I really enjoyed this book! The characters were relatable and I felt like I was one of the girls. The issues and blame on Paul were well written and forced me to take sides. I spent the entire book wondering what happened to kristin and trying to piece the puzzle together. The ending surprised me and I cannot recommend this book enough!

This was such an easy read that really made for an engaging thriller. Strawser's writing style is refreshing for a thriller and made this slow-burning novel a smooth reading experience. It's well-written with complex characters, unnerving setting, and a plot that needs to be adapted into a TV show.

This was my first book by this author, and it did not disappoint! It was a page turner til the very end. I was on the edge of my seat wanting more! Highly recommend!

Great read. Truly enjoyable. Fast paced and easy read. Vivid character development. Loved this one.

Neighborhood women get together for a Saturday night of wine and conversation. By that next Sunday morning one of them is missing. The investigation brings up more questions than evidence when the husband becomes the center-most suspect. Clare, a neighbor to the missing woman, is triggered by the incident, memories of things she thought she’d put in the past. Another neighbor, Izzy, is dealing with a crisis of her own. The police come up empty-handed as the neighborhood discovers no one really knows what happens behind closed doors.
When you think you know what happened, the author spins the plot, moving you in to another direction. Good book. Good mystery. This one’s a keeper.

I absolutely love this cover! This new novel by Jessica Strawser was suspenseful and full of surprises! I enjoyed the way Jessica gives bits and pieces of the mystery in a way that leaves you hanging, waiting to find out the truth. I also enjoyed the way the women’s friendships were portrayed, the fun moments of their interactions with the others and their children. One night, the women in an Ohio neighborhood have a little gathering at one of their houses. Two days later, one of these women is missing, as well as her young twins. This throws the neighborhood and the whole town into a sudden mysterious world. No one seems to know what happened to them. This begins a chain of events involving investigations, suspicions, and questions. This novel is about the dynamics of marriage and family. It is also about friendships and neighbors.

A slow-paced relationship-focused domestic drama that will make you question how well you know your neighbors.

Let's start with the highlights. Clara is a wonderful character: complex without being overdone and her reactions to events around her (considering her history) are spot-on. I loved the triple POV between her, Kristin, and Izzy. This book is towards the darker end of women's fiction, meaning that it isn't a page-turning psychological thriller or police procedural as it revolves more on the 'after' of the event and the relationships between the women left behind. This suits the low-key tone and slower pace of the book along with the greater subtlety of the clues surrounding Kristin. I've seen the phrase 'domestic drama' used and I think that suits it.

The relationships between the women are true-to-life, with all the strange social complexities that go along with it. While the pace is slow, it really revs up in the last fourth of the book and I actually worried aloud for the characters (something I rarely do). And, I really really loved the ending: it was surprising but not far-fetched.

Now, on to what doesn't work. It's not worth the 'cute' factor to have two very related characters with almost identical names. The confusion it creates for the reader is really state-breaking. While the slower pace is good, it does drag a bit in the middle and seems somewhat repetitive.

But the big thing for me though was Izzy. Not only did I not connect with her throughout the book, her boring mopey-ness was grating. While I understand the situation, I found it very difficult to believe that two very close sisters would not share how they are in love with the same boy. Even if Izzy never said it, what sister wouldn't tease over a possible crush if her older sister brought the same guy around for years? This never worked for me and unfortunately I think it was the downfall for me not fully enjoying the book.

All in all, I enjoyed it even though it took much longer to finish due to the slow pace and sometimes lack of intrigue. Four stars.

Note: I received a free Kindle edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher St. Martin's Press, and the author Jessica Strawser for the opportunity to do so.

Six women from the small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio decide to get together for a few glasses of wine and some conversation on a Sunday night. This is the first time they have all been gathered together like this. Surprised that their baby monitors are able to reach to Clara's backyard, they enjoy the childless night. The next morning, one of them is missing. Is foul play a part of the disappearance or did Kristin simply walk away from her life? Admittedly, even though they have been neighbors for a while, no one really knew each other all that well. Will the police be able to find Kristin? Did her husband have something to do with it?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I'm not sure why, but I had a hard time connecting with this book. While I was intrigued by the story, I didn't find myself drawn to find out what was going to happen next. It took me 10 days to read this book which is very rare for me.

What would you do if you woke up from a girls night out to find out one of the girls and her twins had disappeared in the middle of the night? Gone without a trace. Most of the women felt guilty because they couldn't remember what had happened the night before and if Kristin had said something that would help to locate her now. Everyone looks to Clara who lived right next door and who's son was in class with Kristin's twins, but she knows as much as the others, which is not much at all. How well to we really know our neighbors? We're on the outside looking in, but do we really know what goes on behind closed doors? Kristin's husband, Paul, the local OB/GYN seems like the kind of guy everyone would like, but what secrets of his own is he hiding. Did he do something to make his family disappear? After almost a month, the police have all but given up the search, but incidents in the neighborhood, cause them them to question whether they should or not.

One evening a group of women friends gather around in their backyard. Enjoy some drinks, laughs and even sharing some secrets. After the weekend the quaint and calm neighborhood will be never be the same as Kristin, one the women is missing as well as her small children.

Could Kristin’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Paul, have anything to do with the disappearance. As the detectives question Kristin’s friends, the women realize that they didn’t know Kristin very well at all. How come they had no idea that Kristin had inherited a large sum of money from her first marriage after her husband was killed?

The once quiet neighborhood is now under intense media scrutiny. Paul moves back into Kristin’s home and meanwhile all the women who were Kristin’s friends start to re-think their lives and relationships. Clara and Izzy the other two main women characters have their own issues they are trying to work out and something this major happening in their lives upends what they thought was a nicely controlled new life.

I really enjoyed the description of the town and could just imagine what it was like. I also liked the young girl who is a budding reporter. The character that was harder to get behind though was Izzy. At first I felt bad for her because of her unrequited love but after a while, I’m thinking enough with your pity party. Mostly though while it was an easy story to get into, for a thriller it just didn’t surprise me enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book.

The author does a great job of painting this cozy neighborhood of families who get together, and especially the women - most of them with secrets.

I could picture the bonfire and the women sitting around talking, drinking, and sharing their everyday lives. All of this happens the night before one of them disappears. While Kristin is barely mentioned in the story, her disappearance is the plot of this intriguing story. What happened to her? And why?

Her husband, Paul, is a fine, upstanding doctor until the underbelly of their marriage is exposed. Through the eyes of several of the women (Clara and Izzy are main ones), we see all different facets of what they believe happened, and why they've made these decisions, mostly based on things that happened to them in the past.

It's a great book that will keep you guessing!

An amazing novel about a missing family and a suburban neighborhood that knows everything and nothing about everyone in it.

I was really excited for the prospect of Not That I Could Tell. I have been reading a lot of thriller and suspense surrounding neighborhoods lately. It seems to be the theme of 2018 and I have yet to be disappointed. Unfortunately until now.

Not That I Could Tell certainly has the potential, but something about it didn't capture me. I did finish it hoping that I would get roped in, but it never happened. It ended up being more about character development. I think the characters would have been great on their own, but because the chapters swapped between multiple characters, they each didn't get the attention that they needed. The story was left dull and undeveloped.

Whew, there is plenty of suspense in this novel! In the small town of Yellow Springs, one neighborhood is thrown into a tizzy when Kristin and her children disappear. Kristin and her husband Paul, who had moved out of the house, are on the verge of divorce, so the police naturally suspect him.
Clara, Izzy, Natalie, Randi and Rhonda had spent the previous Saturday evening around the new fire pit at Clara’s house but none of them had talked with or seen Kristin or the children since then.
The storyline follows the investigation but also the stories of the other women in the circle, leading up to an unexpected ending.

After a rare Saturday kid-and-husband-free night to christen Clara’s new patio, the women wake up to the news that one of their own, Kristen, had disappeared with her four-year-old twins. Although several of the women were a bit embarrassed by their half-drunken confessions, Kristen had said nothing about her situation or her plans to leave. When Kristen’s husband, Paul, moves back into the family home and befriends the only single woman in the group, the women are afraid for Izzy’s safety as well as the fates of Kristen and the children.

I enjoyed Almost Missed You, so I was excited to read Not That I Could Tell, and I was not disappointed. The women are all strong and capable, raising their kids and/or working outside the home, keeping things going, and Kristen’s disappearance brings on a media onslaught that completely disrupts their routines. The book has an underlying theme that discusses domestic violence, with Clara’s friend, Kristen’s situation, and Izzy’s encounter, and at the end, provides a website for more information. I was captivated throughout, and am definitely looking forward to Jessica Strawser’s third novel.

I thank you for Netgallery for the ARC.
The book was super that when they all get to drink on a weekend one of the goes missing at the weekend .
Would they get the missing girl get .

Yellow Springs is a quiet Midwestern suburb. The kind of place where you know your neighbors and they know you. It was a Saturday night when the ladies of one neighborhood gathered around a fire pit. The baby monitors were on, the wine was free flowing, and so was the conversation. And the next morning one of them, and their twin four-year-olds were gone. None of them know what happened between the time they all went home and the next morning when Kristin and her kids are just - gone. Clara was the hostess that night, as the police reveal unknown details of Kristin's life she is taken back to another fateful night. Izzy was there, too. The only single woman in the group and newest neighbor. She is still reeling from the fact that her best friend(and unrequited love) married her sister. She finds herself welcoming the advances of Kristin's left-behind husbands probably more than she should. Natalie was also there, she welcomed the escape from the single parent life as her husband is deployed to Syria yet again. Finally, new parents Rhoda and Randi were there, eager for a break from their infant daughter. As the police investigate Kristin's disappearance they start to piece together a life, a marriage, that was kept from her friends. Was Kristin a victim of domestic abuse or did she leave of her own free will?

Not That I Could Tell was such a great read! The author mostly tells the story from the viewpoint of Izzy and Clara. They were really two different characters in two different places in their life. Clara is married and settled with her family. Izzy is, well she is lost after her sister got married. She is lonely and seeking her "tribe", she is seeking her "people" and maybe doing so in all of the wrong places. Her intense neediness was a bit annoying, yet she was a sympathetic character. I could understand her loneliness. I could understand her desperate desire to find her "people." I hope that our future neighborhood is one where I can sit around drinking wine with the ladies in my neighborhood. Clara was a bit more of a likable character, she was like Moms in suburbs all over the country. It was the part where her kids were sick and she was dealing with all that goes with three sick kids, that I knew that moms all over the country would love her. I will say that there was a part of the ending that was so shocking to me, I thought "well done." The other part wasn't that much of a surprise, but the combination of the two made for a great ending. CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line - I really liked the normal, everyday characters that could be found in Not That I Could Tell. It may not be the "edge of your seat" kind of thriller that I typically love, but the suspense was there just the same. And that is what I love more than anything.

Details:
Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
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Pages:336
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 3/27/2018
Buy it Here!

Brilliant book I loved it. Loved the many storylines, the twists, the mystery and all the happenings. A close friendship, behind closed doors but do we ever really see what's happening. A mum and her two children missing overnight... will the body turn up in the back Garden? What is up with the ex acting strangely. Excellent.

“Clara possessed a vicious animal instinct indeed when it came to protecting her children. So vicious that it coursed almost calmly through her veins when there was no imminent danger….. If anyone ever tries to harm you, I will kill them. The ferocity of it delighted her. It was too bad women weren’t born with that fire. If biology could program us to guard our offspring, why not also ready us to fearlessly protect ourselves? Where was the sixth sense that would have been so helpful when it came to certain dangers especially – the kind that talked smoothly and smiled handsomely and draped themselves in sexy suede blazers and unassuming button downs?”

I devoured Not That I Could Tell in the span of a day and I really enjoyed it. Female friendships check Dark secrets Check Relationships and dysfunctional family dynamics CHECK This multi-layered, character driven, work of women’s fiction was exactly what I needed and I loved how it examined the dynamics of what we perceive to be the truth about those around us as opposed to what their reality actually is. And the ending! WELL DONE.

My first time reading this author. I enjoyed the book. It is slow in development and it took some time for me to get into it. Mothers and neighbors gather around a fire pit one night to drink a little wine and chit chat. They are thankful the baby monitors reach. The next day, one of the moms, Kristin, appears to be missing and Paul, her husband is looking for her.

So what happened that night? No one can remember some fairly important details and the mystery unfolds as they try to remember thru the alcohol fog and hangovers who was where when. All of the women examine their own part. Of course, the husband is the first one the police suspect. Did Paul have something to do with it or is he a victim in this? It looks kinda shady that he starts dating one of the women not long after Kristen's disappearance. He certainly looks like he got rid of his wife. I recommend this to those who like mystery. It builds slowly. Settle in with a cup of tea with a nice long afternoon devoted to a good read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to read in exchange for a review. 4 stars. I highly recommend it.

What an intense and complicated story that had you guessing until the very end!