All the Dirty Secrets confirms Aggie Blum Thompson’s rightful spot as a thriller/suspense author amongst those including, Kimberly Belle, Mary Kubica and more! What she brings to the table is her background as a reporter who covered police work and trials. Mix this together with her equally insightful observations on the competitive nature which can occur in suburbia and you find yourself on a thrilling ride you at times can relate to. Already looking forward to her next!

This was better than expected but it still wasn't amazing for me. It was slow and hard to get into. I didn't really care for the characters and honestly there were too many to keep track of and distinguish between. It had it's moments tho and I like different time lines. I think I'll try another book from this author

Very much enjoyed this book!

Nice and well-paced dual timelines, which blend together nicely for the resolution.
Well-explored topics of wealth and entitlement vs ethics and true care in relationships.

I found that this book was probably an accurate depiction of the role that privilege plays in teens' and adults' lives. Maybe a little too black and white, but still.

I cannot fault this book at all, a solid 4 stars from me and I will definitely be looking out for more books from Aggie Blum Thompson (a new author for me!).

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

After reading and loving Thompson’s debut of I Don’t Forget You, I knew I couldn’t wait to read more from her! I relish in any academia settings, especially when it’s a private school - let the drama ensue!!

Told in flawlessly executed alternating timelines and multiple POVs of Liza and her daughter Zoe, this story totally consumed me and I absolutely devoured it! I loved that there was a current day mystery as well as a cold case in the past timeline, making this read extremely multilayered and super intriguing!

While the subject matter can be unsettling and disturbing at times, this story was just incredibly well done, complex, and ultimately a wild and twisty ride!

I read this author's debut novel and absolutely loved it so I was thrilled to get a chance to read her latest, All The Dirty Secrets. I picked this up while on vacation, hoping for something fast-paced to keep my attention and this delivered!

My favorite guilty pleasure reads involve elite, private schools and thrillers so this one was right up my alley. Dewey Beach is the scene of high school graduation parties and for Liza, it was going to be the best celebration for her friends before they all went their separate ways to college. Except tragedy strikes and her best friend Nikki drowns in the ocean. Twenty-five years later, Liza is back at Dewey Beach with a few of those same friends when history repeats itself and her daugther's friend drowns. Liza begans to suspect her daughter knows more than she's sharing and Liza is determined to find the truth of what happened to these girls.

What I liked about this book:
I could not stop turning pages in this story and it was a quick read that held my interest the entire time. So many despicable characters and actions. I appreciated the author's focus on the #MeToo movement and why it's so important and also how so many horrible actions and behaviors, especially in the 90s, were ignored of covered up so often.

What didn't work for me:
I found the main character, Liza, to be entirely too naive. On the one hand, she's supposedly a great crime writer but then so many details in her own life were overlooked or missed. I struggled with her actions or inactions in many scenarios.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will continue to read more by this author.

Content warning from the author in the audio version, not e-book ~ rape, sexual assault, suicide references

I can totally relate to some of the same things as Liza. I, too, have a teenage daughter who is an only child and who I am an overbearing smother to. I want to know every little thing, but I am just nosey by nature. And are we smotherers because we've 'been there done that' and don't want them to make the same mistakes we did? Or do we just gotta let em live and learn?

Liza is recently divorced and having a tough time connecting with her teenage daughter, Zoe. Liza works at Washington Prep where she attended years ago, and where Zoe attends now. Unbeknownst to Liza, Zoe had befriended a girl named, Emery. When Emery turns up dead in a similar manner to her friend, Nikki, 28 years earlier, Liza starts wondering if the similarities are just that ~ similar or are they somehow related to each other.

Multiple POV's ~ Liza (mother) & Zoe (daughter) & Nikki
We have a dual timeline ~ present and 1994 and dual mysterious beach week deaths that are interconnected.

Overall, a decent read that I would recommend. It's definitely full of dirty secrets, so fittingly titled. There are many unlikable characters. There were some nice twists in there that I didn't see coming. This is my first time with this author and I'd read her work again.

I was able to grab this as on audio from my library too, so I went back and forth reading and listening. I am so happy there were 2 narrators ~ Hillary Huber & Josephine Huang did a lovely job and I think their voices fit perfectly for the ages. Zoe like totally had an annoyed teenager tone going on. 11 hours and 38 minutes and easy to follow along at 2x.

This is a very timely, relevant read...but I could just not get into this. This started off very slow, and by the time it did pick up about half way through, I already lost interest. This deals with a lot of sensitive topics which I think in my personal opinion could have been handled a bit better.

I enjoyed I don’t forgive you so when I saw this I had to read it! This psychological suspense starts off as a slow burning mystery we get to know the characters and the background to the events but the suspense soon ramps up with shocking revelations and more than a few dirty secrets and shocking cover ups start to spill! The final clever plot twist is one I didn’t see coming at all and made for a wonderful shocking conclusion to this gripping mystery! I highly recommend this book!

A copycat murder? Or at least connected somehow? A beach setting and a tony private school (what could be better?). I found it a bit difficult to get into these characters and it was off to a slow start for me. But the story unveiling the past and present murders helped get me to the end. A new author for me but not my favorite book (maybe more of a YA?). I'd give her another chance!

In 1994 Liza and her friends were celebrating graduating high school at the beach and decided to go for a swim. But one of them didn't return from the ocean. Now, almost thirty years later, Liza's daughter attends Beach Week without permission and finds her dead friend on the beach. Liza can't shake the feeling that there might be a link between the two deaths - and that the prestigious Washington, DC, private school where she works and which both she and her daughter have gone to might be involved somehow, too.

All The Dirty Secrets was such a thrilling read! Perfectly paced and full of surprising twists - a real page-turner!

I have posted a review also on Instagram today, July 30, 2022. Thank you so much for giving me a chance to read this book - I will definitely want to read more books by Aggie Blum Thompson!

This latest thriller from Aggie Blum Thompson is a slow burn that leaves you wanting more and turning the pages. The suspense slowly builds over the whole novel. Dual timeline and two POVs have you questioning both Liza and Zoe, their friendship, and who they can trust. The final twist was fantastic!

All the Dirty Secrets is a fast-paced thriller set at an upscale DC private school about two deaths that occurred twenty five years apart. Could they be connected? Liza and her friends celebrated graduation at Beach Week, only one of their friends never came back. It's been twenty five years and Liza's daughter Zoe is now set for Beach Week. When Zoe's best friend is found dead on the beach, Liza begins to think back on her Beach Week and if the two could be connected. What ensues is a twisty murder mystery that will keep readers hooked! Also love the inclusion of Beach Week - a tradition for DMV seniors and the time of your life! Highly recommended! This would make an excellent beach read.

Recently divorced Liza Gold is looking forward to a week at Dewey Beach on the Delaware/Maryland shore with her best friends from high school, Shelby, Todd and Archer. They’ve been best friends since they all met at the elite Washington Prep School in the 90s and Dewey Beach is where they came to party after graduating high school at what is known as Beach Week. Now twenty eight years later they are back at Shelby’s family beach house so she can spy on her twins who have just graduated from Washington Prep and are partying at Beach Week. Shelby is anxious because their own Beach Week in 1994 ended badly when one of their friends, Nikki Montes, went for a night time swim and drowned.

Liza’s daughter Zoe is a sophomore at Washington Prep, so Liza is happy she won’t be attending Beach week for another two years. However, unknown to Liza, Zoe’s new best friend, Emery, a senior at Washington Prep, has talked Zoe into sneaking off to attend Beach Week with her and the unthinkable happens - Emery is later found drowned. Liza is convinced that the two deaths twenty eight years apart have to be connected, but how could they be? In order to find out who killed Zoe’s friend, she must re-examine everything she knows about the events leading to Nikki’s death all those years ago.

This psychological suspense starts off as a slow burning mystery as we get to know the characters and the background to the events, but the suspense soon ramps up with shocking revelations and more than a few dirty secrets and shocking coverups spilling out. The elitist atmosphere at Washington Prep and the sense of entitlement of the wealthy parents and their children all contributes to the sense of betrayal that Zoe starts to feel.
Told in two time lines from Liza’s and Zoe’s points of view, they will both come to question their friendships and who they can trust. Zoe may be a spoiled, whiny teenager, angry and rude to her parents but she will come to realise how much she still needs her mother. The final clever plot twist is one I didn’t see coming and made for a shocking conclusion to this gripping mystery.

When Liza Gold heads to Dewey Beach with some old friends for a weekend getaway coinciding with “Senior Week,” she isn’t expecting to get a call from the police, and Liza certainly isn’t expecting it to be saying that her daughter, Zoe, is also in Dewey Beach and that she was found standing over Zoe’s best friend’s body. But that’s exactly what happens. And Liza is reminded of a night years ago when she and her friends went to Senior Week and one of their friends didn’t come home. But on the Washington D.C. elite prep school scene, everything was quickly hushed up. And to Liza and Zoe, it feels like it’s happening again. But acing the past and the truths of the present will unearth some dark, dark secrets.

This book alternates between the two timelines mentioned in the premise: the present day in the aftermath of current death at Senior Week; and the events of 25 years ago, leading up to Liza’s friend Nikki’s death at Senior Week.

I really enjoyed this book, not only because I love Dewey Beach and the Delaware coastline, but because the mystery in the book was so good that I just couldn’t stop reading! There are the two angles with the past and the present, and figuring out each mystery and how everything fit together was really exciting and I was completely hooked. There were a bunch of red herrings and different things going on, so things could have gone a bunch of ways, too. That’s the beauty of this book - there’s plenty of nooks and crannies in there.

Also Liza as a character goes through a lot of growth throughout the book, which was great to see. She begins to question things around her not only through the mystery, but in general, which made things even more interesting. I really enjoyed that. She was dealing not only with a divorce and a surly teenager, but some personal perspective as well.

Overall, this was a great book and I’d highly recommend it!

This was my first Aggie Blum Thomson read and overall, I thought it was pretty good. I had the audio and ebook for this title. As I've said before, I do love having the option to go back and forth between the two.

The flow of the story was pretty good but there was a lot of characters to keep track of. As I read this got easier. At the beginning though there were times when I had no clue who characters were referring to.

There were some good twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I'm glad I read it and I'll definitely check out more from this author.

This was such an intriguing and engrossing book, I had to fly through it in order to see how the stories were intertwined and how everything shook out. The premise of this one covered a timely topic (the ol’ boys being boys excuse and the lengths people will go to protect them) with a crazy good spin on it. I think Thompson has such a way with making a compulsively readable book, she’s definitely an autobuy author for me!

Thank you to @netgalley and @forgereads for an #advancedreaderscopy of this book in exchange for an #honestreview
🔸#buddyread with @lexy_attemptedmystery

“No one is watching… and when no one is watching, anything can happen”

Wow! I loved this book so much!! Aggie Blum Thompson is definitely being added to my auto buy authors !!

🔸This book was so perfect ! It had everything an amazing thriller needs! It was told told from the POV of present day Liza and her daughter Zoe as they try to unravel the mystery behind not only one death and “beach week” but two. It also has a dual timeline of the events of the night in 1994. I loved the way this was written. The past timeline revealed just enough to make you ponder what really happened !!

🔸This book had such a strong message and the worst but best characters (you know the kind you love to hate) ! It was really such a great book !! Highly recommend

For fans of Big Little Lies comes an electrifying whodunit summer thriller set in elite Washington, DC by Aggie Blum Thompson—ALL THE DIRTY SECRETS. Two deaths, two decades apart. How are they connected?

The links that tie them together:
An upscale DC private school
Beach Week | Dewey Beach
The rich and privileged suburbs
Two deaths. Both girls.
Best friends of mother Liza (Nikki) and daughter Zoe (Emery)
Twenty-five years apart.
A close circle of friends who will do anything to protect the lies they have buried and their dirty little (big) secrets. A fitting title!

Where nothing is as it appears.

Liza Gold is a newly divorced mom who is on her way to a girl's weekend trip when she discovers her daughter, Zoe is caught up in a tragedy that is all too familiar to her own haunted past. Liza works at the elite prep school where her daughter, Zoe, and her friend, Emery attend. Liza also attended the same school.

Does Liza really know her close friends?

Twenty-five years ago, Liza Gold and her friends celebrated their high school graduation at Beach Week at a party on the beach, which ended in the death of their friend, Nikki.

Liza will never forget that night haunted by the tragedy. The death was ruled as drowning/suicide. However, what really happened that night?

Fast-forward to the present, and now Liza's daughter Zoe is also headed for Beach Week with her friends, and it ends in a tragedy at the same beach. Her best friend is now dead.

Zoe and Liza are not on the best of terms with typical teenager stuff and being newly divorced. Zoe had a secret friend that was older, and Liza did not know about her. That friend just drowned murder or suicide.

When history repeats itself, Liza and Zoe must work together to put the pieces together and try and determine what really happened. Is there a murderer among them?

How far will the killer go to keep their secrets? They could be hiding in plain sight. The only sure thing is that someone is lying and the truth won't stay buried for long.

Multiple plot twists keep the reader guessing all the way to the stunning conclusion, and the link between the mother/daughter friends comes as one of the novel's bigger surprises.

Flashing back and forth from 1994 to the present day, the author cleverly keeps readers in CHILLING suspense while building tension to the events leading up to both tragedies, a decade apart.

Some highly charged themes are addressed: rape, sexual assault, white privilege, murder, racism, and class.

A spellbinding tale of lies and deceit that unfolds piece by devastating piece.

AUDIOBOOK: I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook. The narrators, Hillary Huber (my fav), and Josephine Huang delivered an outstanding performance for all the voices.

My first book by Thompson and look forward to reading more. For fans of authors: Michele Campbell, Wendy Walker, and Kimberly Belle.

A special thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio #ForgeBooks for an advanced digital and audiobook copy to listen to, read, enjoy, and review.

Blog Review Posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars ✨✨✨✨
Pub Date: July 12, 2022
July 2022 Must-Read Books

dual povs, present and past timelines. I love it all.

I really enjoyed this book. There were parts throughout that I guessed at and was correct, but the end was still a wow factor for me.

I did struggle with the mother/daughter relationship throughout the book which made it hard for me to read during parts.

overall, I really enjoyed the story and how it all came together in the end. There were quite a few twists that I did not expect, and I felt like it was a fast paced story that kept me wanting to read more.

thank you to @netgalley and @forgereads for my gifted earc.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor Forge for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Zoe is a sophomore at the exclusive Washington Preparatory School in Washington, D.C. She's been rebelling against her mother the whole school year and decides to sneak out to Beach Week with her best friend, Emery. Things take a turn for the worse they're first night at Beach Week, Zoe finds Emery dead on the beach. Zoe's mother, Liza, is called to pick up Zoe and has flashbacks of her own experience at Beach Week when her best friend, Nikki died. Are these deaths linked? How could this be happening again 25 years later?

This is a wild ride! If you grew up in the DMV, then you will know Beach Week is what every high school senior looks forward to their last year of high school. Beach Week is basically a rite of passage into adulthood. I remember the fun I had at my own Beach Week in Ocean City, MD. I will never forget it!

All the Dirty Secrets is a fast-paced murder mystery filled with cover-ups, lies, and of course lots of secrets. This book was so compelling, I couldn't put it down!

This is my second book I've read of Thompson's, and it's my absolute favorite!