Book ~ "Not a Word" (2026) Linwood Barclay

From Goodreads ~ Every family has secrets but when Reece visits his parents’ house, he’s shocked to find them in bed, dead. At first glance it looks like a murder-suicide perpetrated by his father but on closer inspection there’s clearly more to the story. For starters, inconsistencies in the crime scene suggest his dad may not have shot himself.

As Reece, shaken by his horrifying discovery, awaits questioning from the police, his phone lights up with a call. It’s the last person he ever would have expected to hear from.

Reeling from the day’s events, Reece finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew about his parents - and whether he and his own family are in danger now. While the authorities work to untangle the baffling crime scene, Reece is pulled into a web of secrets linked to the unscrupulous pharma company his father worked for years ago.

In order to protect the people he loves most, he’ll have to dig deep into his own past to understand who his parents were, what they did and who they hurt - before he ends up paying for their sins.

When Reece goes to visit his father, Brent, he finds him dead in his bed. Beside him is a woman who appears to have been shot by Brent before he took his own life. At first Reece assumes it's his mother but then discovers his mother is actually alive. As Detective Janice McCabe investigates the apparent murder - suicide, it starts to appear that things aren't as they seem. Near the end of the story, Reece discovers what really happened to Brent and the secrets his family has been keeping.

I've read many of this author's books and thought this one was just okay. It was a bit convaluted with some coincidences. The ending (the whodunnit) was farfetched and disappointing and I wasn't buying it. It's written in first person perspective in Reece's voice and third person perspective when the focus is on everyone else. It moves back and forth between the present and 1999. I didn't find the characters overly likeable and thought a couple were extreme and unbelievable. Usually with this author, his stories are set in some small town in the States. I like that this one was set outside of Toronto and he didn't try to hide it. As a head's up, there is swearing.