A locked room mystery with twists, turns, and unforgettable characters—Cate Holahan’s One Little Secret explores the way we often see those closest to us the least clearly.

Who are the main players?

Jenny Murray is a sports commentator on tv and her husband Louis is an emergency room physician. Rachel Klein is an attorney and her husband Ben Hansen is an acclaimed author. Susan Ahmadi has put her legal career on hold to home school their autistic son and help her husband Nadal with his new venture, Doc2Go. DS Gabriella “Gabby” Watkins is newly promoted when she’s pulled from the sexual assault case she has been working to investigate a murder.

What is One Little Secret about?

The glass beach house was supposed to be the getaway Susan needed. She’s put her legal career on hold to care for her autistic son, and it’s been difficult navigating everyone’s opinions on what causes his flair ups. She invites her new neighbors to accompany her and her husband Nadal to a week-long rental in the Hamptons.

The three couples are still getting to know one another, and some alcoholic beverages consumed on the first night of vacation loosens them up. But as they learn more about the other couples, they begin to see the cracks beneath the surface—marital tensions, career frustrations, and some things that hit even closer to home. They all have secrets, but when of the group says a bit too much, things cross a line they can’t uncross.

When the group wakes up in the morning, one of the women is found dead on their private beach. Detective Gabby Watkins is called to the crime scene to investigate, leaving behind a sexual assault case she was working to help get to the bottom of what happened in the glass house. Everyone has secrets that could link them to the murder, but the biggest secret of all may be hiding in plain sight…

What did I think?

I always enjoy a locked room format to a mystery, and though this is one big glass house, it’s clear that someone is responsible. The question facing the reader is who is dead and why? I was thinking when I started this book what a bad idea it is to plan a vacation with people you don’t know that well. That’s a recipe for disaster, and in this case murder.

The story goes back and forth between the night before and the morning after and switches between multiple points of view. The changing times and perspectives kept the pace moving, and after I got the hang of who everyone was and how they were linked together, I was completely hooked. We are kept in suspense of who was the killer. Everyone is pointing the finger at everyone else. There were more motives than suspects, it seemed at times. I could have seen any one of them being responsible!

If I could describe this book in one word, I think I’d choose juicy. Drugs, alcohol, secrets, and naughty behavior—these are rich people who think they are above the law at times. No one in the main six people is particularly likable. But that doesn’t detract from the book because it doesn’t seem any of the couples like each other either! This is a book driven by tension and secrets—and terrible decision making.

Gabby is certainly the most likeable of the adult characters. I felt bad for her getting this mess of a vacation murder mystery dropped on her hands. Especially since it is taking her away from a sexual assault case that the reader can tell is important to Gabby. She leaves behind a victim to go spend her day interviewing these naughty rich people. She handles it like a pro, though! I guess if you’re a detective in the Hamptons, this isn’t the first case you’ve come across involving people like this.

Suspenseful and well-paced, with lots of twists and juicy reveals!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this free copy.

Hello, mersquad! Yes, I am finally getting to my ARCs and trying to catch up on reviews so that I can get my Netgalley queue under control! My goodness, it’s hard to catch up when there are literally hundreds – if not more – that need to be reviewed. I’ll get to them though, so don’t worry.

I’m here to talk about my experience with One Little Secret, which I honestly thought was going to be out of my enjoyment area, but wasn’t. I feel like it read like other mystery thrillers that deal with couples and infidelity and secrets, but I think this one was decent. For some reason, the synopsis made it seem like Susan was the main character in all this, and that somehow the murder and secrets would all revolve around her. Hopefully this isn’t a spoiler, but it really wasn’t.

I also thought I wasn’t going to like Susan either because she seemed to just come off as a conceited and self-absorbed woman, but she wasn’t really all that either. In this novel, we have three couples that are neighbors and friends that take a vacation away from the kids in this beach house in the Hamptons. Things start to unravel when arguments ensue and the next morning, one of them is dead. Why? Who did it? That’s the mystery.

I appreciate the book for what it was, and even though I wasn’t actively trying to solve the mystery, I feel like the red herring was done perfectly. I truly didn’t know the truth until the ending, when it was revealed, and even then I could see how the red herring was the more viable suspect. It could also be because I sped through this one, knowing that I needed to listen to it eventually and I was already years behind, but I do think I was following it for the most part.

I think the author’s decision to split the time to be “the day of” and “the day after” made it seem like everything was going to be solved so quickly and didn’t seem realistic to me. I may sometimes fall for the CSI effect – you know, where we think everything is going to be solved in the span of one 50 minute episode on TV thanks to shows like CSI, Bones, etc.? – but in this case, I felt like it should have taken a bit longer. Yes, I understand that time was of the essence in regards to a few characters, and maybe that’s what made the time speed up so quickly, but I think the author could have slowed things down a bit more. Or even having another time POV like “days before” or whatever. I do like how she split it though, so we could get the backstory of what happened before the murder, and then see how Detective Gabby (I’m totally spacing on her last name right now) goes through her investigation.

All in all, while I don’t really care for the lives of the rich, I think there were some elements added to this that made them seem almost relatable. I also wasn’t sure of why Gabby was working on another case that seemed unrelated at the time – there was a young girl who was raped and drugged by some other party boys that were preying on underage girls during the same time as this – but then towards the end it started to make sense. I guess it’s true that elements from other cases can make you think about what’s missing in the current priority. I don’t know if I said that correctly, but that’s basically what happened.

I think I’m okay with the ending honestly, and I think it’s funny that the only one that didn’t seem to suffer was Susan in the end. No, I’m not saying how, but that was interesting. Maybe that’s why the synopsis read like it was going to focus on her? No idea. But there was more to everyone that met the eye and I didn’t like a single person in this book. Perfect.

This one verged on becoming a bit wordy if Im been honest, but it was able to capture my attention with the locked room mystery and investigation. I have to admit I got confused a bit between the couples, maybe a scorecard would have been helpful? Overall it did kept me guessing and i was very surprised in a good way. I enjoyed Lies she told very much so Id definitely keep on reading more of CH.

I enjoyed this book thought it was a fun time and good way to spend time! I would want to read from this author again sometime soon!

Slow place from the start but that actually helps to build the story line as well as make the characters themselves seem more believable.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

TW: domestic violence, rape, drugged drinks

While the kids are sent to camp, the adults take a much needed break by going to a beach house. However, everyone is hiding something and not everyone’s picture perfect life is as great as it seems. One female detective has the instincts to solve the cases that come her way.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Cate Holahan crafts my favorite kind of thriller in "One Little Secret"---the kind where everyone has a story and is connected and the surprises keep on coming right up to the very end. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

The first half of this book was very slow and hard to keep track of what was going on. I had a hard time matching up the spouses to who they were married to/having an affair with/had secrets with, etc. The second half of the book got better storyline wise and read a lot faster. Overall, I thought this book was just okay.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Review not posted to Amazon because less than 4 stars.*

I could not finish this book. It didn't appeal to me. I was very drawn to the cover and description, and love reading mystery/thriller novels, but this one wasn't great. If a book cannot hook me within the first 25%, it does not appeal to me to continue reading.

A slightly different take on a locked room type mystery with a group of friends who are more closely linked than even they know and harbour secrets that are dying to be shared.

The beach house was supposed to be the getaway that Susan needed. Eager to forge relationships with her new neighbors, she invites three neighbor couples to join in on a week-long sublet with her and her husband.

Almost immediately the three couples begin picking up on the others' marital tensions and work frustrations, as well as revealing their own. Adultery. Domestic violence. The distance/loss of intimacy that accompanies raising two children with disabilities.

After dinner and possibly too much wine, comments were made, secrets were exposed, and accusations were thrown. The next morning one of them is discovered dead on the private beach.

As town detective, Gabby Watkins delves into her investigation, she learns that everyone in the glass house was hiding something that would give them a motive for this murder,

I went back and forth on who I thought the murderer was, and ultimately I was wrong! This book keeps you guessing all the way up until the end, an excellent whodunnit mystery!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of One Little Secret in exchange for an honest review.

I was really intrigued by the blurb of this book but the characters were awful. The pace was slow. I did enjoy the various POVs. 3 stars

If there as ever a thriller that would make me NOT want to take a vacation with my friends and their significant others, it would be One Little Secret. A couple invites their friends to stay a week in their beach house. As everyone starts getting comfortable--and as the alcohol starts flowing--things are said that should not be. And then, a woman is dead. The town detective has to try and figure out why the woman was killed, but of course, everyone who is there has secrets they don't want known. This was super fast-paced and kept me guessing until the end. I loved it!

Great thriller that kept me turning the pages, a great story with intriguing characters that kept me guessing. Highly recommend to others!

Quire a thriller, I devoured this book and did not expect the ending at all. A perfect beach read (literally). Will read Cate Holahan again. Recommend.

This one was just ok for me I found myself a bit confused keeping all the characters straight but I do enjoy a locked room style thriller. Overall this was decent just not amazing for me.

I am not leaving a review due to the fact that this book did not interest me enough to finish the story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.