No One Can Know
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Kate Alice Marshall

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, Flatiron Books and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Emma hasn't told her husband much about her past. He knows her parents are dead and she hasn't spoken to her sisters in years. Then they lose their apartment, her husband gets laid off, and Emma discovers she's pregnant―right as the bank account slips into the red. That's when Emma confesses that she has one more asset: her parents' house, which she owns jointly with her estranged sisters. They can't sell it, but they can live in it. But returning home means that Emma is forced to reveal her secrets to her husband: that the house is not a run-down farmhouse but a stately mansion, and that her parents died there.

Were murdered. And that some people say Emma did it.

Emma and her sisters have never spoken about what really happened that night. Now, her return to the house may lure her sisters back, but it will also crack open family and small-town secrets lots of people don’t want revealed. As Emma struggles to reconnect with her old family and hold together her new one, she begins to realize that the things they have left unspoken all these years have put them in danger again.

My Thoughts: This book released yesterday, Happy Belated Pub Day! This was packed with suspense, twists, secrets, betrayal, whodunit, and kept me on the edge of my seat from cover to cover. Emma has been married a decade, after going through a traumatic experience with her parents murdered when she was a teen. Her and her sisters were silently abused by their parents. Then most of the town suspected that she murdered her parents and got away with it, as no one was ever arrested for the heinous crimes. Then they lose the house, her husband gets laid off, and to topple the triple effect, she finds out that she is pregnant. The house, her childhood home, is just sitting there unused. Emma and her husband decide to move into the house until they can get it ready to be ‘sold’ and she can use her portion of the sale proceeds to start anew. The unspoken things between Emma and her sisters may put her in grave danger again. When one secret is unraveled, it becomes a domino effect. Follow along on this classic whodunit immersed with psychological thriller that will keep you guessing to the end.

The story is narrated by Emma with narration from her sisters, JJ and Daphine. Emma is the middle sister, takes the lead in most areas of her life, yet gets too comfortable and does not address issues hitting her in the face. The oldest sister, Juliette, or JJ, always obeyed their mother, and had appearances of the being the favorite. Lastly, we have the youngest, Daphne, who is eccentric, eclectic, and displays “odd” behavior. After the murder, the sisters essentially cutoff contact from one another, until Emma moves into the house with her husband, Nathan. Emma is still believed to have committed the murders, so she starts to poke around. In doing so, she may open Pandora’s box that sets another line of events that are unexpected. The characters were created with depth, mystery, they were flawed, sometimes unreliable, and intriguing. The three sisters frustrated me and I wished Emma would have stood her ground more, and Daphne had a mix of Dexter and Dahmer going on. The author’s writing style was complex, twisty, suspenseful, riveting, and well-executed. The characters were built throughout the storyline, the plot was delivered in twisty layers, and the ending will blow you away. A really well-written and definitely well-executed novel.

Trigger warning of infidelity, childhood abuse and substance abuse (mentioned). This really was a compelling, riveting thriller, one of the better ones I have read lately. I had the pleasure of having the audio and digital ARCs for this one. The narrator Karissa Vacker does an amazing job with voice variation and distinct character voice. The emotion, fear, and struggle comes across clear in her voice. The flow and pitch was excellant, was able to listen on 2x with no issues. This is a first Marshall book for me but will not be my last. I highly recommend going to pick this up now!

So happy I was able to receive this ALC of No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall!

This is my first book by this author and, overall, I enjoyed it! The moments we were able to see what happened in the past with Emma, JJ, and Daphne, definitely made my blood boil and my heart hurt for those three young girls.

It did keep my attention pretty much the whole time, however, the ending fell flat and wasn’t exactly satisfying or groundbreaking. It was a bit predictable.

Overall, I enjoyed it and I think the narrator did a good job! Star rating: 3.5 (rounded up to 4 for this feedback).

Emma has a past; one she has steadily run away from all of her adult life. When her husband loses his job, and they are forced to leave their apartment she knows she only has one option left—to return home. What her husband doesn’t realize is that she’s been vague about her parents' death, and what he quickly figures out when they return to the small town is that everyone thinks she killed them.

Emma and her sisters Juliette and Daphne have been estranged since that tragic night all those years ago, but Emma’s return is stirring up trouble for them all. Now there’s another murder, and once again the spotlight is on Emma. The secrets the sisters have held from the world and in some cases each other begin to unravel as the truth reveals itself.

Filled with plenty of red herrings to keep the reader guessing, Kate Alice Marshall does a great job weaving a tale of deception. Karissa Vacker, as always, narrates superbly—her ability to vary her voice is astounding. No One Can Know will keep you on your toes to the very last page.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and of course the author Kate Alice Marshall for the advanced copy of the audiobook. No One Can Know released yesterday. All opinions are my own.

WHAT A TWIST!! Every time I thought I had it figured out another layer was pulled out from under me! This is a dark + twisted tale! Trigger Warning for child abuse! I wanted to hug the three girls!!

This was a fun and thrilling ride. I really enjoyed jumping perspectives through the characters as well as through time. I enjoyed trying to piece the story together the "who dun it" before it was revealed. I didn't get it. Not even close, which was a wonderful change.

I felt like it was a bit hard to keep track of events toward the last third of the books when all sisters were together. A lot of character relationships were being revealed and it was getting a bit tricky to keep them all together, but overall it was easy to follow.

The narrator, per usual. does a wonderful job on changes in voice for each character and bringing emotion to the book. It is always pleasurable listening to her narrations.

I will definitely be recommending this book to my father, who also loves a good thriller! Will look forward to more publications by Kate Alice Marshall in the future!

Excellent!! What a twisty ride this was. So many POVs. So many secrets. So many locked memories,

You never truly know what goes on behind closed doors, in a home or in someone's mind.

A long ago murder remembered so many different ways, no one can even remember what happened nor can they trust the memories they have.

This book will keep you guessing until the end. Even then, you still aren't 100% sure what to believe.

I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't put it down.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advance copy of this book. The narrator, Karissa Vacker, is fantastic.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @flatiron_books and @macmillan.audio for the ARC/ALC!

🔸 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 🔸
This is my first book by Kate Alice Marshall and it did not disappoint! This story is a tale of murder, secrets, lies, betrayal, and complicated family dynamics at the center of it all. Emma is our main character, along with her two sisters, Juliette and Daphne. The sister share a bond between them in their youth that is fractured by a traumatic night in which both of their parents are murdered at home.

Present day circumstance sees Emma and her husband returning to the house their parents were murdered in, which the girls equally own and all have been avoiding since then. Emma is bothered by past events and wants to seek answers. Her sisters slowly return as well, concerned about what Emma may uncover.

I enjoyed trying to figure out what secrets were being kept between them. The mystery kept me intrigued throughout the story, as the timelines would go from present day to the night of the murder, as well as to different earlier times for the girls.

🎧 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 🎧
Karissa Vacker did a great job narrating Emma and the other sisters in this book. This is my second audiobook in a row by Vacker and she doesn’t disappoint! I can speed up her narration and still understand her very easily. She is a great storyteller.

🎧 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🔸 Domestic Thrillers
🔸 Complicated Family Dynamics
🔸 Murder Mysteries
🔸 Deep Family Bonds
🔸 Alternating Timelines

No One Can Know

First I have to say that I loved What Lies in the Woods. So I was really looking forward and had high hopes for this one.

However, it did not live up to my expectations. I think that as a reader we do get a great thriller aspect to the book along with a heavy mystery.

We have unreliable narrators and questionable characters throughout the book which is always interesting for me.

There was a lot of moving parts with the story between characters shifts, and storylines, that made it difficult to follow along and put pieces together.

I really enjoyed listening to it and I think the story was great.

As a fan of Kate Alice Marshall's last book "What Lies in the Woods" , I was excited to pick up her newest release. I loved the narration and the way the book was structured, it made the pages fly by. I thought the mystery was well constructed and was shocked by the plot twists, even though I felt like the plot itself was nothing novel. I liked the exploration of the familial relations and the unraveling of a family, I loved a lot of her insights and narrative voice.

This is a fast paced, everyone has a secret, type of mystery/thriller. If you are looking for family drama around a double murder, where estranged sisters protect each other at all cost, this is the book for you.

Tragedy struck 14 years ago that affected the lives of three sisters. Their parents were murdered in their home while the girls were enjoying the night air in a tree house: or at least that was how the story played out. Finger pointing, while unfounded, accused Emma, the middle sister of the crime. The sisters all held their own secrets about that night’s events, never to be shared with each other. They became estranged after the incident but now are drawn together and are learning what actually happened that night.
What finally brings them together is the decision to sell the property due to financial issues.
There are so many secrets that are slowly exposed and watching the dynamics of family in spite of what hardships come between them.
An interesting and agonizing murder mystery.

This was an interesting read- I’ve waited a couple weeks to review and I’m still not 100% sure how I feel. The protagonist felt hard to connect with, but overall I liked the narrative and the exploration of complex siblings dynamics. I think it will land well for readers who enjoy a solid lifetime thriller- it had that fun, popcorn thriller vibe.

Since it’s release day for Kate Alice Marshall’s No One Can Know and also one of the arcs I’m behind on reviewing I thought it’d be a good time to review it.

This novel delivers on some of my favorite Thriller tropes, such as using multiple timelines with a focus on family secrets and dark past.

This is the story of three estranged sisters having to revisit their past as one of them decides to return to their childhood home…the spot where their parent’s unsolved murder of occurred. Also the whole town thinks our main character, Emma, is the one who got away with it.

While Emma gets the majority of page time we do get POVs from all three sisters as we learn about their past and what their picture perfect family was really like behind closed doors.

In the present timeline, Emma is determined to make living in a small town that thinks she’s a murder work. The fact that she doesn’t know what happened doesn’t help so she starts trying to put the pieces of this cold case together.

All and all I really enjoyed the twist and turns along the way, the mix of the mystery itself combined with the complex family dynamics made for an enjoyable read.

I’ve clearly never been in this situation but I did have to activate some serious suspension of disbelief to go with the story that sisters bonded in trauma never spoke about it again or tried to figure things out before now just seemed unlikely but I think there’s some of that in most thrillers.

The audio is narrated by the ever talented Karissa Vacker who is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators

So if you like a complex story with multiple timelines give this one a shot.


Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book early. I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

3.75 stars rounded up

I was very excited for this as I loved What Lies In The Woods. Overall, this was good. I enjoyed the plot and the three main characters. There were great details and interesting dialogue, settings, etc.

I never really felt like it was truly settled of “who did it” and what the true story was with the youngest sister. There were some details that pointed to who did it, but in the end it wasn’t as convincing as it might have been.

Sorry to say, I had to DNF around 30%. I just couldn't get into the story and the MC really bothered me.

3.5 stars!
Emma’s marriage is on the rocks after she finds out her husband’s been hiding secrets from her. However, she can’t say much as she has been doing the same. They are forced to move into her childhood home where her parents were murdered after their house deal falls through and she finds out she is pregnant. Emma and her sisters haven’t spoken in years, but her sudden return is stirring up the unsolved case of their parents’ death.

The last two books I have read by this author have been heavy on the outdoors setting, and this one was missing that! It kind of took away from the grittiness for me. I liked the dynamics between the sisters, but found the grand reveal to be meh. Emma’s relationship with her husband was very frustrating to read about, and then I was left wondering what purpose all of the background served. There were some serious moments of action and tension that made this a fun read for me!

A murder has never been solved and now one of the main suspects has returned to the scene of the crime. When Emma finds herself pregnant just as her husband finds himself unemployed, he suggests that they return to her family home while they figure out next steps. Emma has not been back there since her parents were murdered when she was a child. The town suspected she had something to do with it. She dreads the return to her hometown and facing a town that wasn't kind to her.

This is such a great mystery. Emma and her sisters all seem to have secrets. As a reader, it was fun to guess at what the true story was and who did what. Emma is a classic unreliable narrator. As she connects with various people in her past, we learn a little bit at a time. Once you think you have it all figured out, Marshall throws new information at you. I was entertained throughout as I wanted to find out how it would all play out in the end.

Karissa Vacker does a wonderful job bringing Emma to life. Her storytelling pulls you in and has you finding things to do so you can keep listening. I binged this audiobook in just one day.

If you enjoyed What Lies in the Woods, you will enjoy this next book from Marshall. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a solid mystery suspense novel to binge.

Happy Publication Day!

It's always fun when you stumble upon a new book/author and end up really enjoying it! That being said, I have not read anything by Kate Alice Marshall. I hear her first book was quite loved, but I wouldn't know. Sometimes that helps when you have ZERO expectations. I had nothing to compare this book to (other than every other mystery I've read ;)). The premise was nothing groundbreaking, but it was effectively written and carried my attention throughout. I have been REALLY enjoying my 2024 books so far and hope this trend continues!

Personally, I quite enjoyed that the plot and premise were somewhat familiar. I typically love dual-timeline stories, and in <i>No One Can Know</i>, we got multiple perspectives of sisters Juliet/JJ, Daphne, and Emma spanning between past and present. Having multiple murders to solve in each timeline was interesting because it meant there were more possibilities to take the plot. Not knowing how much the past murders were closely connected to the present murders had me wondering if it would be the same culprit both times. I think it really helps move the story along as we discover that this particular story is more complicated than that. I thought parts of it could have been predictable, but ended up being surprising instead. I was totally convinced that Emma would be spending a lot more time with first love/potential bad boy, Gabriel, and end up leaving her husband for him. I was not prepared for what happened instead. Along with the role of the past cops, I was pleasantly surprised that many characters did not fall into the trap of being tired, predictable, stereotypical, or wooden. The relationships were complex and it was fun to learn about the many connections, past and present.

I mainly enjoyed the fact that I went into this audiobook thinking it would be one type of story, but it actually turned into something completely different. I love this genre so much but when every story ends up the same, it can get quite boring. While this story wasn't completely groundbreaking or unique, it was well told and kept me on my toes the whole time. I will be looking out for the next book by this author.

P.s. thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for early access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I loved her previous book and I personally thought that she couldn't beat it. I was wrong. This book was phenomenal! It was fast paced, well thought out characters, dual timeline - everything that one would want in a solid thriller. I loved each character's back story and how they all seemed to have a motive. Loved it!!!

I was a fan of Kate Alice Marshall's previous novel: What Lies in the Woods and gave that 3.5 stars.

This one is also a 3.5 star read for me. I liked the story overall and some of the twists were really good.

Would recommend if you love:
-family D.R.A.M.A.
-super creepy setting
-decades old mystery

I liked the creepy vibes from being in an old, abandoned house where two people were murdered. There was a big mystery aspect to this story: who killed their parents, what kind of shady shit was going on? Etc. Overall it was a good story but for me personally not a standout and likely won't stick with me for long.

As always, I think Karissa Vacker did a good job with this one keeping me engaged in the story.