The Liar by Nora Roberts (2015)

This is one of the mystery stories by Roberts. Shelby has lost her husband Richard in a boating accident and finds out that the wealth he surrounded her with was all a lie - everything bought on credit with payments overdue. She is left with an enormous debt. The only good thing out of that relationship is Callie, their three year old daughter. Unlike some of Roberts' books, where the woman meets the man within the first chapter if not first page, the author takes her time and we spend time watching Shelby fighting despair and debtors, getting organized and selling off things, before heading back to Tennessee and her family. There she is doted on by parents, brothers and grandparents and we see she comes from a line of strong women. My biggest discomfort was the huge focus on the beauty salon/spa that is owned by her grandmother, where her mother works, and where Shelby ends up working too. I know it is an important part of many women's lives, it just isn't for me, and the constant focus on the outward appearance troubles me. I'm all for enjoying a new dress, or getting your hair done for a special occasion, but that you can't walk out of the house without putting on your lipstick just bums me out. Plus there was inordinate fuss over an engagement party that also was unpleasant.

I have mentioned in the past that sometimes the characters in Roberts' books seem to disconnected from family and friends made over the years. This one was rich with family, and included an old high school rival and the best friend, who was mad at her for being so distant while married to Richard and not coming back for important events. Of course Shelby makes up with her friend, and through her meets Griff,  a construction business. As in many of her male characters, he is too good to be true, but I did enjoy the fact that he connected so well with Shelby's daughter Callie. I also liked that he was restoring an old country house.

The mystery was based on a plot twist that was quite obvious from the beginning, but it still caused enough excitement and gave Griff an opportunity to worry and support Shelby. The debt angle was quite implausible - that she could sell so much off for such substantial sums, and that she could keep paying off the huge debt with income from her salon job. But I liked that we see Shelby regaining her confidence in herself, that she lost through the mentally abusive relationship with Richard.