USA Today bestsellerOne of Bustle’s New Books Set At the Beach To Read When You Can’t Be There YourselfA Hamptons beach house gathering turns deadly in this suspenseful psychological thriller “that will keep you up all night,” for fans of Paula Hawkins and Gillian Flynn (Good Morning America)Everyone has a secret. For some, it’s worth dying to protect. For others, it’s worth killing.The glass … some, it’s worth dying to protect. For others, it’s worth killing.
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—and desperate for some kid-free conversation—she invites her new neighbors to join in on a week-long sublet with her and her workaholic husband.
Over the course of the first evening, liquor loosens inhibitions and lips. 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.
A taut, locked room mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters, One Little Secret promises to keep readers’ eyes glued to the pages and debating the blinders that we all put on in the service of politeness.
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One Little Secret is the second novel written by Cate Holahan that I’ve read. Part mystery and thriller, it tells the story of six neighbors (three couples) who rent a house on the eastern shores of Long Island for part of the summer. As each chapter unfolds in third person perspective, we learn of the drama transpiring in their individual and combined households.
This book was a very easy read. I devoured it in two chunks over a twenty-four hour period, finding myself unwilling to put it down except for meals and priorities that I couldn’t skip out on. The characters are vivid, realistic but with a slight caricature-like tendency, and will clearly show their motivation for each move they make. Holahan has weaved clever tension beyond just the normal marital problems of infidelity and monotonous boredom. At times, I thought these people were all horrible, yet at others, I saw moments of intimacy and pain that provoked sentimental feelings for them.
Given where they rented a summer home, it’s obvious they came from money, though some try to indicate they do not. Doctors, lawyers, tech start-ups, and sports reporters earn a lot in this world, so be prepared for a high amount of affluence and the drama that comes with it. From the start in the prologue where someone is being pushed under water, you know there is a secret worth protecting, but which of the six is the victim and which is the murderer is the game you’ve signed on to play when you picked up this book. Love it!
By 15% in, all the major clues are dropped. We know the victim’s hair color or body type, then one by one the author described the six people so that it became obvious who died. The detective from the Suffolk County police force is also a key focus, as she’s called to scene of this crime and another one which has a connection we’ve yet to realize. It’s also personal for the detective given her young daughter was innocently sucked into a party gone wrong, and that party was attended by one of the six house guests.
My favorite aspect of the book is how the story alternates across three days–day before, day of, and day after. There are flashbacks, and information dropped about the past, but the critical elements are what’s not being said in conversations and which neighbor has a connection we don’t understand to someone else. I adore that suspense, especially trying to guess not only who but what happened.
Overall, I waffled between a 4 and 4.5 stars, but settled on the higher rating. There were a few items that needed a better closure or clarity, so I couldn’t give it a perfect rating. The ending was apropos, but I felt like the detective lingered in the story and made too many mistakes. I didn’t always believe she was smart enough to solve the puzzle and felt like a distraction to the story. It was minor, but enough that I noticed it. Also, we didn’t get enough time with the victim to understand exactly who (s)he was as a person and parent. I felt bad for the death, but one or two more scenes to show the vibrant life and charisma once held would’ve made it pop even more.
Holahan’s writing style is engaging and has a stellar fluidity that makes you believe you’re standing in the rental house or on the beach as everything occurs around you. I look forward to her next book as it will be at the top of my reading list.
This review is also available on my blog: Wine Cellar Library
First, I would like to thank Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a free Kindle edition of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I feel as though I have read a lot of books set in the Hamptons, lately. Thankfully, returning to the Hamptons through Cate Holahan’s eyes has been an incredible ride! Each time you think you have figured out whodunnit, evidence emerges pointing to the contrary.
Three couples have arrived at a beach house in the Hamptons on vacation. After an eventful and mentally-taxing first night for everyone, one of the couples discovers the body of one of the vacationers on the beach. One of the wives has been murdered. Could someone in their group of friends be capable of such brutality? Gabby, the detective on the case, is also working a rape case, and the deeper she digs, the more apparent it is that these two cases are linked in someway, and they are hitting much too close to home.
The timeline jumps back and forth between the events leading up to the killing and the investigation following it. No one is innocent. Everyone has a secret. Each of them are tangled in a web of deceit. But which of them could possibly be capable of murder?
Holahan expertly navigates the alternating timelines and keeps you guessing the entire time. An unputdownable page-turner. I can’t stop thinking about it!
#netgalley #onelittlesecret
One Little Secret is a very well-written book though often difficult to read because of the serious topics, including rape and domestic violence. I recommend it to fans of psychological suspense.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #psychologicalsuspense #thriller
Three couples rent a vacation residence for the week their children are attending camp. Although the couples are all neighbors, they really don’t know each other very well.
Throw in an abundance of alcohol into the mix and the differences among them are glaring. There’s a doctor, a lawyer, a housewife, an abusive husband, a workaholic, and at least one person who’s having an affair.
The next morning, a dead body is seen on the private beach. It will be Detective Gabby Watkins who will have to comb through everyone’s private lives to find the killer. What she finds is that each and every one of the people sharing the house have a secret … one someone might kill to keep quiet.
CON: The one and only thing I found unsatisfactory is an instance where the abusive husband, in a fit of anger, calls his wife by another woman’s name. There is no character in the book that has this name. I would have liked to see some kind of explanation .. but nothing more was forthcoming.
Otherwise, this is a well written, intense, psychological thriller. There’s a cast of six who may or not be what they want the others to see. Many secrets are to be discovered. This was a riveting read …. not soon to be forgotten.
Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for this intriguing novel. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
I really enjoyed this book. This book had a lot of moving peices and story lines. This made the book unpredictable and kept me guessing the whole way through. I would definitely recommend for a fun vacation read or book club.
Great premise….3 couples who are friends and neighbors rent a pricey beach house for their vacation. Imagine what happens when the drinking starts, the talking starts and one of the wives are found dead on the beach. This group of friends turn out to be more enemies, cheating spouses, liars and more. Most characters I didn’t like. A little too much drama to be believable for me. Still it was interesting to see who wasn’t what they appeared to be.
Ok. I am a retired English teacher. Interesting plot. Some editing glitches pulled me out of the story and these were easy fixes too.
This book was engaging, just whenyou thought you figured out who dunnit, your moving onto a new suspect! Definitely worth a read!
One Little Secret tells the story of 3 married couples who go on vacation at a beach house, The first night they are there they have a BBQ and everyone is drinking. The next day, they find out that one of the wives was murdered on the beach. Detective Sergeant Gabby Watkins is assigned to investigate the murder. While she’s investigating, her daughter gets in trouble for attending a party where an au pair was potentially raped and Gabby has to investigate that.
The book is written in alternating experiences – the day before the murder, the day of the murder and they day after. It was a bit difficult to follow and I didn’t really feel a connection to the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was definitely an interesting book. I was interested by the blurb and it’s definitely didn’t disappoint. Some of the characters I liked and some I didn’t. I did like the premise of the story because it did remind me of Big Little Lies. Pretty interesting and really well written.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What do you get when you have three yuppie couples, an expensive vacation house on a private beach and one secret they’ll do anything to keep? You get a rather predictable and even outlandish mystery called One Little Secret by Cate Holahan.
When the children are away, the adults play. After three couples’ children go off to summer camp, the parents all decide to take a trip to the Hamptons where they rent a house on the beach. Even thought they’re all neighbours, they really don’t know each other. On the first night, drama ensues — from arguing, secrets and then even murder.
The following morning, police are called to the beach where a body has been found, one of our vacationing neighbours. Detective Gabby Watkins is called to the scene who will have to unravel the private lives of a doctor, lawyer, an abusive husband, a workaholic and at least one person who’s having an affair. What she finds is that each of the vacationing adults has a secret — one someone might kill to keep quiet.
I guess you can describe this book as less of a thriller and more of a police procedural with a wee bit of a domestic drama thrown in. The story is told from multiple points of view and across three days — the day before, day of and day after the murder.
All the characters were very unlikeable and beyond irritating. I had the hardest time connecting with them, which deterred me from wanting to finish this book. But I cannot, not finish a book. So let’s add another couple of negatives to this pile — the pace is unbelievably slow and it is so wordy.
While this book definitely captured my attention, I mean, who doesn’t love a good whodunnit, I feel like I won’t remember this book. Even as the skeletons started tumbling out, and you realise these people are going to do anything to protect themselves, I knew exactly who did it relatively early on. Predictable and outlandish are the two words that stay with me when it comes to One Little Secret by Cate Holahan. I’d pass on this one if I were you!
Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Cate Holahan for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Check out my full review here: https://bit.ly/2KZHw1j
Day by day life gets overwhelming and we all need a few days off.
Three couples, a lot of secrets told after many alcohol involved and a dead body found in the morning.
A crime scene in Hamptons and a detective that will do whatever it takes to find out all the truths and the real killer.
A fast paced story, good written book and interesting characters.
One Little Secret is a rather ironic title when the book is filled with lies, secrets, deceit and betrayals. Perhaps the author wants the reader to try to define WHICH little secret ultimately causes the unravelling of the lives of three families.
The story centers on three well-to-do couples from the same neighborhood who sublet a vacation house together in East Hampton on Long Island for a week. Their children are away at camp, so this is the perfect time for some grown-up fun! In their eagerness to “get this party started”, too much alcohol is consumed the first night, and, with loosened lips, the tensions at play in each marriage are hard to keep closeted or controlled. The next morning one of them is found dead; cause of death drowning, manner of death murder.
Told in third person point of view the story unfolds via alternating chapters entitled The Day Before, The Day Of, and The Day After. I really enjoyed this technique – it kept me totally engaged and feeling close to the action! The book is quickly-paced and very hard to put down.
Work with Sergeant Gabriella Watkins as she struggles to get through all of the drama at play among and between these couples to discover who is the murderer.
I thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. A four-star rating from me!!
Oh My What a Thriller! I started this, kept reading, and could not stop until I read the very last word. This is a thriller that I couldn’t quite figure out. I had guesses, I tried to follow the clues, and I was so very wrong.
One Little Secret was a quick and easy read. I devoured it and then kept thinking about it after. The characters were interesting and realistic, the storyline was intriguing, and the ending, OH MY! I love how it was written in The Day Of, The Day Before, and The Day After so there was no doubt where in the timeline you were.
One Little Secret is a bona fide whodunnit book that will have you the reader suspecting more than just one of the six characters of murder. Cate Holahan will lead you down one path only to add a twist, another secret, and more deception, that keeps the tension building throughout this book.
I felt One Little Secret is well written and was easy to read; the plot was fast moving and kept me interested. The book is written from a third-person viewpoint, and the bulk of the timeline was told within three days, the day before, the day of and the day after. Three neighborly couples send their kids off to camp and then head off on a vacation of their own to a beautiful beach house in the Hamptons. What can go wrong? Well, when you combine a mildly alcoholic insecure homemaker, a househusband wannabe writer, an unscrupulous lawyer, an accident-prone ESPN host, a workaholic CEO of a tech startup and a self-centered doctor and then weave in lots of drinking, secrets, jealousy, and lies, it makes the perfect setting for disaster. Be prepared for lots and lots of drama, which for me was at times a bit over the top and outrageous. My favorite character in this book is the down to earth detective Gabby Watkins. Ms. Holahan writes this character perfectly, she is a tough cop in a male-dominated field, but she is also a wife and mother, and this brings out Gabby’s sensitive side. She is not infallible, making mistakes along the way in her investigation, but realizing them and then correcting her course of action. I felt this made Gabby was the most relatable character.
Overall I enjoyed One Little Secret, and I would recommend this book for fans of mystery, thriller, suspense books. Please be warned that there is an element of domestic abuse. I am giving it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because I loved the Gabby character.
***I kindly received this galley by way of NetGalley/publisher/author. I was not contacted, asked, or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion .***
One Little Secret
by Cate Holahan
Crooked Lane Books
This book was a surprise for me, at first glance I thought it would be a fun book based more about the beach getaway then on the thriller aspect. Well I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great whodunit that will will keep you turning the pages late into the night. The caracters were very well developed. If you love a great thrilling page turner this is a wonderful read. Run away to the beach house with Susan her husband, and there new neighbors ….. One of them end up dead on the beach, Who is a killer?
In comes detective Gabby Watkins, and from there you are hooked on this great page turner. Also this book was One of Kirku’s Best Books of 2017 …. This is the first book I have read by this author yet I am sure it will not be the last. A Great Read
Thank You to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for there ARC for my honest opinion.
BE/ ladyedan
A twisted tale of three couples who rent a glass beach house for a week’s vacation. Beware: there is more than one little secret amongst these neighbors and friends. One of them ends up dead on the first night and the remaining people are all reasonable suspects. What follows is a tense and thrilling ride to the end.