Just Trust Me
Judy Markey
Mira, Aug 2004, $23.95, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0778320626

Chicago FM radio host Kate Lerner receives a letter from her former husband Richard Farley; this note is his first contact with her since he deserted her and their infant son Danny fifteen year ago. He asks to see her before he dies as he insists that he has one year to live and offers money if she does. Her ex second husband kind Professor Tim advices her not to go; her radio co-host David Weiland and her twin sister Karen say go because she needs the money to pay for the operations that her second child with Tim is undergoing.

Through a mix up in restaurant rendezvous points, they talk over cell phones. Richard asks Kate to accompany him to Italy and if she does she will receive a lot of money. She decides to go because she needs the cash, but also hides who she will meet from her teenage son, who detests his dad. A minor omission and a lie lead to other fabrications as her world begins to unravel leading to her son in trouble with the law.

The theme of this engaging contemporary romantic thriller is derived from Sir Walter Scott's "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive" as Kate hides what she is doing from her children. Her actions lead to the troubles facing her son and Jamie, a girl his age, but this is clearly Kate's novel as fans learn first hand and from friends and family what makes her tick (and fabricate). Fans will enjoy Judy Markey's tale that focuses on "Mom Lies".

Harriet Klausner