NEVER TELL, by Alafair Burke, is a twist filled police procedural that proves you can never judge a person at face value, because they all have secrets that they will kill to keep. Ellie Hatcher and her partner Rogan are called to the apparent suicide of 16-year old Julia Whitmire. The Whitmires ooze money, and Julia's mom Catherine insists her daughter was murdered. When Hatcher and Rogan write off the death as a suicide, the Whitmires raise heck at the mayor's office and soon Hatcher and Rogan are back on the case.

Problems soon arise with Julia's death. Why was she hanging around with homeless people? What was really going on at her exclusive private school? And what does a blog of a sex abuse survivor have to do with all of it? Digging beneath Julia's death, Rogan and Hatcher discover everyone has something to hide.

Plotwise, there are enough twists and turns to keep thriller fans' interest. Character wise, I liked Ellie Hatcher and her burgeoning romance with District Attorney Max, but the characters didn't reach out and grabbed me. I had no problem getting into the novel, even though this was part of a series. There is some reference to earlier novels, but Burke never dwells too much in the past.

I enjoyed this novel and hope to read more by this young, rising author.