This was a very good book kept me hooked until the end, a very fast paced and on the edge of your seat read!

Shelf Awareness Pro, Tues, Oct 5, 2021:

Wanda M. Morris's fast-paced and thrilling debut, the aptly named All Her Little Secrets, reveals the many, many secrets collected over the years of one woman's life--and what happens when they eventually catch up to her.

Ellice Littlejohn shows the world the woman she wants them to see: "Smart. Tempered. Ellice Littlejohn, the consummate professional." What she hides behind that façade, though, is far more complicated--and potentially dangerous: a childhood spent in poverty in Chillicothe, Ga., with an alcoholic mother and abusive cop for a stepfather. An unlikely scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, and a brother left behind on her departure. A misguided affair with her married boss, executive vice-president and general counsel of Houghton Transportation Company, which has only a handful of female employees and even fewer employees of color.

These secrets feel entirely disconnected from Ellice's reality as the only Black employee in the legal department--until she finds her boss, who is also her lover, dead in his office before the crack of dawn one weekday morning. "Blood. Death. This was Chillicothe all over again." She panics, "And I did what I always did. I ran. My earliest memory is of running."

This brutal discovery falls at the very start of All Her Little Secrets, and Ellice continues that fast-paced run from her secrets for as long as she can. "The more I tried to shake it loose, the more intertwined the past became with the present," she realizes. Her desperation to keep that past hidden boxes her and her younger brother into an increasingly impossible corner--one, or both, of them must take the fall for a conspiracy that goes far beyond Ellice, her boss or her employer's shady dealings.

"This entire situation was a complicated knot of moral and ethical issues I wasn't quite sure how to fix," but Ellice's sheer determination to do just that ultimately forms the heart of Morris's suspenseful and compelling novel. As Ellice's secrets threaten to reveal themselves--or be revealed by an all-too-knowledgeable enemy--All Her Little Secrets builds to an exciting conclusion, marking Morris as an electrifying new voice in the genre. Morris's debut will prove perfect for readers looking for thrillers that reveal dark secrets and twisted webs of lies alongside hard truths about the realities of racism and sexism in corporate America. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

Shelf Talker: A tightly paced debut thriller pits the lone Black lawyer in a large corporation against a web of lies and conspiracies that threaten to reveal dangerous secrets from her past.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Mystery, thriller, fiction

Brief synopsis: Corporate attorney Ellice Littlejohn is thrust into the executive ranks of her office after her boss is murdered, but feels that not all is what it seems at the company. While she investigates, secrets from her past threaten to be revealed.

As a law student, when I read the synopsis of this legal thriller and heard the comparisons to How to Get Away With Murder, I knew I had to read this. I was not disappointed!

What I liked:
⚖️ Started out with a bang!
⚖️ Thrilling moments and twists.
⚖️ Loved the main character and definitely got Annalise Keating vibes.
⚖️ The law student in me loved the lawyer talk and discussion of legal ethics.
⚖️ Dual timelines of the present and Ellice’s past.
⚖️ Important discussion of race, especially in the legal field/corporate world.

What I didn’t like:
⚖️ A little confusing keeping all the coworkers straight.
⚖️ At times a little cheesy/cliche.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and am very impressed this is the authors debut work. There’s important messages and themes about race since Ellice is the sole black executive and one of the few black employees of the office. There’s also a plot point about an extreme political group, keeping this vague to avoid spoilers.

I was super entertained trying to figure out who arranged the murders, what nefarious thing was going on at the office, and what secrets Ellice was hiding. She had a rough upbringing so please see the trigger warnings. Ellice is a total bad ass, I would love to see this as a limited series tv adaptation.

If you are looking for a legal thriller, this is the read for you!

“I was a fighter. Black girls … fight all the time. We fight to be heard, to be recognized, to stay alive. We fight even when we don’t know we’re fighting.”

⚠️: Child sexual abuse, substance abuse, abortion, murder

Ellice Littlejohn finds her boss dead and walks away. That's just the beginning. As things unfold, everyone learns the gospel truth. Ellice Littlejohn must put things right because the other option is deadly.

Ellice Littlejohn leads a double life. On the one hand, she is the only black lawyer at an elite company in Atlanta. On the other hand, she has a closet full of skeletons.

When your bosses start a war, the only option is to fight back.

I enjoyed this read. I consciously read authors and stories from various backgrounds. I live in Atlanta, so the history and places are all too familiar. There's always something to relate to: everyone can relate to pain, fear, and empathy.

This is a tribute to a self-sacrificing black woman in whitewashed corporate Atlanta.

When fourteen-year-old Ellice Littlejohn left her hometown of Chillicothe, Georgia behind to attend boarding school in Virginia on a full scholarship, she never looked back. She later becomes a successful attorney and rewrites her history so well that even her closest friends don’t know about her terrible childhood. When her boss and the man with whom she’s been having an affair is found dead in his office, Ellice begins to uncover secrets her company is hiding and risks her own troubled past being exposed.

This book is told mostly in the present from Ellice’s point-of-view, but has several shorter chapters that go back to the past and reveal parts of her childhood. Some of the things she experiences are very disturbing and hard to read. In the present day, Ellice experiences both overt and more subtle discrimination as the only Black lawyer in the legal department of Houghton Transportation. It is shocking how deeply some of the racist feelings and behaviors go among most of the executive team of the company. Ellice made some questionable decisions in the past, which can be excused by the circumstances and her youth. She is a character I was rooting for, even when she made it very hard to do. When things heat up on the investigation into her boss and lover’s death, she makes one bad choice after another and that becomes frustrating.

This is a very tense and suspense-filled novel. It was hard to put down until I could find out the whole story of what was going on at Houghton. I was surprised by some of the things that came out about the murder, the motive, and the killler. I like the ending, but there were still some loose ends that weren’t tied up. There are also missed opportunities, especially in getting to know the character of Juice, a friend of Ellice’s brother, and her best friend, Grace, better. When some of Grace’s backstory was given, I thought for sure that would play a part in how Ellice handles her current problems, but it is never expanded on. It makes me wonder if a follow-up book is planned for the future. If not, it’s a shame that Grace didn’t play a larger role in the story. In spite of that, I enjoyed this interesting and fast-paced mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Scene of the Crime Early Reads for this ebook. An advance copy was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Ellice Littlejohn is the only black corporate attorney at a mostly white shipping company. One morning she finds her boss and lover, Michael, dead in his office. What follows is a serious of twists and turns as Ellice tries to uncover what happened to Michael along with the many suspicious things happening around his murder. This is definitely a fast-paced thriller - sometimes a little too fast as I felt some items were merely plot points that could've had more depth. This includes the racism that is prevalent throughout the book. I think some additional background about Houghton and some of the others that worked there would've helped with that. I enjoyed the flashbacks to Ellice's past and this really helped solidify the relationship with Sam and Vera and made you care about them. This is a solid debut by Wanda M. Morris and I look forward to reading more from her. Thanks to Book Club Girl for the ARC.

What exactly was going on? She left him lying there, as she hurried down to the proper floor where her own workspace was waiting for her. There was so much blood, she knew that Michael was dead. Ellice had to pretend like nothing had happened. They’d been meeting up for a while and no one knew of their relationship. Michael paid her well and they both were happy. They were both lawyers, except Ellice was the only black lawyer in the firm and Michael was married.

Ellice was good at pretending that she knew nothing about what happened that morning. As the police and emergency personal arrive at the office building, Ellice tries to stay calm yet inside she’s a nervous wreck. When invited into the CEO office, she feels her days are over and yet, she can’t believe her ears when they offer her Michael’s job. What?! Instantly, I think this is a set-up. I’m cautious of everyone, why would they do that and who would do it? Then, Ellice hears that it’s a racially motivated move to place her in Michael’s position, which makes sense since there’s some tension on their doorstep. Yet, this doesn’t make sense to me and why kill him?

I liked how Ellice didn’t accept what individual were telling her and she downed her private detective tools and she started her own investigation. She actually made a great detective as she explored every lead and she pursued every little trail she found. I found that in the middle of the book, it got a bit slow for a while but then, it picked back up in speed and the book’s conclusion was brilliant. In the end, what she uncovered was some twisted account with a lot of different pieces attached to it. It was quite the discovery. This book was an entertaining mystery that I enjoyed. 4.5 stars

WOW! What a great mystery set in a law firm! Ellice is the only black lawyer at her law firm and she is having an affair with her boss. When he is found dead by Ellice, she walks away like she never saw his dead body as she doesn't want any attention on her. She is promoted to his job and that is where the fun starts! This book has lots of twists and turns and I enjoyed them all. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

This was a well-written, intriguing, and beautifully constructed legal thriller focusing on race, hidden secrets, and sex, sexuality, and rape. It handles each topic with care and great interest, and provides a lot of really profound and often striking insight into topics prevalent and important in today's American South.

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. The story was fine, but it felt like there were some missing pieces, and the pacing was a little off at times. Many of the decisions made by the main character (Ellice) might have been a bit more believable if she was younger and more naïve, but rarely made sense for a character who is a successful lawyer in her mid-50s.

This is a slick thriller and mystery about Ellice Littlejohn, a lawyer who has many secrets from her past. She hides her family background and upbringing from everyone. When her boss is murdered at the office, Ellice is promptly promoted to his position and executive office. She is the only Black women in the executive suite and all is not what she expected. She uncovers shady corporate dealings and racism abounds. Can she figure out what is going on without her background coming to the forefront? She is trapped in an ethical and moral dilemma.

I have requested this book for a possible future review or consideration for awards, so I am not prepared to offer comments ay this time. I will do so, or provide a link to my review, if that comes to pass.

Thanks so much for your understanding and patience!

Many thanks,

Paula L. Woods

Full disclosure. I read Wanda M. Morris’ debut novel, All Her Little Secrets, way back in April. Morris was on a panel I moderated for Library Journal Day of Dialog in May. I also interviewed her for a profile in Library Journal. Her book was the Lead Read for the season for her publisher HarperCollins. That means the different houses and publicists are all promoting this book.

Ellice Littlejohn is the only Black attorney in a law firm in Atlanta. She followed her boss there because she’s been having an affair with him for years. In fact, she and Michael Sayles have a pre-work meeting in his office one morning. She walks in to find his body. He’s been shot. Ellice turns around and walks out without telling anyone, hoping she hasn’t been caught on camera. Ellice wants to protect her brother, who has a criminal record, and she wants to protect the secrets from her past. She’s used to keeping secrets, though. That’s what lawyers do. And, that’s what smart young Black girls learn in Chillicothe, Georgia.

Ellice and her brother, Sam, grew up in a dilapidated shotgun house in Chillicothe. Her mother was sometimes around, sometimes with the wrong men. Miss Vee watched out for Ellice and Sam, and she’s the one who made sure the smart young girl got out of town, heading to boarding school in Virginia on a full-ride scholarship. She was fourteen, strong, and too big for the place. But Miss Vee warned her, “Remember, you have to work twice as hard as those white kids, even though you just as smart.” Ellice has done that ever since, and she blames herself for Sam’s troubles. She left him behind when she left Chillicothe for a better life.

Was it a better life? Ellice questions herself. “How many pieces of myself had I thrown away on the way to corporate success?” She’s even offered Michael’s position. But, it doesn’t take long for her to realize that there’s a secret club in the law firm, and as the lone Black person on the top floor, she’s not in that club. It also doesn’t take long for her to realize that Michael was about to turn on the firm. His death, one that looked like a suicide, was actually a homicide. And, someone in that law firm is more than willing to let Ellice take the fall.

All Her Little Secrets is a crime novel, but, even more important, it is a story of one young person growing up poor, Black, and female in rural Georgia. It’s a story of getting out of that background, but at what cost? Morris’ book is about family and all the ways family is connected. It’s about tokenism, and race, the legal system, and keeping secrets. Ellice was, “the lone Black person, expected to speak on behalf of Black folks everywhere, the one expected to represent the success of failure of every Black woman who worked in corporate America.” Wanda M. Morris says she’s been there. Maybe her story isn’t as extreme as Ellice Littlejohn’s, but her debut novel allows readers to see that world through Ellice’s eyes, that world, with all its ugliness.

This was a very fast-pace, edge-of-your-seat legal thriller. I was rooting for Ellice the entire time. The author did a great job of character building while keeping you glued to the story. Did not want to put this one down. Highly recommend getting this one as soon as it is released on Nov 2.

I received an ARC of All Her Little Secrets in exchange for and honest review.
Ellice, a black woman, grew up in extreme poverty with a very unstable mother, Martha. Martha ends up marrying, Willie Jay, a police officer, know for his abuse of power - at work and outside of work. Willie Jay wreaks havoc in the family's lives. - including Sam, Ellice's younger brother.

With all of this happening, Ellice develops a relationship with Vera, a neighbor, who becomes the true protector of Ellice and Sam - always watching out for them. One night, an incident involving Ellice, Vera and Willie Jay creates a bond between Ellice and Vera that will last forever.

Ellice does her best to escape her childhood environment, goes away to school and eventually becomes and attorney. However, one fateful morning during her career as an attorney, Ellice arrives at the office in the early morning hours to find her boss/lover shot dead in his office. With Michael's death, Ellice finds herself promoted to Michael's job as an executive for a transportation company. Although this is what Ellice always wanted, she quickly finds out her company is racist and full of corruption - corruption that may be linked to Michael's death.

Ellice embarks on a mission to prove this corruption and solve Michael's murder. Through twists and turns that link back to Ellice's childhood including that incident with Ellice, Vera and Willie Jay, Ellice sets off to put it all together while dealing with some ruthless and dangerous people.

This is a page turner ,hold your breath type of novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

After her boss, with whom she was having a secret affair, is murdered, Ellice Littlejohn is suddenly appointed General Counsel of an old school transportation company. Are there more sinister intentions at play here than the potential diversity lawsuit against the company?

All Her Little Secrets gave me vibes of a present-day version of John Grisham's The Firm. Ellice Littlejohn is a fighter. She fought to get herself out of the small, poor Georgia town where she grew up. Then she attended a prestigious high school, college, and law school. While they might have promoted her to be the token Black person in the C-suite, Ellice is ready to bring some new ideas to the good old boys running the company. Ellice fights to find a way out that doesn't jeopardize her future when she finds herself knee-deep in corporate fraud and other serious crimes. This fast-paced thriller, with its twists and turns, kept me entertained throughout.

I loved Wanda Morris' writing. Her vivid, colorful description of people and situations immersed me in Ellice's world. Throughout the book, Morris incorporates on-point social commentary on being Black and a woman in corporate America. All Her Little Secrets is a well-written debut, and I look forward to whatever Morris writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Custom House for a digital copy to read and enjoy. This review reflects my honest, unbiased opinion.

I am a huge mystery and thriller fan and am always looking for books written by authors of color and featuring lead characters of color. So I was extremely happy to find All Her Little Secrets!

I went in expecting a legal thriller and got a really interesting mystery with a lot of depth and a thought-provoking representation of what it's like to be a Black woman in a corporate setting.

Ellice Littlejohn, the book's main character, is an in house corporate lawyer for a transportation company in Atlanta. She's one of the few Black employees of her firm, and one of the only Black women. As the book opens, Ellice finds her boss (who is also her married lover) dead in his office. As she tries to unravel the mystery of his death, she's drawn into a web of evil, and also dragged back into the small town past she thought she'd left behind.

Loved Ellice and her take on how tough it is to be a Black woman, with special emphasis on the line you need to walk to survive in corporate America. I also loved the inclusion of Ellice's childhood as a way to show her past struggles and how they are used against her in the present. Not sure if this will be a series, but I'd love to read more books about Ellice or anything that Wanda Morris writes!

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda Morris was indeed a fast-paced thriller. I was drawn to the plot about corporate attorney Ellice Littlejohn, who is having an affair with her married boss who subsequently gets murdered in his office. Upon finding the body, our protagonist quietly leaves, which is the first of her poor decisions. The very next day she is promoted to his job. Things spiral out of control from there.

The character of Ellice was likable, but since she was an attorney, I would have expected her to behave differently than she did. She got herself into a lot of tight spots that seemed pretty unbelievable.

The plot covered some timely social issues around racism and sexism along with corporate corruption. I wonder if perhaps there was too much going on to give every issue the focus it deserved.

I really liked the intense pace of the story, and the flashbacks to her childhood were my favorite parts of the book. Everyone should be so lucky as to have an Aunt Vera in their lives; that lady rocked.

I will recommend this to readers who like suspenseful fiction.

I thank the publisher, William Morrow and Custom House, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Elise Littlejohn has a lot of secrets and makes a lot of really questionable choices. She is a corporate attorney (one of the only Black employees in an uber white male company), and she’s sleeping with her married boss. She comes into work early one morning and finds him dead in his office of an apparent suicide. Instead of reporting it, she walks away, leaving his corpse for his assistant to find (not cool). She is then immediately promoted to her dead boss’s position (making her the ONLY C-suite Black employee at the company), a move that is highly suspicious to both her and the police. At the same time, a secret from her past is threatened to be revealed and everything devolves into suspicion, conspiracy, and danger.

This was one of my most anticipated fall/winter books (THAT COVER!), and I wanted to like it much more than I did. I overall found it kind of dull. Elise was super smart but kept making the stupidest decisions that didn’t make any sense and the plot dragged. The secret from her past was pretty obvious, and the conspiracy was overly convoluted. I did really enjoy the “Interstitial” sections describing Elise’s childhood.

I’d definitely read another book by Wanda Morris in the future, but did not love this one.