What Have You Done Book Review

Book Review: What Have You Done by Matthew Farrell

What happens when you are a forensics specialist and you realize that you are the prime suspect in a brutal murder of the woman you were dating? And how would your brother, a homicide detective, be able to help you? Or maybe he would be of no help to you. What Have You Done by Matthew Farrell is a psychological thriller full of twists and turns. It kept me awake at night, reading. And that says a lot about any book.

What Have You Done

Liam Dwyer is a forensics specialist in Philadelphia. The impact of his own childhood trauma follows him into adulthood - unwilling to take a bath so great is his fear of water. Unwilling isn't the correct description. He's terrified of the bathtub. For good reason. Liam is married to Vanessa and that marriage had been on shaky ground. But they've gone to therapy and are trying to repair their relationship.

Liam had been cheating on Vanessa but broke it off recently in an attempt to save the marriage. Then his girlfriend suddenly pops back into his life - as a murder victim at a brutal crime scene. Liam is the prime suspect not just because he dated the victim, but because of the evidence. His fingerprints are at the scene. And Liam has no memory of where he was or what he was doing during the murder. But he remembers the paper flowers his mother made when he was young. Why are they showing up now?

Sean is Liam's older brother. Sean has always taken care of his baby brother. And Liam turns to him now for help. Sean is a homicide detective so he has contacts within the department to help investigate Liam and the murder; before the assigned detectives figure out the connection between his baby brother and the murder victim.  Don is one of those connections.

Don is Sean's partner. He is juggling his job and looking after his ailing, aging mother. Don has mentored and looked after the Dwyer boys over the years. He's a good guy, but when Sean asks him to bypass procedures to buy Liam some time, he does. 

I chose this book from Amazon Primes' First Reads. I like getting free books. 

I do not normally gravitate toward police procedural and crime novels but I do like psychological thrillers. In this story, I liked the twists and turns. Near the beginning of the book, I thought I knew the "who did it". But the twists and turns threw me off. In the end, I wasn't fully surprised as my initial guesses were on track but even so I liked the journey of finding out the truth.

This was a quick read and interesting plot. It wasn't the most expert writing, but it kept my attention. I found myself wanting to know what would happen next and how the murder would be solved. I wanted the cover-ups exposed. And they were.

I believe What Have You Done is Matthew Farrell's debut novel. I look forward to his next book I Know Everything, due to be released in August 2019. 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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