The Truth Hurts

Marie Lightfoot #3

by Nancy Pickard

A killer wants true-crime writer Marie Lightfoot to collaborate as his next victim and write a book about her own murder. Can she finally uncover the truth about the disappearance of her parents, underground Civil Rights activists who vanished in the explosive summer of 1963? Marie must follow the instructions of her co-author in a small Alabama town - and outwit him.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 2, 2002

About the author

Nancy Pickard is an American crime novelist. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and began writing at age 35.

She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. Her novel The Virgin of Small Plains, published in 2007, won an Agatha Award. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.

Reviews

[R.E. Conary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly enjoyed "The Truth Hurts" and the inclusion of The Executioners by John D. MacDonald was a great hook that had me pulling out my worn and tattered, 1958 copy for another read. However, I thought Pickard's ending rushed, the actual villains not properly established, and Marie's rescue a bit too deus ex machina.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Truth Hurts by Nancy Pickard is book 3 of the Marie Lightfoot mystery series set in contemporary Florida and Alabama. Definitely recommend read the series in order, for full descriptions of Marie as a true crime writer, her relationship with Franklin, and her long quest for the truth about her parents. The pace starts out fast with a startling premise and scary plot twists, yet drags when she's in Alabama. I liked the long-dangling loose end resolved: we finally find out who called Marie in past books, to tell her about her parents (if only Marie had taken her call!).

[Michaeline Skibinski Skibinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very compeling book. I couldn't put it down. I also read a previous book by Nancy Pickard, "The Whole Truth." Both books are well written and interesting. "The Truth Hurts" deals with actions that took place during segregation in the deep south.

[Toni Kania · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last and best of an older three-book series by Pickard. One of those sitting on my shelf forever. You can't help but admire and like the successful and talented true-crime writer whose own past brings the trilogy to a head.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favorite of the trilogy, but it was still a good read. Major typo/punctuation errors in the kindle edition drove me crazy though.

[Mary Cassidy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the references to John D. MacDonald and civil rights history, but the plot was too far-fetched to engage me.

[Rosyel Sawali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book a long while back. Now, I've just finished re-reading it. Somehow it reminds me why I enjoy reading Nancy Pickard. Was hardly able to put the book down. Such a good read indeed!

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

January 2015

[Nancy J Gumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story, inside story of true crime writer. Hard to put down.

[Gayle Dickenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the three books in this series, this is the one I couldn’t put down until I finished it! Loved it!

[Jennifer D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly Recommended! On the edge of the seat suspense & great plot! Certainly a page turner!

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie Lightfoot is feeling pretty good. Although a successful writer, she is still anonymous enough that she can go to the local grocery store dressed in shorts, sloppy T-shirt and ratty thongs and not be recognized. Then as she's standing in line, she sees a nasty article about herself in one of the tabloid newspapers at the checkout: "Best-Selling Author Hides Her Racist Past." The article is all the more insolent because Marie is a white woman seeing a black man, Florida's state attorney Franklin DeWeese. "I was actually having a pretty nice life until five minutes ago," she tells us...

The rest of my review:
http://mostlyfiction.com/sleuths/pick...

[Ronald Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery novel about a famous true-crime writer, Marie Lightfoot, who suddenly finds herself under public attack as a racist, is forced to revisit the disappearance of her parents when she was an infant, and has to take seriously the threats of an emailer who begins to show evidence of his physical proximity in the real world. This book ends with satisfactory solutions to more than one mystery. I learned of this one through the Seattle Public Library's reading list "Mysteries with Women Detectives."

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting mystery with two different stories going on that you knew all along would come together somehow in the end. I felt it was a little disjointed though and the ending did not seem to fit as well as I expected. I also felt there too many vaguely sketched characters and Marie herself was inconsistent. This is not the usual case with Nancy Pickard, an author I have loved since she first started to write mysteries.

[Rainz ❤️rainnbooks❤️(on a break) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marie Lightfoot series of novels does captivate the reader and Nancy Pickard has done wonders in creating a frightening atmosphere where Marie discovers more about her parents past. However, this is the 2nd book of hers that I felt the climax could have been more thrilling. It feels watered down and dry at the end after that brilliant start.
Still a good novel.

[Cheery · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dark novel written with suspense and structured around the story 'The Executioners' (Cape Fear). I skipped many chapters and read the conclusion, because I wanted to know what happened without reading a stressful storyline.

[Mary Buckham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a mystery that keeps you guessing till the end and this one did. A little of a slow start - but deeper into the book the suspense and threats built. Switching between contemporary and Alabama of the 1960s kept raising the risks and raising questions.

[Dayna Hauschild · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Pickard does an excellent job of holding me in suspense to the end. I truly enjoyed this series and appreciate that they were a series but not necessarily a continuation of the same storyline.

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the strongest of the three books in the series. Marie Lightfoot finds out what happened when her parents abandoned her in a motel in Alabama. Pickard definitely keeps you guessing.

[Lynn Calvin]

ereader ebook

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book and the best of the trilogy by far. Kept me on the edge of my seat :)

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great suspense novel. Part of story takes place in deep south and deals with civil rights, integration. Good for me to think about!

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Pickard's best novels. It reads like she is trying too hard to be politically correct. The plot is unlikely and the characters unappealing.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good one. Kinda like Sue Grafton books.

[Cynthia Cadenhead]

I just discovered this author and love her books. Suspense dating to Alabama and civil rights in 1963

[Toesnorth's mom]

stupid

[Jayme C (Brunetteslikebookstoo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 3 of the Marie Lightfoot series (Whole Truth, and Ring of Truth)..Read them in order..

[Vicki]

Not good. Poorly written, no surprises. Her last book -SUmmer Rains? Can't remember the name - EXCELLENT.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had me on the edge of my seat for the first half, and then I'm not sure what happened but the second half seemed anticlimactic and rushed.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Truth Hurts" - written by Nancy Pickard and published in 2002 by Atria Books. A diverting mystery with a civil rights focus.