Dark and Shallow Lies, By Ginny Myers Sain, (4/5)

4 out of 5 stars, in my opinion. This was my first spooky-season read, and I found it to be enjoyable. The fact that all of the characters in the book are people you know you can't trust because the MC informs us at the beginning of the book that they all have secrets also adds a surprising element that makes it an interesting novel. After all, the town is the physics capital of the world. All the surprises and plot twists at the end were my favorite part. Where one character falsifies another to the MC and vice versa, and fresh characters enter the scene on a single page adding more to consider. I enjoyed the resolution, especially how it left out on a melancholy note with a hint of mystery and the theme of "I can't go back there again." Being a murder mystery, there were numerous narrative twists and fresh details revealed throughout the book. While, in my opinion, I’m pretty good at sticking through the exposition, especially since it's always challenging at the beginning of fiction books (which is what I read) because they need to set up the storyline with a background on how we arrived at the first page, information on every character and their relationship with the MC, etc. This one was a little thicker because the MC had to figure out everything that was going on, and you ended up having to wait for a specific character, which added to that lag in the beginning. However, once it got rolling, I really enjoyed it. It was a good read and, if you can wait a little while for all the characters to enter the picture, it will be worthwhile for the start of the spooky season.