The Water Lies

By: Amy Meyerson

Narrated by: Courtney Patterson, Natalie Duke

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.

©2025 by Amy Meyerson. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“As an author, Amy Meyerson is gifted with a genuine talent for the kind of narrative driven storytelling style that fully engages the reader’s rapt attention from start to finish. Her newest novel, The Water Lies is an extraordinary and original suspense thriller…”—Midwest Book Review

Solid Read

The Water Lies leans much more into psychological depth than fast-paced thriller, and that’s where it really shines. The author handles sensitive topics with care, weaving them into the story in a way that feels thoughtful rather than sensational. I found myself more invested in the characters’ inner struggles and emotional unraveling than in any big, dramatic plot twists.
It’s the kind of book that quietly pulls you in and makes you reflect rather than rush to turn the page. I truly did like it, especially for how honestly it explored difficult themes and the human side of them. If you enjoy stories that are more psychological than thriller, this is a really good one to pick up.

Intriguing...

This was … not original by any means, I’ve read a lot of books with a very similar / or this exact plot … however I still found it intriguing enough to keep listening. While I did predict everything before I was through the first chapter, it moved quickly enough, and packed lots of drama and a couple of likable characters that I still liked it.


‘Desperate Housewives’ vibes at times.
She makes jewelry.
Found family - literally.
Fresh starts.
Mysteries (to the characters, not the reader).
Bit of action.
Murders.
Betrayal.
Scandal.

Overall:
I think I’d like to explore more by this author, not bad at all.
4 stars.


🎙️ Audiobook:
Awful narration. Smooth sound quality at all, just it sounded very bot-like, on the delivery.

Compelling mystery that will keep you guessing

An excellent murder mystery that also delves into the emotional impact on those directly and indirectly involved. The story has several twists and the author keeps you on-edge from the start until the last page.

The Water Lies

The Water Lies is one of those books that slowly tightens its grip on you until you realize how twisted—and disturbingly plausible—it really is. With a rating around 4.07, I can completely see why readers respond so strongly to it. I also would rate this book around a 4.

At its core, this novel is about money, power, and the quiet violations that happen when women’s bodies and choices are treated like commodities. Meyerson takes an already sensitive topic—egg donation and fertility—and turns it into something deeply unsettling. What happens when something meant to be generous and hopeful is corrupted? What if your frozen eggs, saved for your own future, were used without your consent? What if the child you’re raising isn’t genetically yours at all? These questions aren’t just plot devices—they linger, and they hurt.

What struck me most was how accurately the book reflects the reality so many women face: struggling to make money, searching for safe and respectable work, and navigating systems where exploitation hides behind legality. The idea that donation—something that should be praised—can be twisted into something shameful and sinister is heartbreaking. As Meyerson puts it perfectly: “Violations!” That word echoes throughout the entire story.

The mystery unfolds patiently, layering emotional weight onto the suspense. When the truth finally comes out—when you realize who the murderer is—it doesn’t feel triumphant. It feels devastating. You almost can’t blame them. The pain of not being able to save your child, only to later understand why everything happened the way it did, is absolutely crushing.

One thing that really irritated me throughout the book was the husband. From the very beginning, it’s painfully obvious that he knows exactly who “Gigi” is, yet he spends so much time making his wife feel irrational, paranoid, and overly emotional. His constant lying, deflecting, and dismissing felt deliberate—classic gaslighting behavior that made me angry on her behalf. As a reader, you can sense immediately that something isn’t right, and watching him manipulate the narrative while quietly holding onto the truth was infuriating. Instead of being a partner, he becomes another source of violation in a story already heavy with betrayal.

This isn’t just a thriller; it’s a moral gut punch. Sad, thought-provoking, and quietly enraging, The Water Lies stayed with me long after I finished it—and that, to me, is the mark of a really good book.

Neat take on Rear Window

Good plot lines. The switching back-and-forth between two narrators wasn’t confusing. I liked the resolution at the end.