The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson

Item: The Water Lies
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted January 1, 2026 by BaronessMom in Review, Thriller and Suspense / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Water Lies

by Amy Meyerson

Published by Thomas & Mercer on January 1, 2026
Setting: California
Genres: Psychological Thrillers
Pages: 347
Format: Audible Audiobook, Hardcover, Kindle, Paperback
Source: NetGalley
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

Internationally bestselling author Amy Meyerson takes readers on a harrowing journey where two mothers—one of a woman who drowned and the other of a toddler who might know what happened to her—are the only ones searching for the truth.

Heavily pregnant with her second child, Tessa Irons has enough on her mind without her toddler throwing tantrums at the local coffee shop. The boy is inconsolable, shouting “Gigi!” to a woman Tessa’s never seen before—and never will again. The next morning, the woman’s body is dredged up from the canal outside the Ironses’ posh Venice Beach home, and Tessa’s gut tells her it’s no coincidence.

Barb Geller refuses to believe that her daughter’s death was just some drunken accident. She heads to California for answers, where she crosses paths with Tessa. Together they hunt for the truth, certain they’ll find a connection between their children.

But the police don’t believe them. Tessa’s husband dismisses her worries as pregnancy jitters, and even though people are always watching along the canals, no one saw a thing. Tessa and Barb only have each other, their intuition, and the creeping sense of danger that grows with every shocking revelation.

The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson is one thrilling story told from the point of view of two mothers.

Will Barb and Tessa find the connection between their lives?

The story is told from two points of view. It was fun to see how each of them dealt with the information they detected.

Tessa Irons

Tessa is pregnant with her second child and basically ready to pop. She is finding that she is very connected to her children in a way that only a mother can be. Her husband is home, but he doesn’t have the same connection with their son that she does.

Tessa is also a jewelry designer who has a large clientele. Well, until she got pregnant, and now she can’t use the tools of her trade. It doesn’t stop her from designing, though. I like Tessa. She is down-to-earth and is learning to listen to her intuition, even when others tell her not to.

Barb Gellar

Barb is an older woman who, until recently, was struggling to have a relationship with her daughter. They seem to have figured that out and enjoy their conversations. However, Barb is struggling to find things to do in retirement. As her 70th birthday was upon her, she was really looking forward to talking to her daughter.

I also like Barb; she was easy to follow. I enjoyed her point of view for the most part. Some of the things she did were very Jessica Fletcher-ish. At times, her maternal side is stronger than her self-preservation.

The Mystery

It starts when Tessa and her young son see someone that he knows at a local coffee shop. The distributing part is that Tessa doesn’t know the woman, and the woman doesn’t acknowledge Jasper. How could he know her? Jasper barely talks. The next day, the young lady is found dead in the canal outside of Tessa’s home.

Tessa can’t let go of the connection that her son had with the dead lady. Then, out of the blue, Tessa runs into the deceased lady’s mom, Barb. The two of them decide to investigate and figure out what happened to Regina, Barb’s daughter.

Five Stars

My rating for The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson is five stars. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and the sense of being transported to Venice, California. I recommend this book to all you thriller book readers out there.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson.

Until the next time,

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About Amy Meyerson

Amy Meyerson is the acclaimed author of the internationally bestselling The Bookshop of Yesterdays, The Imperfects, and The Love Scribe. Her books have been translated into eleven languages and are frequently chosen for best-of lists, including lists from Good Morning America, Publishers Weekly, The Christian Science Monitor, Library Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Texas Library Association’s Lariat List, among others. Meyerson completed her graduate work in creative writing at the University of Southern California, where she now teaches in the writing department. Her new novel The Water Lies–her first work of psychological suspense–will be published on January 1, 2026 from Thomas & Mercer.