The Secrets We Keep by Amy Lillard
A Mystery
Detective Nate Fisher must go back to the Amish community he left behind and confront his past to help the woman he once loved in this dual-POV mystery, perfect for fans of Linda Castillo.
Back to active duty after an administrative leave of absence for the use of deadly force, the last thing Detective Nathan Fisher wants to do is return to the conservative Amish community he left behind, but when his father passes, he has no choice. Hoping to clear his head and perhaps mend fences with his family, he returns to his small Mississippi hometown despite not being welcome. What was supposed to be a quick visit turns into a prolonged stay when his former love pleads for his help.
Rachel Hostetler’s world is turned upside down when she finds her brother’s body hanging in her family’s barn. Rachel is sure her brother Albie did not kill himself, but neither her father nor the police are willing to listen. When she spots Nate, her ex, now a detective in Oklahoma, back in Cedar Creek, she knows he is the answer to her problem and begs him to intercede.
As Nate and Rachel come to terms with their shared history, despite knowing nothing can come of the longing they have for each other, the pair must look into Albie’s death as suspects stack up. The truth is out there, but can they find it before Nate has to return to his real life and face the shooting that has him so desperately searching for peace?
This is Nathan Fisher, his brother Leroy, sister Mattie, mother, and father Karl's story.
This is Rachel Hostetler, two daughters Kate, Amelie, sister Miri, father, brother Albie's story.
Raised Amish, Nathan Fisher has been banished from the community. He joined church before leaving. His presence is not welcome. The news of his father passing, he returns to pay his respects. His former school sweetheart asks Nate to help reopen the investigation into the tragic death of her younger brother. The local Sherrif accepts the family’s reason for a quick burial and has determined no further action is warranted.
Rachel cares for her disabled sister and her kids.
Sure that her brother would never commit suicide, she has to fight to find answers. After seeing her ex back in town.
Rachel begs Nate for his help.
Was Albie’s death suicide or something more sinister?
I recommend this book.
The Secrets We Keep by Amy Lillard is a 5 star book.
I am looking forward to reading more books by Amy Lillard.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions shared here in this review are my own.

Amish fiction readers will enjoy this book. Nate's father's death brings him back to his home that he had been shunned from years ago. Having left the Amish faith for a career to help pay for his sister's medical bills, things had not gone as planned. Rachel, who has just lost her brother due to suicide wants Nate to prove it wasn't suicide sets up this emotional driven story. Lots of secrets, drama and mystery in this Amish drama. But lots of questions left unanswered. Another book?

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

J. Amy Lillard’s The Secrets We Keep wraps its mystery not in sensational twists, but in the slow hush of rural life—where silence carries weight, and trust is as fragile as spun glass.

Set in the sleepy hollows of Sugarcreek, Ohio, "The Secrets We Keep" isn’t your typical breakneck thriller. Instead, it draws its suspense from a slower burn—the kind of anxiety that simmers beneath smiles, in glances across potluck tables, and in the measured steps of people walking through old grief.

Lillard introduces us to a cast of characters as ordinary as they are unknowable. When a long-buried secret begins to surface, the story doesn’t explode—it uncoils. There’s grace in that approach. As a mystery, it’s more meditative than shocking, but that becomes its strength. Lillard is more interested in why the truth was buried than merely what it is.

The narrative voice, tinged with empathy, explores themes of loyalty, generational trauma, and the complicated choreography of keeping up appearances in a close-knit community. The town itself becomes a character which is nurturing and judgmental, a mirror for its residents’ deepest desires and regrets.

Lillard isn’t out to dazzle with clever sleights of hand. Her mystery is deeper, more emotional: How do the secrets we bury shape the lives we live? What happens when silence no longer protects but condemns?

The Secrets We Keep proves that truth doesn’t always shatter like a windowpane—it sometimes erodes like stone, slowly, and with consequence.

*4 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

It had to be hard for Nate to completely change his way of life and leave the love of his life. Rachel was determined to find out what really happened to her brother. Shane was a help to Nate. In the end things turned out for some people and not so much for others. Would recommend.

The Secrets We Keep was hard to put down and flowed smoothly. Nate Fisher, a deputy sheriff, travels from Tulsa to his hometown of Cedar Creek, Mississippi after hearing of his father's death. Raised Amish, he is shunned since he left his faith and can't attend the funeral but he wants to visit his father's grave. Rachel, his Amish girlfriend from his youth has just lost her brother to an apparent suicide and wants Nate to help her prove he was murdered. This is a complicated story with different leads to follow and he is able to work with an old friend from the local sheriff's office but he is not supposed to speak to anyone Amish. I liked Nate and felt his pain and hurt at how his family treated him although that is their faith. Rachel seemed a little demanding and pushy, especially for an Amish woman. The mystery was good and when it was solved, heartbreaking. This is different from other Amish stories that I have read by th author and is a mainstream mystery. I do look forward to reading the next in the series.
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review. These are my thoughts

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

"The Secrets We Keep" is a dual-pov murder mystery centered around detective Nathan Fisher, who was brought up in the Amish community before he left and was subsequently banished, and Rachel Hostetler, Nathan's former lover. Rachel's entire world is turned upside down when she discovers the body of her little brother Albie hanging in their family's barn, but she is adamant that Albie did not kill himself, though no one else seems to believe her. When Nathan returns to the community he's shunned from upon his father's death, Rachel turns to him for help in finding out the truth about Albie's death. Despite being plagued by his own demons, Nathan agrees to help her, and the two set out to find out the truth of what happened to Albie.

I'll admit, I was quite interested and intrigued throughout the first few chapters, looking forward to see how the mystery unravels. But at a certain point I felt like the story was starting to drag unnecessarily, certain parts becoming overly repetitive and no revelations being made in terms of the mystery. There were no clues, no real investigation save for Nate's questioning of a few people, and the exhumation of Albie's body. I felt like there were many things that ended up not having anything to do with the mystery although they seemed to hint at it, and were left entirely unexplained in the end such as Rachel's husband having been missing for the past three years, her brother-in-law and his cousin supposedly "being upto something", the whole puppy incident with Jay Anderson, Rachel's bruises and injuries in the past and many more.

Then we have the romance, which is just Nate and Rachel constantly pining for each other, but nothing ever actually happens between them. And then when Nate finally does solve the mystery of Albie's death, he doesn't tells Rachel about who really killed Albie and she basically tells him to get lost and that was that. The ending felt rushed and extremely unsatisfactory- from the way Albie's case was resolved to Nate figuring out the killer out of absolutely nowhere, the way many things that were left unresolved and unexplained which thereby made the story feel disjointed, and Nate agreeing to return to the community to solve another murder when he kept saying he could and would never return far too many times to count over the length of the book.

I really thought I'd enjoy this book but disappointingly, it fell short on many ends.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I actually got to 30 percent and could not finish. The same line over and over was so annoying. There were so many things that were brought up but without a full explanation that I actually went back to see if this was a second book in a series. I love reading about the Amish but this book had so many things wrong about them.

Highly Recommend

Oh my word. I don't even know where to begin. The Secrets We Keep had me flipping pages as fast as I could. Once I started reading, I could not stop. The mystery had me guessing all the way through. Each time I thought I'd figured something out, it went in a different direction. The pacing was on point, as each bit of evidence emerged, adding another piece to the mystery and drawing me further into the story.

Just as the mystery kept me intrigued and reading, so did the reconnection between Nate and Rachel. I enjoyed the story from their points of view and how they were affected by everything. Author Amy Lillard's descriptive writing had me feeling each of their feelings and struggles, which was heart-wrenching at times. Even so, I felt that the door on their reconnect was not fully closed; it left me hoping that in the future I will see more of them and what is to come next. And I am definitely looking forward to it.

The Secrets We Keep is listed as Amish & Mennonite Fiction and Traditional Detective Mysteries and falls under the umbrella of contemporary for some mild language and a sensitive subject. That being said, it is truly a fantastic story that I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book. All comments and opinions are voluntary and completely my own.

A gentle crime mystery, The Secrets We Keep (2025) by Amy Lillard is set in the Amish community of Cedar Creek, Mississippi. Detective Nate Fisher decides to return to Cedar Creek upon learning of the death of his father. Raised Amish, he has been banished from the community and his presence is not welcome. Yet, his former school sweetheart asks Nate to help reopen the investigation into the tragic death of her younger brother. The local Sherrif accepts the family’s reason for a quick burial and has determined no further action is warranted. The discovery of the teenager’s diary raises questions, and Nate agrees to help the local police with further enquiries. An enjoyable crime mystery read with well sketched characters and with the elusive mystery of whether the death was suspicious, has a three and a half star rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes.

THE SECRETS WE KEEP was an interesting mystery set in Mississippi. Detective Nate Fisher left his Amish community with the goal of playing professional baseball to earn the money his sister needed for a heart replacement. He left behind the woman he loved who wouldn't give up the Amish lifestyle because she had a severely disabled sister to care for.

Nate's baseball dreams didn't come true. He's made a career as a Sheriff's Deputy in Tulsa. But a shooting in the line of duty has rocked his world. And, while the shooting was determined to be justified, Nate still suffers from huge amounts of guilt.

When he learns that his father has died, he decides to go back to Mississippi to be near the funeral even though he is banned from attending. While there, his first love Rachel come to him to ask him to intervene with the local sheriff to convince him to investigate her younger brother's death. She found him hanging in the family barn but is certain that he didn't commit suicide. However, her father cut him down, burned his clothing and the rope, and buried him just outside the Amish cemetery.

With no physical evidence, Nate isn't sure what he can do but decides to investigate the death anyway while trying to decide what to do with the rest of his life.

Parts of the story are told from Nate's point of view and the rest from Rachel's. Both are looking for something. Rachel wants the truth; Nate wants to find a future.

I enjoyed this look into the Amish of Mississippi. I empathized with both Nate and Rachel's search for answers.

The Secrets We Keep by Amy Lillard is a totally different story than Ms. Lillard usually writes. This is a murder mystery set in the Cedar Creek, Mississippi, Amish community. A former Amish man, turned detective, Nathan Fisher, returns to his hometown to bury his father. After the funeral, his former girlfriend, Rachel Hostetler, begs him to stay and help her prove that her brother Albie’s death was not a suicide.Nathan agrees knowing that since he is shunned by the community, he will not be welcome.

This sets up a very exciting adventure, between two old friends as they try to bridge the gap between the Amish and the English world.

The setting is unique, a little known community of Amish that reside in Mississippi.

The characters are realistic and very human-like. Ms. Lillard allows them to have feelings and emotions that could be found in actual people.

The storyline is original and moves quickly. It holds your attention.

I am eagerly awaiting the sequel that I hope is coming in the near future.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and Amy Lillard for allowing me to read an advance copy of this exciting book. All opinions are my own, and I was not required to give a positive review

The secrets we keep

I loved Nate’s character. He went back to his Amish home because of his Father’s death, he gets involved with a whole lot more. His ex girlfriend who is still Amish wants him to investigate her brother’s death. Was it murder or was it suicide? If he finds out the truth how will the family react? His ex girlfriend Rachel has a lot to take care of, she cares for her disabled sister and her kids. She has a lot but she still wants to know what happened to her brother. This was a very good book. I am looking forward to reading more about Nate.

I received an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley. This book review is my own opinion.

Nate Fisher left the Amish faith as a young man. He wanted to stay but he also was very good at baseball and thought he could earn enough through the game to pay for his sister's heart transplant. That didn't work out. He ended up working as a cop in the next state. Detective Fisher is on leave for fatally discharging his weapon. Though cleared of all wrongdoing, he is torn about whether or not he will return to the force. When his father passes away back in the Amish settlement in Mississippi, Nate heads for home. Though he isn't welcome there, he drives by his mother's house repeatedly.

The woman who everyone thought Nate would marry has married another. Rachel Hostetler comes by his hotel to ask for his help. Her brother Albie is dead, an apparent suicide by hanging and Rachel doesn't believe it. She wants the stigma of suicide removed so her brother can be buried in hallowed ground. Nate decides to help Rachel since he is al loose ends. After speaking with the local police, Albie's body is exhumed and Rachel desperately hopes that and the journal she hands over will prove that Albie's death was no accident. Nate is still in love with Rachel.

It's clear that Nate isn't welcome among the Amish or with the local police. He perseveres though in getting to the bottom of Albie's death.

Lillard has set the scene for future novels with Nate and Rachel. Fans of Linda Castillo will enjoy this one as well. Recommended for those who enjoy mysteries.

Dectives, Amish, twists and turns fill the pages of this read. A dual point of view story with romance, mystery and intrigue.

This is different from Author Amy Lillard’s Amish mystery books. This is more along the lines of an Amishman turned Englischer mystery set in Amish country. While it is not my preferred genre nor in my opinion is it on the level of her Kappy King mysteries, I am confident others will enjoy the storyline.
I received a complimentary copy from Net Galley and the author. All opinions are my own.

1⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy of The Secrets We Keep.

Nate is a cop and he receives a call that there has been a death in the family. He feels like he is unable to attend the funeral because he left the Amish community so he is shunned. But he returns anyway and sees his old girlfriend and she asks him to solve her brothers suicide which she believes to be a murder.

There were way too many different stories going on all at once and it made the story feel very choppy and disjointed.

Detective Nate Fisher is forced to return to the Amish community he once walked away from and face the past he tried to forget, when the woman he once loved becomes entangled in a mystery that only he can help unravel. Told in a dual POV, this suspenseful story weaves together buried secrets and second chances.

This was the first book by this author I have read and I enjoyed it! With the dual POV, and the mystery that built through out this book, it was an enjoyable read!

I do not read many mystery books because it is not my first choice, but I do love this author. The book did have me guessing to see how it would play out and I will have to say I struggled to get through it. That was totally my fault for not being in the right mood to read it. I will go back at a later date and re-read it and update my review.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A death in Amish country leads to an investigation. A former member who has been banned gets involved in the investigation.