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Melina Marchetta

Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil Mass Market Paperback – 17 July 2017

by Melina Marchetta (Author)

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Chief Inspector Bish Ortley of the London Met, divorced and still grieving the death of his son, has been drowning his anger in Scotch. Something has to give, and he's no sooner suspended from the force than a busload of British students is subject to a deadly bomb attack across the Channel. Bish's daughter is one of those on board.

Also on the bus is Violette LeBrac. Raised in Australia, Violette has a troubled background. Thirteen years ago her grandfather bombed a London supermarket, killing dozens of people. Her mother, Noor, is serving a life sentence in connection with the incident. But before Violette's part in the French tragedy can be established she disappears.

Bish, who was involved in Noor LeBrac's arrest, is now compelled to question everything that happened back then. And the more he delves into the lives of the family he helped put away, the more he realises that truth wears many colours.

With its cast of unforgettable characters, social insight and wry wit, Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is an irresistible novel about human identity, lost children and the nature of real love.

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Product details

Publisher : Penguin; 1st edition (17 July 2017)
Mass Market Paperback : 416 pages
ISBN-10 : 0143785265
ISBN-13 : 978-0143785262
Dimensions : 13.2 x 2.7 x 19.6 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 175,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 5,630 in Crime Action & Adventure
- 16,039 in New Age Religion & Spirituality (Books)
- 20,709 in Horror (Books)

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52 ratings

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Book Description

Melina Marchetta's gripping new novel Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil is a cracking fusion of suspense and heart-rending drama.

About the Author

Melina Marchetta is an internationally bestselling and award-winning author in more than twenty countries and eighteen languages. Her fifteen books range from beloved young adult fiction and fantasy through to contemporary and crime fiction, and works for younger readers. Her much-loved Australian classic Looking for Alibrandi swept the pool of literary awards when it was published, and was also released as a film, adapted by Marchetta, winning an AFI Award and an Independent Film Award for best screenplay, as well as the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award. In 2009 Marchetta won the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association. Her most recent novel is The Place on Dalhousie. She lives in Sydney.

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Terrific

Reviewed in Australia on 27 January 2017

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This detective novel is new genre for YA author Melina Marchetta, and it shows in her convincing teenage characters. They are not wimps, they're very varied in character, and of course, they are technologically savvy. When a bomb explodes on a tour bus full of British students in Normandy, the wheels of a complex plot are set in motion. Ex Chief Inspector Bish Ortney's daughter Bee escapes from the bus unscathed - physically - and Bish, suspended from his job and drinking heavily, becomes involved. Who did it, and why?

The book gallops along at a fast pace, and you need to have your wits about you to remember who's who, and to take in the various plot strands. These involve Noor LeBrac, imprisoned for her involvement in a bombing that killed 23 people. She had a PhD in chemistry from Cambridge, but did she really make the bomb her father used? Her daughter Violette was on that bus when she should have been hiking in Tasmania. How come? Was Violette the target? Why are 17 yo Violette and 13 yo Eddie spending so much time together on the tour? They have a similar look, and Eddie is adopted. Is Violette's boyfriend Charlie the rotten ratbag he seems to be? His parents are Salvation Army after all. Who is Bish's old school friend Elliot really working for? M15? Why did Bish and Rachel split up? What has that done to Bee? Why did Bish's mother Saffron seem so removed from him in his teenage years, and what did it do to her to be removed from her Egyptian father by wealthy English relatives after her mother's death? Did Violette's father commit suicide on the Yorkshire moors, or was it murder?

The novel is rich in detail regarding French/Algerian lives in exile and extremely convincing in the portrayal of police, diplomatic and media procedure in England and France. Australia is involved, because Violette grew up there with her father's parents after her mother went to prison. The adult characters are just as convincing as the youngsters who are often as wise as the adults, especially the tough Violette. In fact, the psychology of people is Marchetta's strongest point, which is not to denigrate any other aspect of her book. The writing doesn't waste words: it seems effortless, and never clunky, often funny, and sometimes evoking tears. It's a masterful book on all levels.

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Superb story imaginative writing great suspense

Reviewed in Australia on 5 January 2017

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There is a deadly bomb explosion in Calais involving Bee daughter of Chief Inspector Bish Ortley who is currently under suspension. Also on the bus is Violette LeBrac whose grandfather bombed a London supermarket. Violette disappears and Bish is drawn into the case by the home secretary's department and because he has reporte with the other parents. His French Counterpart Inspector Atal had a daughter on another nearby bus. Neither have any standing in the case except as parents and they must use their sources wisely on as the official investigation get stuck in cross channel politics and goes nowhere.

The case starts to involve the families who were involved in the original bombing and Bish comes to prison at the request of Violette's mother Noor who confessed to making that bomb. The story winds its way through both cases as they seem to be more interlinked. Bish has to face many of his demons including alcohol and the death of his son, and his relationship with his daughter and his wife and her new husband and their imminent birth. Bish follows down many paths and always answer to the puzzle always seems close but out of reach.

Melina has done a superb job of capturing all relationships and the political machinations. She also captures the complex relationships of the teenagers as they protect each other and use Bish for their own purposes even friending him on Facebook. She also uses the attitudes of the parents and their relationships to each other and their children as counterpoints to the story. The only comment is that sometimes it is a little tricky trying to remember the families. The ending is exciting but anticlimactic and leaves quite a few unknowns that are unlikely to be part of a sequel.

I enjoyed Melina's "Looking for Alibrandi". "Shame the Devil" does not disappoint and is one of the best stories I have read for a while. There is plenty to discuss and it could feature more than once at a book club.

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Alexandra Economou

Another brilliant novel by Melina Marchetta

Reviewed in Australia on 26 September 2016

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Melina Marchetta would have to be one of the few writers who can create stories for all ages and genres. This book is very different from her other novels such as Looking for Alibrandi. It is a suspenseful novel with many twists and turns that keeps you gripped from page one. The lead character, Bish Ortley, is deeply flawed, but you can't help liking him. Highly recommended.

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Gabriele Lakomski

An engrossing post 9/11 story, Europe-style

Reviewed in Australia on 19 March 2017

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The story line is believable, and the characters are multi-faceted, emotions are expressed very well and sensitively. This is a beautifully written book which I enjoyed because, among other things, the author makes you care for the people involved, and you really want to know how it all ends, and you hope it will end well for the main protagonists. Another skilfully handled aspect of this book is the differentiated treatment of anti-Muslim sentiment and probing the motives for why a terrorist act might have been committed. The book makes you stop and think.

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kate sadler

Wonderful!

Reviewed in Australia on 9 December 2016

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I have always loved Kate Atkinson and this writing, with its colourful characters, flawed but doing their best, twists, pace and slivers of genius humour are reminiscent of her Jackson Brody novels.
A family tree would have been helpful. Thinking about who was who slowed my progress.
But a fabulous read from Marchetta. My first of hers. In the absence of KA I'll look further at this author.

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Amazon Customer

This author can do no wrong

Reviewed in Australia on 3 October 2016

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It's 4am and my eyes are now stinging from both sleep deprivation and because I've cried like a fool so many times while reading this book it is embarrassing. But not a surprise since it's the kind of storytelling magic I've come to expect from this author. Melina Marchetta is a wizard. I was already recommending this book to everyone I spoke to before I had even finished it. Such is the faith her writing inspires and she delivers each time without fail. Love!

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Anne Stubbings

Brilliant keeps you guessing

Reviewed in Australia on 4 January 2017

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Good cast of characters, plenty of diversity and very well created. Storyline is fast moving, with plenty of twists. Could not guess the final outcome until it happened. Thoroughly enjoyed.

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BarbarinaS

A excellent read

Reviewed in the United States on 15 November 2020

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Complex characters, intricate plot and a great use of British and French geographical and political connections makes this very good reading. The story revolves around a bombing but deals very much with human relationships particularly those between parents and their children.
As the story unravels a number of other issues arise including how the different arms of the law can often prevent justice completely or complicate it by slowing the process down.
This is a novel that is character driven and because the characters are plentiful, we are constantly on our toes wondering where all of this will end. What makes the plot believable is the fact that life doesn’t happen in isolation, there is a domino effect. The author does an excellent job sharing this with her readers.

One person found this helpful

Robin Snyder

BEAUTIFUL. I had every emotion during this book.

Reviewed in the United States on 15 October 2016

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The best thing about Melina Marchetta (MM) is that she writes stories about families. It doesn’t matter if it is her Fantasy or Contemporary at the heart of it the story is about the people, the families that you are both born too and the ones you create along the way in your life. I have never been disappointed in the way that she makes me feel something for every character in her story. I go through every emotion when I go on the journey with them. I am overjoyed to tears, heartbroken, happy, sad, amazed at the generosity of some and dismayed by the actions of others. But I am IN the story until the last page is turned and even after that I carry the story with me.

In every book I’ve read by MM there is one moment in the story, or a story within the story that completely grips me and touches me in a way that I wish everything I read had something in it like that. Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil has an amazing story about a watch that could have been a book all on its own, because in two pages she told a gripping tale of a family’s history and it was beautiful, poetic, tragic and wonderful all at the same time.

This is a little different than some of the other books by MM as it is a psychological thriller and still it is a story about the characters. Bish is the focus of the story. He is still in the grips of guilt and loss after the death of his son that also tore his marriage apart and placed a wedge between him and his grieving daughter. Even though he is a mess from the beginning I was really rooting for him.

The story takes off pretty fast as his daughter’s bus was bombed while on a holiday tour and Bish is thrust into the middle of the investigation. I think this book dealt really well with how social media and the public can be both a help and a hindrance to investigations. How after the events of 9/11 the world perception changed and that isn’t necessarily always a good thing. How prejudice and public pressure can lead to disaster. I don’t want you to think this book was preachy because I never felt like it was. But I did feel like it was honest about some things that we don’t like to be honest about.

~~~~~~ The Best Parts:~~~~~~~~

As always with a Marchetta book the best parts are the people, their histories and how it all works out in the end. Every person in this book was flawed in some way and that made them all the more read for me.

Violetta is the daughter of a woman convicted of a horrendous bombing. Her mother has been in prison for the last 13 years of her life and every person in her family has been touched by that in some way. But I loved that that family felt closer together than most of us who see each other every day.

Bish and his ex-wife have a history and she is now pregnant with another child. But I thought that the relationship that family has while incredibly complicated was completely beautiful too. I felt the pain and the hope that they held for each other and how even though they were divorced they still loved each other and wanted the other to be happy. It wasn’t perfect but they were trying to be the best people towards each other they could be even if they were no longer together.

***He walked her down to the tube station, knowing Maynard would be waiting for her at Ashford, and it made him melancholy. His hand almost tempted to take hers. It seemed the natural thing to do, and because Rachel was more evolved than Bish, she took his. The next time he saw her, she’d likely have had the baby. How strange it would sound to hear Bee speak about a brother who wasn’t Stevie. Who wasn’t theirs. He stood with her on the platform in silence until the tube came. “Would it seem odd to say that I want you to have a place in this kid’s life?” she asked. Bish could hardly be a player in his own life, let alone another man’s child’s.***

And the there is Noor. Wow…just wow. I don’t think I can say enough about how rich I found her character to be. She was a brilliant woman who gave up her future for the lives of her family. Her entire story was so compelling to me that I loved and hated every section of it as it was doled out. The best part about her was how strong she was in this story. She sees people, like really sees them deep down to the core and I adored how she cut to the quick of it. Sometimes she was kind, sometimes harsh, but always I found her character honest.

***“I know about guilt,” she said.
“Yes, you would.”
“Not mine. The only guilt I’ve ever felt is for catching Etienne LeBrac’s eye in the cafeteria of St. John’s College and ruining his life by association,” she said. “I’m talking about yours.”
He stood to leave.
“You feel guilty because you weren’t on that beach to save him.” Her words gutted him. “Your ex-wife feels guilty because she thinks she’s not going to love her new child as much as she loved your son. And your daughter feels guilty that she’s not dead and her brother is. So who’s the better detective here?”***

There are so many other smaller character parts that cling to me but you’ll just have to read this to find those gems for yourself.

Don’t let the book topic scare you. I don’t read many thrillers unless they are Urban Fantasy or a romance with a murder mystery. So the topic of this book was a little out of my comfort zone. But that didn’t really matter, because the story is so compelling and the characters are really interesting that I believe no matter what kind of reader you are there could be something in this story for you. Plus I really liked how it incorporated how people are today with their phones and social media and how all of that plays a part in the way that information is shared and used in both positive and negative ways.

~~~~~~ Overall: ~~~~~~

If you have read any of MM’s other works then I’m sure you will find the same fantastic storytelling at the core. If you have never read a MM book this might be a really great entry point for you to see if you enjoy her style of storytelling since this is completely a standalone.

4 people found this helpful

AngryBard

When terrorism turns out to be a family affair

Reviewed in the United States on 14 November 2016

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Melina Marchetta has written some very powerful YA novels (Jellicoe Road, Saving Franesca, The Piper's Son) and a more classic type of fantasy trilogy. Here, she moves into new territory with a thriller that begins with a terror bombing of a busload of innocent British teenagers on holiday in France. The bombing and its aftermath brings together some unlikely collaborators: a suspended, alcoholic Metropolitan police officer caught in a downward loop after his divorce and the previous death of his young son, a convicted female terrorist serving a life sentence for helping her father build a bomb that killed 22 people thirteen years ago, her younger brother, a former football star, now eeking out a life as a boxing instructor in Calais, banned from entering Britain and an angry French policeman. They are all united by their love for some of the teenagers involved in the bombing, and when two of them go missing and media whips up a frenzy, accusing them of being accomplices in the bombing that killed their friends, it becomes a race against the clock to save their lives and find the real criminals.

Melina Marchetta has a wonderful knack for writing characters you believe in, flawed, stubborn, making stupid choices sometimes, but always driven by their love or hurt, always tangled in family relationships or the gaping holes that loss leaves in the family fabric. This book is no different. More than a regular thriller, this is a book about our time, the political developments that have left people suspicious of each other and have made some second class citizens, ready to expect the worst from authorities that are meant to protect them. And front and center stand a handful of very different families, where young and old alike are hurting and lost, looking for identity and longing to come home.

I would recommed this book to anyone looking for something more than a thriller, a book that gives you hope, because it shows us basically decent human beings struggling to do the best they can, not giving up in the face of overwhelming odds until they have done what they set out to do: tell the truth, and shame the devil.

3 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

A perfect novel

Reviewed in the United States on 22 June 2018

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This book is my mystery book group's June read and I'm so pleased to have been introduced to Melinda Marchetta. Breathtaking prose, an intricate plot and the most sympathetic characters I've ever met. This story is about love but also tackles, with realism and grace the dominant culture's demonizing of Muslims. Highly recommended.

D. Schwertner

Melina Marchetta does it again!

Reviewed in the United States on 19 October 2016

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I've been looking forward to this book for a while now and it doesn't disappoint. Marchetta is a master at fleshing out characters and backgrounds without any drivel or wasted words. This story is no exception and it is going in my favorites pile forever.

No spoilers here, but the characters are ones I wanted to get to know immediately and every single one is important to the plot, which is rare in this day and age. I thought I had the story figured out, too - but I didn't. This is a GREAT read!

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