Three months. That’s how long ER nurse Frankie Stapleton has agreed to stay in her sleepy little hometown of Stillwater, helping her estranged sister save the family hardware store, working a few shifts at the local hospital, and most importantly, rebuilding the bridges she burned on her way out of town twelve years ago.When a pregnant car crash victim arrives at Stillwater General, Frankie and … Frankie and the team race to save both mother and child—but only the baby lives. Rumors swirl that the accident was deliberate, and Frankie’s horrified to realize that she let the driver escape. But why would anyone want to kill Kate Tibbs, a social worker and the wife of an up-and-coming local politician? Frankie’s investigation turns up plenty of motives, from revenge to dirty politics, and even more suspects. There are secrets in Stillwater, and she’s determined to uncover them, even if it means involving her loved ones for help.
But when the baby disappears, her search for the truth becomes a desperate, deadly race against the clock. No matter the cost, Frankie must piece together the truth to stop a killer and save a tiny life in Lucy Kerr’s riveting second Stillwater General Mystery, No One Can Know.
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Why This Book
Crooked Lane has become one of my favorite publishers. They email me from time to time to suggest books I might want to read and send me copies of upcoming releases. I will forgive them for declining me on the last three I requested on NetGalley (really???), but that’s another story! They asked if I would read this book, which is #2 in the series, so I had to ask for #1 first and read it. I finished that last month, so it was time to read Lucy Kerr’s second in the series, No One Can Know. I’ve given it 3.5 stars, and I’d recommend the series to mystery readers looking for something between a cozy and a thriller/suspense novel.
Plot, Characters & Setting
Frankie has agreed to remain in her hometown, Stillwater, Illinois, to help her sister re-build the family business and care for her premature baby. Frankie left to work in Chicago after some family issues and a failed engagement, then rarely returned during the ten year absence. As an ER nurse, she sees it all, then feels compelled to solve whatever mystery has landed at her feet. In this second book, a male car accident victim seeks help, but Frankie knows he’s lying. When 8-month pregnant woman is also brought in after a car accident, she knows it’s connected, but can’t do anything until she’s saved the woman’s life. Unfortunately, only the baby makes it, and then the male victim disappears. Add in some trouble with the hospital administration, a political candidate and an old fiancee-turned-detective, Frankie’s smack in the middle of chaos. As she tries to solve the mystery, she steps in danger and opens her family up to potential risk. When the baby is kidnapped, Frankie pushes everyone to the brink, but ultimately, she leads them to the culprit.
Approach & Style
I read an advanced physical copy of this 325 page book. It’s broken into 31 chapters, each about ten pages long, and told in first person POV. The perspective remains on Frankie the entire novel, showing her thoughts and opinions on each event she encounters. It took about 4 hours over the course of 2 days – a relatively quick read with minimal hospital & medical terminology, just enough to keep it feeling real.
Key Thoughts
I really enjoyed the first book in the series. All those aspects carried into this second book, but the plot was a bit weaker than the first. When the crime centers around a car accident, politics and baby theft, you expect something quite complex. If you read a lot of these types of novels, you’ll know the culprit pretty early on, as well as guess why it happened. I would have liked a few more red herrings, a couple of other suspects and some additional side-stories that wove in and out of the main story, creating some interesting dilemmas and confusion. It was just too straightforward for me to give it a 4 or 5 star rating. It was a good book, just needed a bit more darkness, depth and puzzles to solve.
That said, I’m a big fan of the author for her writing style, character creation, and approach to balancing medical terminology and creating a truly realistic setting. She builds a world that is fast-paced, rough and keeps your attention. There’s a lot going on in the ER and you bounce back and forth between a few cases, giving readers time for suspense, questions and connections to the story. When Frankie’s out of the ER, you feel the draw with the former fiancee, the love with her family, and the concern about coming home forever. I look forward to each interaction she has because you learn more about who she is and what she’s made of. There’s no filler in these books — the substance is pretty strong, which is why I will continue to read them. I just want to push the author on a bit more complexity to help break the series out of ‘just another decent mystery series.’ I think there’s potential for this to be quite big if some focus is put on long-term development options.
Summary
I will keep reading the series. I like the main character, the setting and the author’s writing style. The small concerns with the overall tone and citizens being too close to the police work are not enough to bother me. I mention them only because it is something you just need to accept. The characters and family dynamics are very strong, and I look forward to seeing what happens in the next release.
No One Can Know by Lucy Kerr is the second book in A Stillwater General Mystery series. Francesca “Frankie” Stapleton has temporarily moved back home to Stillwater, Illinois to assist her family. She has taken a part time job as an ER nurse at Stillwater General as well as working at family hardware store. On a Tuesday evening, a man comes into the ER with a dislocated shoulder after a hitting a deer with his car. Frankie is then pulled away to help with a trauma involving a pregnant woman who was severely injured in a car crash. The staff safely delivers the baby (a little boy), but the patient passes away from her severe injuries. The patient was Katherine Tibbs whose husband is running for Congress. He is the local town hero who stopped a fire from destroying the business district when he was in high school. When Frankie returns to her dislocated shoulder patient, he has disappeared. It is then that Frankie realizes that her patient with the dislocated shoulder hit Katherine (not a deer) and he vanished on her watch. Then they learn that the crash was not an accident. Why was Katherine targeted? Does it relate to her husband or her job as a social worker? Frankie feels compelled to locate the killer. The situation escalates when Baby Tibbs disappears from the hospital. What is Frankie willing to do to find the baby and catch a killer?
No One Can Know can be read as a standalone novel. The author provided Frankie’s history as well as a summary of what happened in Time of Death. The mystery had potential, but it was not fulfilled. With a woman is murdered, a baby stolen, political candidate, and a social worker, I expected the mystery to be complex. I was hoping for a good twist or unexpected revelation. Unfortunately, I accurately pegged the killer early in the story along with the reason for the crime. I appreciate that Frankie is a strong, intelligent female character, but she seems to have a death wish in No One Can Know. She repeatedly put herself into dangerous situations. I lost track of the number of times (at minimum once a chapter) she was told to stay out of the investigation (Noah should have worked with her instead of fussing at her). Frankie’s reason for looking in to the crime was weak. There was also too much speculation (thinking, questioning, wondering) and reiteration of facts regarding the murder. I do, though, like the author’s writing and the pace of the book (steady). I enjoy the medical scenes which enhance the book, and they are not overly technical. I am hoping that there will be some crimes centered in the hospital in future books. I also enjoy the interactions between Frankie and her family especially her niece, Riley (she is very inquisitive). The ending felt incomplete. Readers are left with unanswered questions. A Stillwater General Mystery series has the capability of being a good mystery series with a few tweaks. No One Can Know, unfortunately, only gets 3 out of 5 stars.