The Lying Man
By: Andy Maslen
Website: https://andymaslen.com/
Release Date: April 29, 2025
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Series: Detective Kat Ballantyne
Rating:

Book four in the Kat Ballantyne series and I’m going to be honest, it’s my favorite so far. Not only does Maslen tackle the classic locked-door mystery but the story approaches complex waters of vigilante justice, assault and the challenge of what is right legally and what is right morally.

When Kat’s husband Van brings her to the literary festival that focuses on mysteries and thrillers, only for a mystery to take place at the festival itself, Kat is both relieved to have a case to sink her teeth into and frustrated by the apparent impossibility of it all.

Not only is the manner of death not immediately clear we enter into the space of how the murder was carried out with the room locked and no one around except for the body.

However, with the body belonging to a man who had enemies, both professionally and personally, how do you approach the idea of getting justice for a man who maybe finally met some consequences of his own actions?

Kat’s struggle with the morality of this case, her boss Carve-up, the return of Tom, the arrival of Fez and the complexities of her team, as well as the complexities surrounding her father, the truth around who really set her up in the previous book for a corruption charge, and the constant struggle of doing it all without being a terrible person Kat has definitely grown on me.

Now, ahem, Andy Maslen, I’m waiting on certain men in this series to face their own consequences…

Overall this was a fun ride, a twist on the classic locked-door and contemporary with the subjects it approaches. I definitely didn’t have this one sorted out fully which is fun as a regular reader of mysteries to still be stumped now and again.