One Little Secret

The glass beach house was supposed to be the getaway that Susan needed. Eager to help her transplanted family set down roots in their new town, she invites her new neighbors to join in on a week-long sublet with her and her workaholic husband. The three couples begin picking up on the others' marital tensions and work frustrations, as well as revealing their own. But someone says too much. And the next morning one of the women is discovered dead on the private beach.

Town detective Gabby Watkins must figure out who permanently silenced the deceased. As she investigates, she learns that everyone in the glass house was hiding something that could tie them to the murder, and that the biggest secrets of all are often in plain sight for anyone willing to look.

I'm actually stunned by this book! I went back and forth on who I thought the murderer was... Keeps you guessing all the way up until the end, an excellent whodunnit mystery that is sure to be a great beach read!

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #OneLittleSecret
Pub Date: 09 Jul 2019

Excellent thriller, highly recommended!

This is a character-driven psychological thriller that illustrates just how fine the line between love and obsession can truly be and reminds us that every choice, good or bad, has a consequence.

The writing is crisp, polished and fluid. The characterization is spot on with a multitude of characters that are multi-faceted, insecure and vulnerable. And the plot is an intricately interwoven tale that unravels piece-by-piece creating tension, unease, and suspicion as it subtly reveals all the personalities, relationships, motivations and actions within it.
From https://whatsbetterthanbooks.com/bookreview-our-little-secret-by-roz-nay-roznay1-simonschusterca/

A great read. A whodunnit that kept me guessing til the end. A group of neighbors rent a beach house in the Hamptons and the wheels come off the bus pretty quickly. When one of their own dies, each of the neighbors becomes a suspect. Holahan builds suspense by telling the story in different chunks of time - some before the death, some after - and by telling the story from different character's perspective. I found it gripping (and I am never going on vacation with my neighbors).

Susan has been looking forward to her beach house getaway and some time sans children. Starting over in a new town with her family has been challenging, but now she’s looking forward to some R and R, and decides to invite her new neighbors along as a way of breaking the ice. She and her husband and two other couples start relaxing, using alcohol to help break the ice. Unfortunately the alcohol relaxes them a little too much and some nasty secrets are spilled. The next morning, one of them is dead. Finding the culprit falls to local detective Gabby Watkins, and it’s not am easy job, because it would appear that everyone at the beach house had a motive for the murder. This is a top notch thriller, the kind that will leave you guessing until almost the very end.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. It sounds kind of like it will be your typical "couples go away and secrets come out" type of story, but it's so much more. There's not only the viewpoints of the 3 couples that are on the vacation together, but also of the detective in charge of the murder case. And she has her own little side case occurring that becomes entwined with the vacationers' adventures in a clever way.

The characters are well-developed and realistic even with all of the drama. And there sure is a lot of drama. It's a fun read even with the more serious undertones. Some of the plot points are a little well-worn but it doesn't make it any less of a page-turner because there are enough little twists to keep your interest. And all of the secrets tend to come together (and come out) in a way that makes you go 'Oh so that's why...".

I love discovering new authors and I can't wait to read more of Cate Holahan's work.