Ashley Elston's arresting Anatomy of an Alibi opens as Aubrey Price seems to be establishing just that: an alibi. She's in a bar flirting with a stranger to kill time and be seen. But the alibi is not for her. She's wearing a wig, expensive clothes way beyond what she'd be able to afford on her bartending salary, and a wedding band on her finger, though she's not married.
Aubrey is impersonating Camille, a rich and unhappy housewife, while Camille spends the day implementing a plan to escape from her powerful attorney husband, Ben, who tracks Camille's every move. Aubrey has her reasons for helping Camille, a stranger, and neither woman tells the other everything as they both deviate from their scheme. When Ben ends up dead, both women could be either charged with murder or killed themselves.
Elston has created an intricate nesting doll of a mystery in her follow-up to First Lie Wins. The case seems simple at first--who killed Ben and why?--but as the investigation deepens, it uncovers more mysteries that have long been hidden, some for a decade. Using multiple points of view, Elston keeps a firm grip on all the story pieces and how they fit together. Her characters are similarly layered; they aren't all good or bad, and Elston challenges perceptions with multiple twists. Astute readers might be able to spot some important clues as they appear, but when Anatomy of an Alibi is done, crime-fiction fans will conclude that it's a satisfying and clever thriller. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, reviewer and freelance editor at The Edit Ninja