I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
Family Lies by Karen Rose Series: The San Diego Case Files #4
Published by Berkley on March 31, 2026
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The fourth nerve-shattering installment of the San Diego Case Files from New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose sees Kit McKittrick’s sister caught in a maelstrom of deadly family secrets.
As an infant, Kit McKittrick’s foster sister Akiko was abandoned at a firehouse. Now 32, Akiko has received an unsettling phone call from a woman who says that she knew her birth mother but refuses to divulge any details except in person. Akiko is nervous but also thrilled at the prospect of finally learning about her blood relations.
Kit has a bad feeling about this and insists on accompanying Akiko to meet the woman. Sure enough, as they stand on Mary Sherman’s doorstep, shots are fired and Kit is hit...and inside the house is a corpse: Mary Sherman herself.
Although she’s on medical leave and forbidden to work the case, Kit cannot rest. With police psychologist Sam Reeves, she undertakes a covert investigation into the mysterious Mary Sherman. Was she Akiko’s birth mother? Why did she reach out after all these years? And who had a motive to kill her?
As more bodies pile up, Kit starts to put together the pieces of the frightening puzzle that is Akiko’s birth family, and she’ll come to wonder whether some secrets should stay buried after all.
Karen Rose delivers non-stop turmoil and angst in this action packed continuation of The San Diego Case Files series! Readers familiar with the series will be able to dive back into the McKittrick family very quickly as Kit continues to want answers about Wren’s disappearance during their youth and steps up to help Akiko finds answers when she’s contacted by someone out of the blue about her bio family. We’re taken on quite a ride as pieces begin to fall into place as danger lurks around every corner and secret after secret is revealed. There are many key players coming to the forefront, so you really have to stay on your toes to keep them straight, but the mystery was really interesting and held my attention throughout. I’m looking forward to more to come in the series, seeing Kit and Sam continue to develop their relationship and seeing her finally get some real answers about Wren.
I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who enjoys a found family of adoptive parents and all of the fosters they took in and brought into the fold of their life throughout the years. There’s lots of love and emotion surrounding this fam, and Kit’s job always brings the drama and mystery.
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