If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood

by Gregg Olsen

The kids had seen Shelly in action a million times. She had a way of twisting reality to such a degree that there were times when they’d believed what they knew couldn’t possibly be true.

“I don’t believe anything your mom says,” Shane said. “I don’t either,” Nikki said. “She doesn’t know how to talk without some stupid lie coming out of her mouth.”

It was typical of their mother, however, to suggest a shared memory as if it were something that could be planted and made to become real.