The last lie told

Charlie Holmes, in a Tennessee prison for murder, recants his confession, saying he didn't kill Lance Legard of Nashville's Legard Records. He confessed five years earlier, but now he insists he was covering up for his girlfriend at the time--Legard's daughter, Sophia. Sophia asks Jack Finnegan to represent her identical twin daughters. But it's Finley O'Sullivan, a former district attorney, who is caught up in the messy investigation. After Finley's husband was murdered, and she went through months of therapy, she had a breakdown in court, and was suspended for a year. She's still uncovering the secrets behind her husband's death, but now she's an investigator for Finnegan. As Finley digs into the background of the Legards, as well as Holmes's story, she finds nothing but lies. The charismatic Holmes sends Finley frequent messages through his devoted followers, but his hints only reveal part of the mystery. VERDICT The author of numerous series, including "Devlin and Falco," launches a new one that leaves threads unresolved. Though it's confusing at times, Webb's fans will still want to read it.--Lesa Holstine

Webb leaves behind her Birmingham police procedurals to focus on an investigator in Nashville who faces long odds in getting her life back on track. Finley O'Sullivan is the only child of a powerful local family. She rarely sees her mother, a judge, but she maintains a warm relationship with her father and is blessed with a lifelong friendship with Matthew Quinn, a high-powered lawyer who always has her back. She's especially treasured that friendship ever since the murder of her husband, Derrick, caused a breakdown that put paid to her job as an assistant district attorney. Instead, Finley's taken a job as an investigator for alcoholic lawyer Jack Finnegan, an old family friend who's working on a case that will change her life again. Charles Holmes, who's in prison for multiple homicides, now claims that the murder of Lance Legard, a big man in the music scene, was not one of his. Lance's widow, Sophia, hires Jack, her ex-lover, to protect the interests of her twin daughters, Cecelia and Olivia, whose father was suspected of molesting them. Cecelia lives at home and never goes out; Olivia graduated from college and moved to California. Finley still lives in the half-finished house Derrick bought when they married, but now she starts to learn things that shake her faith in him. Messy affairs and a love-hate relationship between the twins are only a few of the things that the highly intuitive Finley must work through to solve the mystery. A complex case fraught with angst and danger ends with surprising revelations. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.