The Whole Truth

Marie Lightfoot #1

by Nancy Pickard

"Nancy Pickard pushes at the presumed limits of [crime fiction]" said the Los Angeles Times Book Review, praising the award-winning creator of the Jenny Cain mysteries. Now, Pickard blurs the line between fiction and reality in a novel of gripping intensity, and premieres a superb new true-crime author Marie Lightfoot. For her next surefire bestseller, Marie is covering the trial of a Florida killer -- a case that penetrates her own life, layer by disturbing layer.

Whether real like Ted Bundy, or imagined like Hannibal Lecter, few killers of our time are in the same league as Raymond Raintree. And as he stands flanked by lawyers in a Florida courtroom, waiting to be convicted for the murder of Natalie Mae McCullen, Marie Lightfoot is taking it all in. A small, gutsy blonde renowned for her true-crime bestsellers, Marie knows the graphic and disturbing case will make her best book yet -- because Raintree's shocking crime, vile beyond imagining, is also impossible to turn away from. But there is something about the case -- and Raintree's involvement -- that bothers her.

No one knows where Raintree, a man as slight and immature as a preteen boy, took Natalie after he abducted her. No one knows how Natalie -- bright, independent, and with no fear of the dark -- could be lured into a stranger's boat on a lonely waterway. And only one witness saw a man who may have been Raintree motoring along in a water taxi on the night Natalie disappeared.

Even if the police can't provide answers, Marie intends to leave no loose ends. Starting with a prison meeting with Raintree, the steely-nerved writer follows a twisted path that leads to Natalie's parents, to a coincidence that doesn't quite gel, and to a place she has resisted all her the dark recesses of her own soul, where she hides the secrets of her own lost past.

When Raymond escapes, Marie -- a curious contradiction of celebrity author and introspective loner -- becomes a sitting duck for a killer who just might be smart enough to outwit her. And evil enough to take her to hell before she dies.

A masterpiece of psychological suspense, The Whole Truth is a compelling look at our fascination with the horrific crimes of our time. Nancy Pickard's characters are as close to flesh and blood as fiction can get -- and her writing is as close to perfection.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Thriller

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

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

[Elif · Rating 3 out of 5]

İlk bahsetmek istediğim kitabın dili. Başrol Marie Lightfood kitap yazan bir gazeteci. Sanırım gazeteci, ne olduğu pek belli değil. Bu davaya dahil oluyor. Kitap sanki onun olayları kitaba yazması gibi anlatılmış. Mesela şöyle: “Daha sonraları polisin bunu neden yaptığı ortaya çıkıyor. Çok gençti diyorlar.” gibi. Tam anlatamadım ama yazım dili beni çok baydı. Konu güzel olsa da yazım dili kötü olunca olmuyor. Bir de ben kitabın yarısında bir şey tahmin ettim. Bak böyle böyle olacak, şu şu çıkacak diye. Aynen tahmin ettiğim gibi çıktı. Birebir olmasa da büyük çoğunluğunu tahmin etmişim yani. Ama yine de sürükleyiciydi. Okuyabilirsiniz. Seversiniz. Ben sonraki kitapları sever miyim bilmiyorum. Aynı yazım devam ediyorsa okumayabilirim 🤙🏻

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Nancy's recent standalone novels, The Virgin of Small Plains and The Scent of Rain and Lightning, but I hadn't read this three-book series. After finishing this first one, I immediately put the next two on my to-read list. Nancy is a master at creating suspense and telling an interesting story.

[Nur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tür ve kurgu açısından bakıldığında şaşırtıcı ve zekice ayrıntılar bulunduran, merak uyandıran bir kitaptı. Gizem, polisiye türünü seven biri olarak bu açılardan aradığımı büyük oranda buldum diyebilirim. Ancak iki konu okumamı zorlaştırdı ve beni memnun etmedi. Yazarın gazeteciliğinden geliyor olsa gerek, haber anlatımı gibi olan kısımlar vardı. Ayrıca bazen olay sırasına göre gidilmeyip ileride olacakları verdiği yerler beni rahatsız etti. Açıkçası süregelen olayın içinde "sonrasında şöyle olacaktı" tarzında cümleler hoşuma gitmiyor, sırası geldikçe okumayı seviyorum. Çeviriden mi kaynaklı emin değilim ama sık sık zaman kipinin uyumsuz şekilde değiştiği yerler de vardı. Mesela yaptım, geliyor, gibi. Yazarın bir başka kitabını çoktan aldığım için okuyacağım ama almamış olsam devam etmeyi düşünmezdim sanırım.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Whole Truth - Ex
Nancy Pickard - Standalone
Award-winning mystery author Pickard begins a new series featuring true-crime writer Marie Lightfoot. While covering a murder trial, Lightfoot feels that something is wrong with the apparently open-and-shut case. Her search for the truth leads her to the killer's strange world and a number of unresolved crimes affecting his family. Gathering this information also makes her face ethical issues about her work and its impact on all who are involved with the case. By alternating chapters from Lightfoot's book about the case with coverage of the trial and the sleuth's search for information, Pickard effectively uses her character's work in progress as a narrative device.

2003 Top Ten - Excellent, twists and turns in the second half of book

[April Hochstrasser · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murder mystery that tells you right from the first "who done it." It's just that you don't want to believe it. And then you find out why and the whole book makes sense. Usually, a murder mystery is all about not telling you who done it, but making a case for several people as having reasons. This book is like a murder without reason, until you are surprised at the end by a very compelling reason to murder a small child, in order to save them from something worse.

[Penney Peirce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Nancy Pickard's mysteries. They are personal and accessible, not overly intellectual but engaging. This one is set in Florida, where I live. I remember reading it years ago and found it again, forgot I'd read it, and enjoyed it all over again.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Whole Truth by Nancy Pickard is the first book of the Marie Lightfoot mystery series set in contemporary Bahia Beach, Florida. Protagonist Marie Lightfoot writes true crime novels. She carefully interviews the victim's family, the defense and prosecuting attorneys, the accused killer, and any other people who can help her to gain a full understanding of the background and consequences of a crime.

Marie is currently writing 'The Little Mermaid' about the kidnap/murder of Natalie Mae McCullen by Raymond Raintree. Both her publisher and her editor are eager to receive her manuscript - but Marie has a big problem: she doesn't know any of Ray's background (to fill the middle chapters). When Ray escapes, Marie doesn't know how the case (or her book) will end.

In a lucky breakthrough, Marie learns about Ray's early life, and meets his family. But none of them understand what happened in the intervening years...until a terrible family secret is revealed. Marie finds herself sympathetic to both families, which strains her romance with the prosecutor.

The tale is filled with glowing descriptions of life in Florida: abundant sunshine, warm temperatures, ocean breezes, a casual lifestyle. Marie loves living in Bahia Beach, has no interest in other climates.

One glaring error near the beginning: the date of the murder is June 16th; due to its high publicity and urgency, two top detectives are assigned to the case - on July 17th.

The writing style is disconcerting, often shifting from action in-the-moment as Marie experiences events to narrating information that Marie clearly learned from interviews. Mystery novel flow interspersed with documentary paragraphs. Stranger still, when Marie relates "what really happened", personal and private details confided to her, she comments that "she'd never put it in a book".

The pace picks up near the end, as several plot twists reveal "The Whole Truth" about several crimes. There is one mystery left dangling - a phone call Marie doesn't answer - that may be revisited in the second book Ring of Truth. I already own a copy, so I'll probably read it.

[Ceren Ünlü · Rating 4 out of 5]

İkinci kitaptan daha iyiydi ;)

[Meryem Y. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yazım dili gerçekten insanı bazen kitabın içine çekemiyor. Ama olaylar açısından çok iyiydi.

[Dlmrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, an interesting story. I do, however, have a few nitpicks. The edition I have may be the first run of the hardback. There are some errors that should have been caught. One error is that the victim's family name of McCullen is given three or four times as McMullen.

Another is that the victim is found the morning of June 16th. A little later when the two detectives on the case are mentioned the context is that they were called on July 17th. The evening the girl went missing is June 15th and she's found the next morning. The detectives worked the scene so the July 17th date of them being called in is given erroneously. It should read June 16th.


The next might spoil part of the plot reveal so read at your own risk.

The man on trial and then later on the run is around 28 years old. When something is written about the mother and infant son first seeing each other after he was delivered, the time given is 27 years ago. He had been missing 22 years but two, maybe three times, it's given as 23 years.

So, as I said, nit picks that better proofing and editing should have caught. For all I know they eventually were and later editions have fixes.

[Cathryn Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intersting angles two parts what happens when this character court writer in Florida on deadline to finish her book. She investigate a criminal's life. His childhood, (missing gaps) current time in awaiting trail.
She follows certain clues and finding out an impact a criminal has on a victim family vs the criminal's life (powerful touching moments for me).
There are surprises in this book and this is the first time I read this author I can relate many parts of the court writer since I like to write and understand her issues on what to mention and leave out certain details on her investigation.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thriller/ mystery that keeps you reading!

This is the 2nd book I have ready by this author. She keeps you on your toes & you can’t figure out the “who done it”! I chose to read it because I had read her latest book and wanted more. Impressed by her talent and information she gives about unexpected things that most people wouldn’t know.

[Annie Pisarello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marie Lightfoot is a true crime journalist. She is investigating the murder of a young child for her latest book. But the convicted murderer, Raymond Raintree, just doesn't seen to fit the crime. As she continues her investigation, things make less and less sense. The closer she comes to the answer, the more danger she is in. Original plot, and a good read

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story of a true crime novelist covering a grisly child murder in Florida. Twists and turns that kept me guessing. The book picked up steam slowly, but once it got going, I couldn't put it down.

[erica smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely descriptive and the story line flowed so well. It had such a fabulous twist at the end. I read this book in a week. It was an easy read and definitely had you thinking about the story line. I’m excited to read the rest of her books!

[Nancy Nash Keefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are just right for me - not going so deeply into the antagonist’s relationship that it becomes half romance, but deeply enough to round out the character.

I would have given the story 5 stars, but it didn’t grab me until I was about 1/3 of the way into it.

[Sherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this author. This book was a pleasure to read. I enjoyed the story. Only 226 pages.

[Jennifer Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Partially written as a true crime novel and partially from the perspective of the novelist as she follows the trial. Worth reading just for the unique perspective.

[Nafi Riddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is:5/5
The second half is:3/5
So the whole book is:4/5
Haha I'm so smart.

[Marssie Mencotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by the character of Marie Lightfoot, the protagonist, as an intelligent, non-judgemental writer/observer to a crime event, writing a book about it and siding with the pro-death penalty advocates. She handles no weapons, is completely transparent in dealing with the attorneys, detectives, perpetrators and their families and in turn her understanding and cooperation enable her to write crime novels that are best-sellers as Marie Lightfoot. The actual author, Nancy Pickard, is a thorough and neat writer, not wasting time with long pages of assumption and opinion. The facts are fleshed out within the context of her life and her surroundings of Bahia, Florida. We do not find out what car she drives or what is in the glove box or if her shoes are too tight. Refreshing. The author lets the story unfold around a terrible crime with a vicious twist and a feral man-child. Her protagonist is looking for the story surrounding the murder. More compelling than I expected and a well-written crime novel that for all of the depravity uncovered surrounding the crime, remains surprisingly even-keeled.

[Lynn Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the way this book was written. So many books dig into 5 different plots, use odd names for the 100 people they mentioned and I become lost. This book branched out but not to confuse me but to extend my thought process.

I was ready for the end and could say I almost had it figured out but not quite. I went to the used book store to pick up another and they had none? That made me question why no one else must be reading this author. I’ll keep looking for another one in hopes of being able to say I want to read all her books.

[Nancy Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept my interest but wrapped things up a little too quickly and conveniently. Without giving spoilers, suffice to say the resolution was too-quick and disappointing. Also, what's the deal with the (rather unconvincing) hints about the mysteries in the narrator's family's past? Are they left deliberately unaddressed in order to drag us into the next book? Either way, a frustrating way to end the book.

[Kozmokitap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yazarın Fırtına Kokusu kitabına bayılmıştım. Bu kitabına ise ilk başta adapte olmakta zorlandım. Tarz olarak bir anda içine çekmedi beni kitap. İnatla okumaya devam edince ve konu şekillenmeye başladıkça sevdim kitabı. Sonunda ne olacak ve yazar nasıl bağlayacak derken kitap bitti. İyi ki inatla okumaya devam ettim kitabı 😂😂

[Judy Abbott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hikâyenin anlatım şekli başlarda biraz kopuk kopuk geldi. İlerleyen kısımlarda davanın beklenmedik yönleri ortaya çıkınca kitap da ilginçleşti. Fena değildi, bu bir üçlemeymiş aslında; diğer kitaplar yayınlanırsa okurum. *** Bir sürü yazım anlatım hataları ile karşılaştım kitabı okurken.***

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A true-crime author in Florida becomes personally involved in a case after a little girl is killed by a weird man with no history.

[Bahar · Rating 4 out of 5]

aslında başlama tarihi 23 Ocak

[Mylinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Cengiz İspir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Çeviriden mi bilmiyorum ama okuma süresi boyunca bir tür ‘kopukluk’ hissi yaşadım. Muhtemelen kitabın kurgusundan kaynaklanıyor.

[Nancy J Gumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story. Very intricate plot lines. A new author for a go to when not sure what to get. It built to a peak at the end of the book with some lines left up in the air.