Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil

by Melina Marchetta

Overview

In the wake of a devastating bombing, a father risks everything to find out who was responsible.

When Bish Ortley, a recently suspended cop, receives word that a bus carrying his daughter has been bombed, he rushes to be by her side. A suspect has already been named: a 17-year-old girl who has since disappeared from the scene. The press has now revealed that she is the youngest member of one of London's most notorious families.

Years earlier, they were implicated in an attack that left dozens dead. Has the girl decided to follow in their footsteps? To find her, Bish must earn the trust of her friends and family, including her infamous mother, now serving a life sentence in prison.

But even as he delves into the deadly bus attack that claimed five lives, the ghosts of older crimes become impossible to ignore. A gripping fusion of literary suspense and family drama, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is a fast-paced puzzle of a novel that will keep reader feverishly turning pages.

"More than a crime story; it's jam-packed with family drama and heartbreak. Highly recommended for suspense and mystery fans." — Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316349307
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Melina Marchetta is the acclaimed author of young adult novels including Saving Francesca and Jellicoe Road, which won the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. Her novels have been published in 17 languages and 18 countries. She lives in Sydney, Australia. Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is Marchetta's first novel for adults.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Tell The Truth, Shame the Devil:

"Each new Melina Marchetta novel is a revelation. She's always changing, always evolving, and each one performs the miracle of somehow bettering the last—and TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL does exactly that. A novel of great scope, of past and present, and above all, the Marchetta trademark of a fierce and loving heart."—Markus Zusak, bestselling author of The Book Thief

"When you spend roughly 400 pages with characters and it still doesn't feel like enough you know you've read a great book. Actually, an excellent book. [It] expertly slices out every human emotion. I can only hope I will get to meet these characters again in a future book."—Jamie Canaves, BookRiot

"Marchetta's stunning adult debut....Emotionally complex characters complement an intricate plot rife with dizzying twists and devastating reveals. This visceral read manages to capture the emotional aftermath of a mass tragedy while sustaining tension and delivering a scathing indictment of racial profiling, vigilante justice, and the 24-hour news cycle."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Along with its wellrounded and likable characters, this is more than a crime story; it's jam-packed with family drama and heartbreak. Highly recommended for suspense and mystery fans."
—Kristen Calvert, Library Journal (starred review)

"Marchetta's smooth writing and flair for dialogue combine for a mostly seamless read."
—Kirkus Reviews

"I might have held my breath the entire time I was reading Melina Marchetta's heart-pounding (and heartbreaking) new novel. Part crime story, part family drama, part love story, TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go until I'd read the last word—and shed the last tear."
—Gayle Forman, bestselling author of If I Stay and Leave Me

"Loved it! TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL is a stunning marriage of global anguish and personal pain. It's often heartbreaking, sometimes heart-stopping, and definitely unforgettable."—Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street

"A cracking read that's also timely and intelligent....Marchetta is a master storyteller. Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil deserves to be on the bedside table of every crime fan."
—The Saturday Paper (Australia)

"....the characters [Marchetta] introduces are rich and complex. They'll soon be swept up in this swift thriller and call for more installments in Bish's tale."
—Cat Acree, BookPage

"Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil brilliantly captures the confusion of father-daughter relationships, the double-edged sword of redemption, and the destructive societal fear of "The Other." Alternating between dozens of perspectives, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is a wide-lens view of how one act of violence can reverberate for years and years in countless different lives and countless different places."—Cristina Arreola, Bustle

"There's much complexity and beauty in Melina Marchetta's resonating Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil. While large in scope, exploring timely issues such as terrorism, racism, the plight of immigrants and social media's lynch-mob mentality, the book also tells the heartrending personal stories of multidimensional and memorable characters."—Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"These stories, and the characters she introduces, are as much about the changing social and cultural climate of western Europe — and the distrust and fear that too often accompany those changes — as they are about any specific incident of violence. The book urges all of us to take a step back and consider — as well as confront — our own inherent biases."—Norah Piehl, BookReporter

"Marchetta seems to have inside knowledge of the mysterious processes of the teenage brain. A busload of quarrelsome, immature adolescents doesn't daunt her in the least.... Her young characters all stand out as individuals. Even at their most infuriating, they're always believable."
—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

"A multi-layered book with a big heart that accords every character we encounter - and there are many - a backstory that serves to illustrate just how profoundly people's lives may be shaped by the forces of history over which they have no control. Marchetta does this seamlessly, while her characters spring to life on the page....a beautifully conceived crime novel that continues to resonate long after you reach the last page."
—Sue Turnbull, Sydney Morning Herald

From the Publisher

Marchetta…seems to have inside knowledge of the mysterious processes of the teenage brain. A busload of quarrelsome, immature adolescents doesn't daunt her in the least. Although they represent a bubbling melting pot of ethnicities, some with underlying political tensions, her young characters all stand out as individuals. Even at their most infuriating, they're always believable…

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

★ 08/15/2016
At the start of YA author Marchetta’s stunning adult debut, Bashir “Bish” Ortley, a cop on suspension from London’s Metropolitan Police, travels to Calais, France, to see his teenage daughter after the bombing of her tour bus. Also among the survivors is 17-year-old Violette LeBrac Zidane, whose mother and grandfather allegedly conspired to blow up a British supermarket 13 years earlier. The authorities suspect the bomb on the bus was meant for Violette, but the public believes that she planted it. Either way, the Brits want Violette in their custody and out of France, so they task Bish with bringing her in. Violette runs, forcing Bish to work with the girl’s family in order to find her. Emotionally complex characters complement an intricate plot rife with dizzying twists and devastating reveals. This visceral read manages to capture the emotional aftermath of a mass tragedy while sustaining tension and delivering a scathing indictment of racial profiling, vigilante justice, and the 24-hour news cycle. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/15/2016
Recently suspended from the London police force for misconduct, Bish Ortley gets caught in the middle of a high-stakes investigation after a bus carrying his daughter is bombed in France. The primary suspect is Violet, the teenage granddaughter of a terrorist who set off a suicide bomb in a grocery store years ago, an explosive device that Violet's mother had built. Violet is on the run, and Bish must earn the trust of her friends and notorious mother to find her. Using any means necessary, Bish gets caught up in a wild twisty chase, while dealing with his own personal demons. He must decide, is she guilty or is the killer still out there? Australian YA author Marchetta, winner of the American Library Association's 2008 Michael L. Printz Award for Jellico Road, makes her adult fiction debut with an exciting literary thriller that is full of surprises. VERDICT Along with its well-rounded and likable characters, this is more than a crime story; it's jam-packed with family drama and heartbreak. Highly recommended for suspense and mystery fans. [See Prepub Alert, 4/25/16.]—Kristen Calvert Nelson, Marion Cty. P.L. Syst., Ocala, FL

Library Journal

Melina Marchetta's first adult novel offers many challenges to Zaqi Ismail as the audiobook narrator, and he handles them all with confidence and ease. The plot centers around the bombing of a tour bus full of schoolchildren, then spirals outward into a complex family drama. Ismail captures the flawed narrator's array of emotions—from helplessness to determination—as elegantly as the adolescent’s inclination toward sarcasm and rebellion. While his pacing maintains the tempo of the suspenseful story, sometimes his swift reading speed jumbles the clarity of his voice. This is not an audiobook suitable for speed-listening. Kept at the normal play rate, TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL is a gripping literary thriller. J.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

Melina Marchetta's first adult novel offers many challenges to Zaqi Ismail as the audiobook narrator, and he handles them all with confidence and ease. The plot centers around the bombing of a tour bus full of schoolchildren, then spirals outward into a complex family drama. Ismail captures the flawed narrator's array of emotions—from helplessness to determination—as elegantly as the adolescent’s inclination toward sarcasm and rebellion. While his pacing maintains the tempo of the suspenseful story, sometimes his swift reading speed jumbles the clarity of his voice. This is not an audiobook suitable for speed-listening. Kept at the normal play rate, TELL THE TRUTH, SHAME THE DEVIL is a gripping literary thriller. J.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

2016-08-03
A disgraced London police investigator chases a bombing case across parts of Western Europe in teen author Marchetta’s adult fiction debut.Bish Ortley gets a phone call telling him that a tour bus full of British kids, including his daughter, Sabina, has been bombed in France. Not knowing the circumstances, he and his mother, Saffron, drive hurriedly across the channel to find that Sabina, known as Bee, is unhurt, and the area is teeming with French police, newly arriving parents, and injured and dead teenagers. Bish had been a chief inspector with London's Metropolitan Police before being suspended from the department after 25 years on the force. (We never find out why; perhaps Marchetta is saving that information for a sequel.) But he’s soon pressed into service and asked to investigate the case because he’s established a rapport with the families of the dead, injured, and traumatized kids. It doesn’t help matters that Violette LeBrac Zidane, whose family was convicted of a notorious supermarket bombing 13 years earlier, was on the same bus and has now disappeared after surviving the blast without injury. Marchetta’s smooth writing and flair for dialogue combine for a mostly seamless read, but the action runs in place for a long time while she sets up the bus bombing. With 16 characters in the first 15 pages alone, Marchetta paints a confusing picture of strange family dynamics and improbable investigative procedure against a backdrop of European racism. Many of the characters, including Bish and Saffron, are of Middle Eastern descent, and Marchetta is interested in exploring bigotry against those who have darker skin. But the hammered-home theme, coupled with a crowded roster of characters and oddly interspersed changes of viewpoints and tenses, serves only to make it hard to care about the outcome of the investigation. Convoluted and unsubtle.

Kirkus Review