Small Town Secrets

Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen McManus

Publication Date: January 8, 2019

Summary from NetGalley:

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone has declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous–and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

ARC provided by Delecorte Press via NetGalley for an honest review.

This was a very addictive and suspense filled thriller.  It has the unexpected plot twists that will keep you guessing until the end.  

Ellery is a great character.  Her interest in true crime was started by the disappearance of her aunt and then the murder of the homecoming queen five years ago.  I loved how she reads into every little thing that happens around her.  Her relationship with her twin Ezra was wonderful.  It might have been nice to see part of the story from his perspective as well, but it works better with just the two voices.  Ellery is pretty savvy, but is not as easy going as her twin.  But she does a good job of figuring out pretty quickly who to hang out with.

The other narrator is Malcom, the brother of the boyfriend of the girl who was murdered five years ago.  He has grown up in his brothers shadow, who was a football star and then a suspect in a murder.  Unlike Ellery he does not have a good relationship with his brother.  Malcom was also a character that I liked a lot.  He was a bit of a loner, but was willing to befriend the news kids in school.  He was also pretty clever and astute, although he missed a lot of things happening in his own home that maybe he shouldn’t have.  He and Ellery make a great couple and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. 

I don’t want to talk about the plot too much because I don’t want to give anything away.  It was very fast paced and hard to put down.  There were many twists to the story and even though I had my eye on the character that ended up being the killer early on, there were enough twists to the story that made me doubt my choice up until the end.   That is the kind of mystery that I really like, one that always keeps you guessing even when you think you have it figured out.

A great second novel by this author who has become a must read author for me.  I am really looking forward to what she might come up with next.