(Morrow Books, Dec. 16)

Obsession, suspicion and lies collide in Hallie Ephron’s hair-raising solo debut of psychological suspense

Ivy and David have the perfect life: they are high school sweethearts who are happily married, live in a beautiful home, and are expecting their first child. In preparation for the big day—which is imminent—the couple decides to clean out the attic of their big Victorian house and hold a yard sale. All is going well until a former classmate, a woman named Melinda whom neither Ivy nor David have seen since high school, shows up.

Melinda is pregnant too and, oddly, seems to have the same due date as Ivy. Though Melinda was an outcast in high school, she talks to Ivy as though they were close friends, asking intimate details about Ivy’s pregnancy. David, realizing how uncomfortable Melinda is making Ivy, offers to show Melinda around inside the house. The last Ivy sees of Melinda is David ushering her into their house. In fact, that’s the last anyone sees of Melinda.

Now David’s under police suspicion, and Ivy finds herself digging deep into the past to clear his name. But David’s history is not necessarily the history she remembers, and before long she has uncovered a web of deceit, betrayal, and lies – lies that will put not only Ivy’s life at risk, but also that of her unborn child.

Relentlessly fast-paced and disturbingly creepy, NEVER TELL A LIE is a page-turning thrill ride about how well we know the people we love, and how far we are willing to go to protect the secrets of our past. But it is also a thought-provoking look at the vulnerability and isolation that career women feel taking the pregnancy plunge and the explosively emotional world of adolescence.