One rainy Tuesday Rose Phillips, an elderly, reclusive woman, received a visitor. Her daughter-in-law Suellyn Phillips was trying to get Rose to move to a small unit in a local retirement home. Rose could still stay in the same neighborhood, but would get better care than what the family could give her at home. Unfortunately for Suellyn, Rose refused to live anywhere except her long-time home, which was in Suellyn’s name.

Suellyn put a deposit down on a unit at the nursing home, and decided to take the next step by hiring a real estate agent, by the name of Ambah St. John, to sell the home in order to force Rose out. A week later, when Ambah arrived at Rose’s home, she found the elderly woman’s body on the kitchen floor. The suspicious death prompted investigators to look at who might have profited from her demise.

During the investigation, several anomalies caused DC Jill Brennan to look deeper into the elder woman’s life. She found a suspicious crime scene, a sudden for-sale sign that popped up the day after the murder, and a number of well-kept secrets kept by Rose.

Secrets and Lies is the first of a new series of crime novels featuring Detective Constable Jill Brennan, written by Gina Amos.

I found myself quickly drawn into the emotional and verbal battle between Rose and Suellyn, a contest of wills that seemed to have eluded her son William, until his mother’s death. Her death changed the life of her wealthy son, especially now that someone seemed to be after him.

The solid plot builds throughout the story giving readers a series of twists and turns that will keep pages turning to the end. Amos brings life to her story with unique and intriguing characters.

For example, Dr. Ashleigh Taylor is a forensic pathologist who determines what Brennan believes is a suicide, is actually the murder of an elderly woman in her home. Twists and turns keep the story moving forward to the surprise ending.

I don’t know how many of the characters will make it to the second novel, Killing Sunday, but I’m sure that the investigations by DC Brennan will keep us entertained. We are looking forward to the next episode.

If you enjoyed reading this story, Gina Amos's books are available at Amazon, including Secrets & Lies (Detective Jill Brennan Mystery Series Book 1)

A special thank you goes to Kara Group Pty Limited for providing a complimentary copy of this novel for our review.