Customer Reviews

Two Truths and a Lie

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It had been a while since I had read a murder mystery and when I began searching for one to read the title of this one got my attention. Dair, a stage actress, quickly finds herself in the middle of the suspicious death of her best friend who is an actor that she often plays opposite of. The police have dismissed the death as a drug related suicide but Dair doesn't believe it was a suicide. Dair has her suspicions about who the murderer is but is she right? As she copes with her best friend's death she must also deal with her own problems. She is battling to convince herself that she doesn't have a drinking problem. Dair constantly lies and she is afraid one of her biggest lies will hurt the person she is closest too-her husband. Her husband, Peyton, has his own secrets and lies, as do most of the characters in this book.

Kittle uses the backstage atmosphere and the life of the performers off stage as the backdrop for this novel full of twists that will keep readers guessing. The cast of characters include actors, dancers, directors and even the stagehands. Dair's mother, someone that can talk to animals, plays a large role and her unique ability to communicate with animals makes her another of the unforgettable characters in the novel. There were a number of characters to keep straight in this novel, but the uniqueness of each of them coupled with their genuineness made it easy. I will definitely be on the lookout for more by Katrina Kittle.

Wow! What a unique book. I couldn't put it down. Murder, mystery, addiction, reincarnation, acting and animal communication are just some of the many elements involved in this intricate and fascinating story. In simplest terms, it can be described as a mystery, but it's also so much more. Set in Cincinnati, Ohio, the book explores our relationships with and how we communicate with other people as well as with animals. In fact, animals play a huge role in helping to solve the primary mystery of the story: the murder of one of the best friends of the protagonist, Dair Canard. If Dair could just overcome her addiction to alcohol, all the answers would be clear for her to see. And then there's her addiction to lying, which is getting her into deeper and deeper trouble. As Dair fights to overcome her addictions, she reconnects with her family and with an ability she had long buried. And she finds out that one of her biggest lies actually contained a truth that even she was unaware of. Also, I must mention that this book contains one of the most memorable fictional characters I've ever encountered: Captain Hook, an African Grey parrot who provides one of the keys to solving the mystery and who helps to bring a small community of neighbors closer together.

Dair Canard is a master at lying. She has embellished on so many stories that she cannot tell fact from fiction anymore. She realizes her problem when her lying begins to affect her relationship with her husband Peyton.

Addiction and lies are at the centre of this novel. Dair has a drinking problem, something else which she cannot admit to herself. Peyton has his own addiction which he struggles with every day.

In the midst of these problems, there is a murder mystery unraveling. The death of Dair and Peyton's close friend, Craig. Kittle throws some twists and turns into this plot and we are able to see the wonderful character development along the way.

The whole premise of this story is to communicate, with each other and with all creatures, respect for one another is of utmost importance. Dair has to learn to be honest with those around her and herself.

I loved Katrina Kittle's first novel, Traveling Light. It was an amazing story told with heartfelt honesty. This follow up, while different than her first novel, is equally as good. The writing grabs you and doesn't let go. I can't wait for her next creation.

From the first page, Two Truths and A Lie grabbed me and wouldn't let go. It's one of those rare, delicious books that sweeps you up and keeps you up past your bedtime as you travel deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of deception and intrigue that author Katrina Kittle has so masterfully crafted. I loved that this book is even more than a top-notch page-turner of a mystery. It's also a complex psychological portrait of Dair Canard, a compulsive liar who finds herself tangled up in her own untruths. I relished the rich layers that addiction, animal communication, sexual identity and the ambiguity of relationship add to this story. Most compelling is Dair's dawning realization that, more than anyone else, she has deceived herself. Before the truth can set her free, she has to go about the tough business of dis-covering the lies she's lived, peeling away layers of self-deception and denial to find herself. All this and a dynamite murder mystery, too! Like Kittle's first novel, Traveling Light, you quickly realize you are in the hands of a master with the most fascinating kinds of stories to tellfiction that rings true. I can't wait to see where Kittle's next book takes us! Two Truths leaves me hungry for more.

"Dair was a habitual liar. Not pathological or anything, just...recreational." Thus begins this story about lies, deception, and what happens when the truth is sometimes less believable than the lies we tell. Let's face it we've all been guilty of telling "little white lies". Stories we enhance, niceties we introduce to spare someone's feelings, the occasional all out fib. Whether we like it or not, lying is part of human nature.

And it is with this introspective into someone who has spent her entire life telling little (and sometimes not so little) lies that begins our story. We meet Dair, on the way to pick up her husband Peyton from the airport, plotting the lie she'll tell him to explain why she is late. It is the accident, or apparent suicide she witnesses on the way, which truly does make her late, and turns out to be stranger than any fiction she could have concocted.

From here a web of lies, not only Dair's, but also everyone else's, begins to spin out of control. We meet Peyton, her husband, who has his own demons to contend with, we learn more about the reasons behind Dair's "habit" of stretching the truth. We meet Dair's mother, with her unusual talent of communicating with animals. We learn the identity of the alleged "suicide" victim, and his relation to all the players in this book. And we open up a whole lot of questions in the process.

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, not even having a clue what the story was about (it was sent to me by a friend), and so was glad to discover that it was full of twists and turns and surprises. The characters were very real, and easy to identify with. The author creates a world not unlike the world her reader's live in, and therefore, these characters could be our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers. Their secrets and their lies, possibly making them people we don't truly know. The relationships between the characters were realistic, deep, captivating, and I could identify with Dair, I felt for Peyton, I adored the cranky upstairs neighbor, Mr. Lively. But it was the "secondary characters" in this story, the animals, which really tied it all together for me. Katrina Kittle did a wonderful job of making the pets as much a "cast of characters" in this novel as the humans. Shoddan and Blizzard, Peyton and Dair's dogs, with their huge personalities, Captain Hook, Mr. Lively's parrot, with his extended vocabulary, Dair's Chickadee, they were vital to this story, and added a nice twist to the mystery and the drama.

For me, this book had it all, great character development, wonderful storytelling, mystery, humor, a bit of sadness, fantasy and realism. A+

Kittle's previous work, Traveling Light, was beautiful because, while the bare plot is sad, the story feels hopeful. In Two Truths and a Lie, her skill with mood shows through again, but is now complemented by innumerable convolutions of plot. Two Truths is fascinating and wonderfully complicated. Her work reminds me of Ann Tyler's because the characters are the best part of each novel. They're beautifully developed, and seem to drive the story rather than the other way around.

I read Ms. Kittle's first book and thought that she could not be topped. But, in her second book, Ms. Kittle has almost done just thought. In her suspensful novel, each page turn brings a change of emotion and reality flies off the page. Readers will begin to think that the characters are real, their probloems real, and the story actually happened. Ms. Kittle's novel has left me speechless and in awe of her writing. The novel is a must read for any reader and an excellent follow-up to TRAVELING LIGHT, the first masterpiece by Ms. Kittle.

Two Truths and a Lie is a poignant exploration into the art of communication, an eloquent insight into the fact that, like dance, theatre, or aikido, communication is a discipline, which, without proper attention and practice, will become rusty and ineffective. That we can learn this lesson from the subtle communication of animals lends a breath of originality to Ms. Kittle's work, which ostensibly constitutes an intriguing murder mystery. Yet this work is so much more than the typical suspense novel. Every bizarre twist, far from leading to incredulity in the reader, rather contributes deftly to the above-mentioned lesson of the work. That the characters deal convincingly with real-life problems takes a page from Ms. Kittle's first novel, "Traveling Light." Indeed, the author's work runs deep with themes that would be far easier to ignore, and she should be applauded for having the courage to portray them so candidly. Also reminiscent of "Traveling Light" are the masterfully delicate relationships between characters that Ms. Kittle handles with great poise, teaching us that no relationship is self-sufficient.
Ms. Kittle's anticipated second novel does nothing to let down. Having created new possibilities for the suspense novel genre, it is exciting to see what she will do next, and furthermore, throughout her promising career.

Dair Canard has problems, big ones. A compulsive liar with a drinking problem, she has a husband that seems to have something to hide, parents who have separated, and a close friend whose recent and suspicious death was bizarre to say the least. Dair's life is definately spiraling out of control, and her lifetime of lying is starting to take it's toll.
This is a well written page turner with just enough twists to keep the reader guessing. My only criticism would be that I found the "animal telepathy" angle a little difficult to swallow. Even an animal lover such as myself grew tired of the endless references to the character's pets. That said, this is still a enjoyable, albeit unusual mystery novel worth reading.

Two Truths and a Lie is an enthralling mystery rich with fascinating characters, enveloped in acute attention to the complexities of the human spirit. Each taken separately; the riveting murder mystery, the human connection to characters so true and exposed, and the keen awareness for human nature, might arguably stand alone to comprise a fascinating novel in their own right. Together, they create a tour de force that takes the reader on a journey of entertainment, enlightenment and reflection.

The bizarre incident that quickly culminates to a beloved friends' death, grips you from the first few pages. What keeps the grip tight throughout this book, is Ms. Kittles' powerful attention to each character; their dimension and complexities. Every character is embellished with a fascinating insight of the human psyche on many levels. Such revelations bring a truth to each character that keeps the reader caring, guessing, and reading.

Fans of the murder mystery genre will not be disappointed by this whodunit. Two Truths and a Lie is exceptional in this genre as the plot continually thickens through meticulous character portrayal and the discerning disclosures surrounding them, rather than manipulative clues. A serendipitous bonus to this mystery can be found in the revealing and compassionate observations regarding addiction, the human need for communication, the intricacies of intimacy, and the respect for all creatures great and small; all of which enhance rather than detract from the plot of this masterful work of fiction.

Truth be told; P.D. James used to be my favorite author of the mystery genre. That opinion changed after reading the first chapter of "Two Truths and a Lie."