“After 34 years working in music education, Lis can now play a fine tune in the world of thrillers”

The Identity Enigma arrives in bookstores as the second novel by Wiltshire-based author Lis McDermott, after 2022 offering He Is Not Worthy, which has garnered a host of top reviews since publication.

While I have not read the previous novel by Lis, it would seem that she has taken the best of her debut and then worked even more into this sparkling thriller that takes characters across the globe.

At around 200 pages, The Identity Enigma is perfect company for an evening, now that the nights are drawing in, but will also keep the reader’s pulses racing as the action come fast and furious and all what seems at the start is not what can be believed as the story unfolds.

The blurb for this page-turner thriller reads: “Couples, Kyra and Nils and Jess and Lukas who are all in Stockholm, arrange to meet up. However, when Lukas receives an urgent phone call, their night out has to be postponed.

“While on a trip to Ethiopia for work, Cole, Lukas’ best friend has been involved in an accident and is flown home, seriously hurt. Lukas and Jess fly back to Manchester to support Cole’s wife, Sofia.”

The blurb continues: “As Cole begins to recover, Lukas becomes increasingly unsettled as he doesn’t recognise his friend, convinced there is something different about him, but has no idea what it is. The more time that passes, the more uncomfortable Lukas becomes with the uncharacteristic decisions his friend makes. Eventually he asks his journalist friends Kyra and Nils to try to investigate to uncover the mystery.”

As with all great thrillers, there is plenty to keep the reader feeling the tension and some hair-raising moments along the way. The reader is immersed into the twists and turns of the story and the characterisation is such that there’s a feeling of being in there with them.

After 34 years working in music education, it would seem that Lis can now play a fine tune in the world of thrillers and there should be plenty who would find that this hits the right notes with a fantastic beat from beginning to end.

The Identity Enigma is out now from Westwater Publishing.