Publication Date August 25, 2026

Linwood Barclay has written many books, I’ve enjoyed all the ones I have read, and was eager to read his latest, Not A Word. Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley, I received a copy of this latest gem in exchange for my honest review. 

This book is classic Barclay: interesting characters, a plot with some twists and surprises, and immersion in a fictional smallish town that has secrets just waiting to be revealed.

When Reece goes to visit his parents, he is at first maybe a bit embarrassed to have caught them in bed. An even bigger surprise is that they are both dead from gunshot wounds.. It looks like a classic case of murder-suicide, but after looking further it appears maybe his dad didn’t shoot himself. 

Reece is waiting for the police to finish their crime scene work and question him when his phone rings. It says it’s his mother. WTF? 

Years ago, Reece’s father worked for a sketchy pharmaceutical company – could that be related to this? It’s a clever, well written mystery, and I loved it. Five stars.