The Truth about the Devlins

by Lisa Scottoline

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A psychological suspense standalone that is perfectly on brand with Lisa Scottoline’s specialty. This pacey read bandies with the power and precariousness of lies and their effects on us. It’s a propulsive read you won’t want to put down.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

USA Today Bestseller

Lisa Scottoline, the #1 bestselling author of What Happened to the Bennetts, presents another pulse-pounding domestic thriller about family, justice, and the lies that tear us apart.

TJ Devlin is the charming disappointment in the prominent Devlin family, all of whom are lawyers at their highly successful firm—except him. After a stint in prison and rehab for alcoholism, TJ can’t get hired anywhere except at the firm, in a make-work job with the title of investigator.

But one night, TJ’s world turns upside down after his older brother John confesses that he murdered one of their clients, an accountant he’d confronted with proof of embezzlement. It seems impossible coming from John, the firstborn son and Most Valuable Devlin.

TJ plunges into the investigation, seizing the chance to prove his worth and save his brother. But in no time, TJ and John find themselves entangled in a lethal web of deception and murder. TJ will fight to save his family, but what he learns might break them first.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525539711
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	292
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Lisa Scottoline is the #1 bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of thirty-six novels. A former President of Mystery Writers of America, she has thirty million copies of her books in print and has been published in thirty-five countries. Her books have been optioned for film and TV, and she has also co-authored a series of humorous memoirs with her daughter, novelist Francesca Serritella. A former lawyer, Scottoline taught a course she developed, “Justice & Fiction,” at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, her alma mater. She lives on a farm outside Philadelphia with an array of disobedient pets.

Hometown:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Date of Birth:

July 1, 1955

Place of Birth:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Education:

B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1976; J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1981

Website:

http://www.scottoline.com

Read an Excerpt

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“A perfect example of Lee Child’s talent . . . This is not just a good story; it is a story with a purpose and a message.”—Huffington Post

Reacher takes a stroll through a small Wisconsin town and sees a class ring in a pawn shop window: West Point 2005. A tough year to graduate: Iraq, then Afghanistan. The ring is tiny, for a woman, and it has her initials engraved on the inside. Reacher wonders what unlucky circumstance made her give up something she earned over four hard years. He decides to find out. And find the woman. And return her ring. Why not?

So begins a harrowing journey that takes Reacher through the upper Midwest, from a lowlife bar on the sad side of small town to a dirt-blown crossroads in the middle of nowhere, encountering bikers, cops, crooks, muscle, and a missing persons PI who wears a suit and a tie in the Wyoming wilderness.

The deeper Reacher digs, and the more he learns, the more dangerous the terrain becomes. Turns out the ring was just a small link in a far darker chain. Powerful forces are guarding a vast criminal enterprise. Some lines should never be crossed. But then, neither should Reacher.

Editorial Reviews

01/22/2024

A wealthy Philadelphia family’s dysfunction threatens to undo them in the engrossing latest from Scottoline (What Happened to the Bennetts). Married attorneys Paul and Marie Devlin work beside their two eldest children and fellow lawyers, John and Gabrielle, at their esteemed family firm. TJ, the youngest Devlin, is a recovering alcoholic with a criminal record who works as the firm’s informal “investigator,” spending most of his days doing busywork to keep him out of trouble. When John tells TJ he may have accidentally killed a client one night, a shocked TJ agrees to help his brother avoid arrest. As TJ digs deeper into the client’s death, however, he uncovers his siblings’ involvement in a vast pharmaceutical conspiracy that puts his safety and sobriety at risk. Scottoline successfully anchors the story’s legalese and shady pharma dealings in TJ’s personal struggles, wringing real emotion from his gradual realization that, while he may be the Devlins’ black sheep, he’s far from the family’s most amoral member. The midsection sags a bit, but for the most part, this is a ripping blend of legal and family drama. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

A LibraryReads Hall of Fame Pick

One of Mystery Tribune's Best Crime, Mystery, and Thriller Books of March 2024
One of Brit+CO's Most-Anticipated & Best New Books of 2024
One of Shelf Awareness's Best Books of the Week

”[A]n absolutely gripping page-turner, equal parts legal thriller and domestic drama as a family of lawyers strives to hold it together in the face of lies and violence . . . The Truth About The Devlins is an excellent look at dysfunctional family dynamics, and what it takes to overcome them in order to heal. . . . Poignant and smart, this novel deals sensitively with both legal and family history, as well as with what it means to take sobriety seriously. Wry, reflective TJ is so easy to root for as he confronts hard truths about both himself and his family. With plenty of humor and a touch of romance to perfectly counterbalance the dramatic tension, this book had me hooked until the very last page." —Criminal Element

"A solid legal thriller and an intense family drama . . . The novel precisely examines family dynamics, showing how hierarchies can shift through the years. Scottoline has a talent for shaping realistic characters that keeps the Devlins' saga intriguing." —Shelf Awareness

"A multi-layered and well plotted story that takes narrative twists and turns . . . An emotionally stirring and powerful story about justice, repercussions, redemption, and the strength of family bonds." —Fresh Fiction

"The Truth About the Devlins is a twist-filled tale that never lets up or lets us down. Just when you think you’ve figured things out, Scottoline tosses yet another wrench into the works, spinning things in an altogether different direction. Her latest is like a masterclass on how a story should be told and what great storytelling looks like." —BookTrib

"Family dysfunction and life-threatening circumstances are the least of the variety of twists and turns with which Scottoline peppers this labyrinthine plot. . . . The Truth About the Devlins is a romp with exacting amounts of soul and sabotage, surprise and success, that even the most jaded mystery reader will find it to be a jolt to his or her system.” —Bookreporter

"[Scottoline] plunges right into a story and piles the twists on along the way . . . [and] gives us a conclusion that is not only surprising but much more satisfying." —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"[In] The Truth About the Devlins, Lisa Scottoline introduces a dysfunctional family that really puts the “fun” in “dysfunctional . . . Scottoline explores those deliciously screwed-up family dynamics with gusto . . . Part family drama, part legal thriller, Scottoline proves once again why she’s a master of the genre. You’ll burn through this book in no time flat." —Mystery Scene

"Lisa Scottoline, always a sure bet to keep readers on the edge of their seats, skillfully combines fascinating elements of family drama, suspense, and crime in her latest expertly crafted thriller... Still at the very top of her game, Scottoline delivers another compelling thriller with The Truth About the Devlins, an irresistible story that dares to explore the fragility of familial ties, the quest for redemption, and the consequences of buried secrets." —The Real Book Spy

"The tense mystery plays out as a catalyst for redemption and family healing—Scottoline’s heart-warming specialty. . . . A new family thriller by best-selling Scottoline is automatically a must-have." —Booklist

"A ripping blend of legal and family drama.” —Publishers Weekly
 
"What do you get when you combine family dysfunction plus deep, dark secrets plus legal drama? A thoroughly engrossing thriller that will keep you riveted till the very end. Scottoline knocks this one out of the park!” —Lisa Gardner

Praise for Lisa Scottoline
 
"Scottoline is a powerhouse." —David Baldacci

"Scottoline writes riveting thrillers that keep me up all night, with plots that twist and turn." —Harlan Coben

"Scottoline is one of the very best writers today." —Michael Connelly

"Scottoline just keeps ratcheting up the pressure in what may be her most emotionally intense nail-biter to date." —People

"An absorbing, cinematic read with heart." —The Washington Post
 
"Twisty, propulsive, and exhilarating . . . Left me dazzled and breathless." —Megan Abbott

"An emotion-packed thriller that stabs at the core of family, betrayal, and justice. Scottoline drives the plot at breakneck speed and keeps readers turning the pages." —Robert Dugoni

"Scottoline is at the top of her already masterful game. . . . Compulsively readable, seamlessly delivering one blazing twist after another with relentless pacing." —Alafair Burke

"Scottoline knows how to keep readers in her grip." —The New York Times Book Review

"Scottoline is a star." —Time

From the Publisher

There are few novels that are part legal thriller, part family saga, part redemption story, and that do it well. This compelling narrative is brought to life by the tremendous Edoardo Ballerini. With gentle authority, Ballerini invites listeners to meet the Devlin family, a seemingly tight unit who work in a family law firm. The story opens with favorite son John calling his brother, TJ, an ex-convict and recovering alcoholic. John is in trouble; he may have killed his client. What follows is an intriguing unwinding of what happened that night and what dangers lurk close by. Listeners will be captivated by Ballerini's performance and will gain additional insights through Scottoline's delivery of her author's note. P.P.C. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2024 - AudioFile

2024-01-05
The ne’er-do-well son of a successful Irish American family gets dragged into criminal complications that suggest the rest of the Devlins aren’t exactly the upstanding citizens they appear.

The first 35 years in the life of Thomas “TJ” Devlin have been one disappointment after another to his parents, lawyers who founded a prosperous insurance and reinsurance firm, and his more successful siblings, John and Gabby. A longtime alcoholic who’s been unemployable ever since he did time for an incident involving his ex-girlfriend Carrie’s then 2-year-old daughter, TJ is nominally an investigator for Devlin & Devlin, but everyone knows the post is a sinecure. Things change dramatically when golden-boy John tells TJ that he just killed Neil Lemaire, an accountant for D&D client Runstan Electronics. Their speedy return to the murder scene reveals no corpse, so the brothers breathe easier—until Lemaire turns up shot to death in his car. John’s way of avoiding anything that might jeopardize his status as heir apparent to D&D is to throw TJ under the bus, blaming him for everything John himself has done and adding that you can’t trust anything his brother has said since he’s fallen off the wagon. TJ, who’s maintained his sobriety a day at a time for nearly two years, feels outraged, but neither the police investigating the murder nor his nearest and dearest care about his feelings. Forget the forgettable mystery, whose solution will leave you shrugging instead of gasping, and focus on the circular firing squad of the Devlins, and you’ll have a much better time than TJ.

As an adjunct member says, “You’re not a family, you’re a force.” Exactly, though not in the way you’d expect.

Kirkus Reviews