Where The Truth Lies
Katherine Greene
Crooked Lane Books
March 2026
Where The Truth Lies by Katherine Greene, the pen name of bestselling authors A. Meredith Walters and Claire C. Riley, is a domestic suspense story. The small-town setting enhances the secrets, affairs, and deception made by each character, along with the alternating timelines and multiple POVs.
Abbi Meredith Walters noted, “It is inspired by true events, a cold case, that happened in Virigina involving people in my family. I had this old scrapbook that was my grandmothers. I sent this to Claire, and we decided to write a book based on the information. There are personality traits like the people the characters were modeled after. We did make changes.”
High school sweethearts Rhett Clark and Lucinda Herbaugh seem to have nothing in common. She is from a very powerful and rich family while he is being raised by a single mom who works very hard at her job. Yet, they appear to love each other and to be the picture-perfect couple with the perfect marriage.
But fifteen years ago, the couple came very close to losing everything, when outsider Jennifer Moore arrived in their tight-knit Kentucky town and had a brief but explosive affair with soon-to-be-married Rhett. Fast-forward to the present where new evidence has surfaced, including an eyewitness who places Rhett at the scene of the brutal murder of Jennifer.
“We agreed that the victim, Jenn, needed a voice. We wanted the reader to remember she was at the heart of the story and did not want her to get lost in it. She was meant to be the most likeable character in the story. After writing about half the book, Abbi realized Jenn needed her own chapters. In the news the victim tends to be lost so we wanted to make her the forefront. We thought it was much more important for her to tell her story, more than anyone else. It helped to build the story around her.”
Now the betrayal once again comes to the surface, and the mystery of Jenn’s death is riddled with corruption and deception. Everything Rhett and Lucinda strove for is crumbling as the “truth” begins to come out. Abuse plays a role in the story whether emotional, physical, or both. Lucinda’s father made sure everyone in the family and town sided with him. Jenn’s brother believes women should be dominated and intimidated, influencing Rhett in a bad way. With Jenn’s death at the center of the story each of the other character’s will have to answer to their own demons.
“We wrote Rhett as someone bullied into submission by this strong-willed family. He enters this dark world and is led astray by the other male character. We wanted to show how he was led down this different path that he meant not to go down. He started off as a lovely person who wants to please all the women in his life. We hope readers like him at first, and then at the end do not like him with the slow descent. At first, he is seen as trustworthy, honest, dependable, quiet, and charming. But then becomes obstinate, lacks common sense, and has rage”.
“Lucinda just wants her parents’ approval and to be loved but must deal with overbearing parents. She has a slow descent into becoming an unlikeable person because of her striving for perfectionism. She is at times out of control, confident, from a privileged family, lonely, manipulator, and strong-willed.”
Other than Jenn, all the other characters are not likeable and very complex. This story has readers only rooting for Jenn to get justice as they turn the pages to find out the truth.
