods near the Monterey Bay in northern California. They diagnose each other as necessary.

Verlin is a former professional volleyball player (in Italy), unsuccessful country-western singer/songwriter, import store owner, and assistant guru in a small, benign spiritual organization.

Website:  https://www.verlindarrow.com/

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Giveaway Murder for Liar by Verlin Darrow

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