Lies That Bind by Maggie Barbieri is the second book in the “Maeve Conlon” mystery series. Publisher: Minotaur, February 2015

In the acclaimed Once Upon a Lie, Maggie Barbieri introduced Maeve Conlon, a single mother and bakery owner hiding dark secrets behind her cookie-cutter suburban life.

Now, Maeve’s moving on with everyday life when the unthinkable happens: her father dies of a massive heart attack. Maeve’s mother died when Maeve was very young, and growing up, it was always just her and her father. But on the day of his funeral, Maeve learns a shocking secret. She might have a sister she’s never met. Maeve knows her father would never have kept something like that from her…Unless he thought he had to.

Meantime, someone keeps sneaking around Maeve’s bakery. At first the signs are subtle, but then it becomes vandalism, and then it grows even more frightening. Could it be related to Maeve’s search for her missing sister? Maeve soon decides it’s time to take matters into her own capable hands. But administering her personal brand of justice is a dangerous undertaking, and between the ever-watchful eyes of her family and the lingering attention she’s attracted from local police, Maeve will be forced to decide just how much she’s willing to risk in the name of justice.

This fast-paced drama that took a stronghold on my reading time was filled with angst and an emotional journey that captured the heart and soul of our heroine who through the telling of this treatise became a bad-ass kicking mama who knows what she has to do when it comes to seeking out and protecting her own. The author did a brilliant job in keeping the pace suspenseful and yet trickled with humor. The closer I got to the end of this story, the faster my heart pumped because I knew a climax was coming but had to wait to see how it would be played out and bravo to the author for pulling this all together in this gripping tale that left me wanting more. A superb cast of characters that included Maeve, Jo who supplied the humor, Cal the ex-husband, Heather and Rebecca, her children, and Chris who I hope we get to see more of in the next book in this fantastic series.