⭐️Book Review ⭐️
One Little Secret by Cate Holahan
4/5 Stars

One little secret? Who doesn’t have one little secret they keep from their spouse or their best friend? What about a neighborhood full of secrets?

Three couples drop off their respective children at camp and decide to rent a house on the beach for the week. They find out more about one another and their respective marriages in one day than they have in all the time living so close to one another .

The first morning one wife ends up dead. The local police dives into the lives of each of them uncovering personal secrets. I thought I knew the obvious killer- I was wrong.

The story does go back and forth between “The Day Of” and “The Day After” which was a bit confusing at first. Also, with six main characters it was hard to keep track of each marriage until about 4 chapters into the book. The twists came when you didn’t expect them which kept me on my literary toes though!

Content warning of spousal abuse, alleged rape and drug abuse.


**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy this book. It had a lot of twists I didn’t see coming. The main problem for me was l couldn’t ind one likable character. The main story ( no spoilers) is three couples whose children are at camp stay together for what seemed to be constant sniping. It was so bad I even got confused who was married to whom. Someone ends up murdered and therein the rest of the story lies. Not a bad book and especially for a beach read but not up to what I really enjoy. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an early arc in exchange for my opinion.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

A solid 3.5 stars. While I enjoyed the story and wanted to know who the murderer was, the writing and characters confused me. I like characters that are fleshed out well and have depth. I didn't really find that in this story. I didn't care about the characters. I wasn't really invested in them; I simply wanted to get to the ending. Because the characters weren't really distinguished much against each other, I kept getting confused about who was who, which took away from my enjoyment. The story was definitely twisty, which I liked. Every time I thought I had it figured it, the story changed. But it was almost too twisty and over the top. Overall, not a bad read but nothing that wowed me.

This is a tautly constructed domestic drama/psychological thriller that will keep you glued to the pages and begs to be read in a single sitting.

What it's about: Three couples, neighbors, rent a beach house in the Hamptons for some adult fun while their children are away at camp. As they settle in, enjoy some dinner and have several drinks, tensions escalate between them and alcohol loosens their inhibitions. Secrets are revealed and tempers flare. When one of them is found dead on the beach the next day, it is clear that one is a murderer. Detective Sargeant Gabriella Watkins of the East Hampton Police Department has a monumental task -- to sift through the lies, possible motives, and the scant evidence to find the truth. Compounded by accusations of spousal abuse and infidelity, it's clear that each had a possible reason to commit the crime. NO SPOILERS.

Why you should read it: I am a sucker for a narrative that has multiple points of view and a shifting timeline. I really enjoyed the writing and the different perspectives. As I tried to analyze the relationships, I found that I had to make a chart just to keep track of the characters. Since it's known that one of the remaining 5 at the beach house is the killer, I tried to guess which one as revelations were dangled in dabs that finally were connected into the big picture. The story reminded me of BIG LITTLE LIES because of the small suspect pool and all the undercurrents that existed in the group. I must admit that I didn't really like any of the characters at the beach house but I could definitely understand some of their reactions to their situations. I can definitely see this as a television miniseries and urge any of you who enjoy this type of book to grab it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this e-book ARC to read and review.

A thrilling summer or end-of-summer read. I love family dramas, or in this case, family/friend dramas and this one definitely shows how far some are willing to go to hide their past or make sure their past never sees the light of day.

This was an interesting and well written domestic thriller. Three couples decide to go on vacation together to a beach house while their children are at summer camp. Initially I had a hard time distinguishing which spouse went with who but after I figured that out my next thought was “Why are these people vacationing together??” At first it seemed like they all barely knew the people they were vacationing with, but it was soon apparent that these people were more intertwined with each other than we were initially led to believe. We begin to see cracks in the marriages, and everyone’s body language reveals the relationships and secrets they all have. Compound that with one of the wives turning up dead and things start to really get interesting. Another layer of the the story is that the police officer investigating the murder also begins to find personal connections to one of the suspects. Overall I really enjoyed this book. As the story unraveled you could begin to see where the plot was going but the journey to get there was well worth it.

*2.5 Stars*

Going in, this book seemed like it would be right up my alley in terms of the types of mystery/thriller novels I enjoy. So I am disappointed to say that I came out with rather mixed feelings about it—it was just a bit underwhelming for me. On the one hand, this story is packed with a few too many clichés and there are a number of elements of the plot that could have been executed better. On the other hand, it is a fast and fairly entertaining read that still completely held my attention all the way through. All this being said, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of my issues with the narrative are simply connected to my personal taste.

The characters that make up the intriguing cast of this story are definitely not particularly likable people. The tension in the house is incredibly palpable with the constant stilted interactions, nasty thoughts, and full-blown arguments. And they will immediately have you questioning why in the world they would ever agree to go on vacation together for a week in the first place. Despite this, there are still redeemable qualities in some of them and not everyone is quite as bad as they seem in the beginning.

Though my mixed feelings really apply to every aspect of this novel, I thought the characterization was decent. I found most of the characters to be realistic and thought they had a good amount of dimension. The majority of them evolved—along with my opinion of them—as the story progressed and as more of their backgrounds were revealed. Many of them are dislikable, but in a very purposeful way—you are meant to be suspicious of them for a while, and almost all of them do end up acting poorly at some point. I did feel like this only added to their believability. There are a couple characters—only one main one—who are quite one dimensional and somewhat unrealistic, but this is avoided for the most part.

Quite honestly, this novel is absolutely full of adult mystery novel clichés. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Commonly used elements can still make for a great story and I do not think that this is an entirely negative thing when it comes to this one. I do think it is a bit overdone. The topics used to create drama between the couples and in the plot of the novel overall are well written for what they are. There are scenes of domestic abuse that are so realistically portrayed they are quite intense and hard to read. The themes of betrayal are very vivid and the moments of insecurity are extremely relatable. All in all, Holahan truly brings every theme dealt with in this novel to life in a multi-dimensional way.

The issue here—and it is certainly more related to personal preference than an actual problem with the story—is that these commonly used plot points became too overwhelming. Trying to crowd all of them in caused the originality of the narrative to take a significant hit. Every unique moment is overshadowed by tropes like infidelity, abuse, alcoholism, and petty arguments. Though these topics are common in many novels and add a good deal of tension and drama, there needs to be more substance. In this novel, it felt like one was being piled onto the next just for the sake of raising more issues for the couples rather than actually building or progressing the plot.

The most major element of the novel that I feel could have been executed better is the creation of suspicion in the reader’s mind. A mystery novel should allow the reader to form their own thoughts about and distrust in the possible culprits by subtly directing their attention to potential motives. While Holahan does do that in some ways, it lacks a lot of that subtlety and ends up coming across as a bit forced. Though every person in the house is clearly going to be a suspect, there are constant and far too obvious reminders of why they could be guilty. It becomes very over-the-top and detracts from the suspense of the plot.

I definitely think Holahan could have left a little room for the reader to come to their own conclusions about each of the characters’ potential for being the killer. Developing them more naturally and relying solely on laying out personalities and backstories with the progression of the plot would have allowed for this. It is easy to get a clear picture of each character and form one’s own opinion based on the way she does these things over the course of the novel. However, too often the narrative strays toward a less delicate way of weaving in distrust of the characters, instead, pointing the finger quite plainly from one person to the next.

Another element of the novel I feel could have been executed better is the narrowing down of suspects over the course of the story. As the narrative progresses, each of the potential killers is cleared one by one until there are only two left in the end. This approach, for me, sort of killed the suspense. It would have kept me more on the edge of my seat if Holahan had left a few more options in there. This, though, is undeniably something that did not work for me personally and could easily be perfectly fine for a different reader. As it stands, I found the ending to be extremely predictable and it fell rather flat. I have to say, the choice of the killer upset me a bit for a number of reasons as well.

The writing itself is a strong point in this book. I really like Holahan’s writing style—it flows very naturally and is easy to get into. Her descriptions are very vivid and help to pull the reader into the story. She sets the scene for all the mystery and deception well, forming an environment that reflects the tone and emotion of each scene. The narrative never lacks realism, helping to immerse the reader and connect them with the setting and characters.

Now, after all that I have said, it may seem like this reading experience was a primarily negative one, but that is not entirely true. There were a lot of issues I personally had with it but, as I said before, I doubt they would apply to everyone. Personal taste was a big factor here. Also, I was very engaged in the story. I did not absolutely love it but it held my attention from beginning to end and I was truly interested in finding out how everything would resolve. Despite the predictability of many plot points, there were still enough surprises to keep me guessing. Overall, this is a novel that I would recommend giving a try. I know it is something that plenty of readers will find enjoyment in.

One Little Secret is the latest novel by author Cate Holahan. It tells the story of three couples, who are also neighbors that decide to rent a beach house for a week while their children are at summer camp. What starts as a relaxing beach week in a beautiful Hamptons beach house, flowing champagne and fabulous food ends in murder.

From the publisher:

Everyone has a secret. For 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. 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.



Throughout 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. The next morning one of the women is discovered dead on the private beach.

Detective Gabby Watkins must figure out who permanently silenced the deceased. As she investigates, she learns that everyone involved was hiding something that could tie them to the murder.


When the book begins, we meet all of the parents as they are dropping their kids for their week-long camp trip all the while anticipating their impending vacation. What struck me as odd, is none of the couples seems particularly close. Sandra, the matriarch of the group and her husband Nadal recently moved to the neighborhood. She wanted to get the couples together to get to know one another and bond as their children had. Each of the main characters were professionals in their own right and seemed to be more focused on obtaining social status rather than fostering lifelong friendships. You can tell that the couples seemed standoffish and awkward with one another. Is it the secrets they are hiding? Or they are so stuffy that they don’t know how to have a good time. If I went in on a Hamptons beach house for a week, you better believe I’m going to make the best of it even if my roommates were drips!

Another protagonist is the straight-laced detective Gabby Watkins. We meet her as she is investigating the possible sexual assault of a nanny at a local party. While reading, I wondered just how this arch tied into the main storyline. Eventually, it did, but not in the way that I suspected. There were several characters that we needed to learn the background on. This lead to some confusion on my part. The book moved at a good pace. It’s told in an alternating timeline; before, the day of the crime and after the crime. I appreciate that the author didn’t drag the story along and tossed a few bones at the reader to keep the interest up.

The ending was satisfying, and there were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. Overall, One Little Secret will make a great summer beach read. It’s another book that touts itself as a “psychological thriller,” and I do think the author accomplished that.


Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Meryl Moss Media, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This mystery is good summer beach read with enough edge to be interesting but not too graphic. Three wealthy couples and friends rent a beach house and go on vacation. All of these people have secrets – some about business, domestic abuse, infidelity and insecurities.

There are quite a few characters introduced quickly so I had a hard time keeping track of which were couples at first. A side story is about an eighteen-year old au pair who may have been drugged at a party. The same detective investigating this case ends up involved with the wealthy folks when one is found dead. This turns into a murder investigation.

I see from some reviews that people who like this author thought this wasn’t her best book but this is my first experience with Cate Holahan. I would read more books authored by Holahan based one this quick read. She kept me guessing about the murderer and I would change my mind a few times before the end. Nice plotting.

It’s not a foodie book but there was a nice dinner at the beach house with fruit salad, roasted halibut, baby potatoes and grilled corn. California Chardonnays and white burgundy wines.

Publication date was July 19, 2019 and I was kindly given an advanced copy by Netgalley. Opinions are mine and I was not compensated for my review.

Sharing with Heather for her July Foodies Read event.

I’m going down the middle with this one at 2.5 stars. I’ve really liked all of Cate Holohan’s other books but unfortunately this one was my least favorite. However, I must say that I don’t really like domestic thrillers and that is where One Little Secret fell. I chose to read it because of how much I liked her previous work. If you do like domestic thrillers, then you might like this one more than I did.

A lot is put into the couples, as characters and their ‘behind closed doors’ stories. Again, if you like domestic thrillers, this will probably be entertaining to you but for me it got a little redundant. I did really like the ending and I was wrong about who the killer was so that’s a big plus!

Overall, even though I didn’t love it, I think One Little Secret is an entertaining domestic thriller and recommend it to others who like the genre and all the drama.

This group of friends had so many secrets!!! One secret after another as the story moved along. At first I had a little difficulty keeping track of the characters--who was married to who, what their profession was, etc. Once I remembered, the story went more smoothly for me. Three sets of married friends decide to go on a week long vacation to the beach. After one night of drinking, secrets start coming out. And damn if there aren't a lot of them!!! By the next morning, the vacation becomes even more dramatic. Going back and forth to the night before and the next morning, we begin to unravel the mystery. Very well-written, high paced, keeps you guessing.....everything I love my mysteries to be. Definitely would read more by Cate Holahan.


*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When you get 3 wealthy couples together in a Hampton beach house for a week away from their children and high powered jobs, you are expecting drama. But when the wine is poured and truths start to slip the relaxing beach trip takes a deadly turn for one of the houseguests.

Once the murder investigation begins, “perfect” relationships start to crumble and secrets and motives are revealed. no one can be trusted, But who is capable of murder?

By telling the story through multiple points of view and alternating timeline (the day before, the day of, the day after) it really helped to push the story along and keep you turning the page.

Some mystery/thrillers I find myself trying to guess the “whodunit” while I go along but with this book I found myself not even trying to guess, I just kept turning the page to find out! All the characters were hiding something and it was a fun read to see all their secrets unfold.

This was my first time reading a book by Cate Holahan but definitely won’t be the last!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ One Little Secret by Cate Holahan

“Everyone has a secret. For some, it’s worth dying to protect. For others, it’s worth killing.”

When all of their children are gone away to summer camp, three couples who are neighbours decide to rent a beach cottage for the week. On the first night too much drinking leads to outbursts, mistrust and arguments. The following morning one of the woman is found strangled on the beach. Everyone in the house is a suspect, and they may all have a motive too.

This is a very easy read with multiple main characters. In the first chapter I was concerned I would have a hard time differentiating between the three couples. They all come from money and live in the same neighbourhood, but the author did a wonderful job of creating realistic and unique characters all with relatable problems. I read this one in a few sittings which is always wonderful with a book because it means I’m really hooked!

I flipped back and forth between 3.5 stars and 4 stars for this one. Although it was an excellent read it didn’t really have any wild unpredictable twists, and I love being shocked at the end of a thriller. However, given how much I enjoyed unravelling each characters story, and how well even the detectives story was written, I am going with four stars.

I definitely recommend this one! Who doesn’t love a beach themed thriller for their summer vacation?!

Livre ennuyant, les personnages ne m'ont pas du tout plu, ni l'histoire. C'est malheureux,j'avais très hâte de le lire

3.5 stars

One Little Secret by Cate Holahan is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Crooked Lane Books, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Susan Ahmadi, a former attorney, is now a stay-at-home mom for her two sons. She is home-schooling her autistic son Jonah. Her husband Nadal is the CEO of a tech start-up and very busy, so she decides they need a break when the kids are going off to camp. She also feels that she needs to create a more family-like atmosphere with their new neighbours. She convinces her work-a-holic husband and two other neighbourhood couples whose children will also be away, to split the rental cost of a rather expensive place on a private beach. Rachel Klein and Ben Hansen are a personal injury attorney and a writer, respectively, and live behind Susan and Nadal with their two children. Jenny and Louis Murray are a CBS Sports commentator and a doctor, and live beside Susan and Nadal with their daughter. The three couples are looking forward to their week at the beach.

But the anticipated holiday does not go as planned. There is so much going on behind the scenes that Susan was unaware when she set up this little vacation. The first evening the couples start unwinding with booze. By the next morning, one of them is dead.

Detective Gabby Watkins is responsible for solving this crime. Unfortunately, it turns out that everyone is a suspect, and her own daughter may be an alibi to one of them.


My Opinions:

I struggled getting into this one. It seemed dis-jointed. It started out with a possible rape victim being interrogated, and then moved on to the introduction of the couples, but not in a straight-forward manner, leaving me unsure of who was partnered with who, and which had kids..... Then the book alternated chapters: before the murder, the day of the murder, after the murder. That part worked okay.

This book is about secrets and lies and affairs and spousal abuse and sexual abuse....and it's a wee bit dark...which is generally fine in my realm, as most of the books I read have at least one of these characteristics. Unfortunately, it was also very wordy (okay, a little like me). As well, I didn't actually like any of the characters, so it made it difficult to truly enjoy the book. As far as I am concerned, all of their behaviours sucked.

All that being said, the overall plot was very interesting, and the red herrings sent the reader into many directions as to the possible perpetrator. Although I did guess the identity of the killer, the path wound around many other possibilities. This really made up for quite a lot of the things I didn't like about the book, although not quite enough for 4 stars, and I am sure I will be in the minority, but.....my opinions only really count to me, and I can live with it.

I really enjoyed "Lies She Told" by this author, so I am looking forward to reading more of her books.

4.5 stars - Three neighborhood couples rent a glass beach home in the Hamptons…but not all return...

This was a twisty summer read to say the least!

I must forewarn that there might be triggers for domestic abuse and sexual abuse. If you are sensitive to those subjects you might want to skip this one.

If you are okay with that kind of subject it was a great whodunnit, mixed with a thriller aspect and mixed with police procedural! A great combination in my book.

I loved how the stories were all integrated, this really helped in creating the character development further. All the characters had their own stories and brought something to the mystery. When you think it's going one direction, the story switches just as fast.

Some of the characters I found were relatable and I was really sympathizing with them, which kept me hooked because I was invested in the characters and the story!

Finally, the ending was satisfying! I love when all the loose ends are tied in the story. This was an overall great read that was beautifully written! You will not be bored!

This was a page turner! I thought the premise was kind of weird -- because who goes on vacation with people you don't really know but it really set up a fun "who dunnit" that I couldn't put down and they ended up knowing each other more than you first realize. There were a few characters that I really hated and just kept hoping they would get what was coming to them and I wasn't disappointed. This is a fast paced, great summer thriller!

I loved the premise of this book: 3 couples in an upscale neighborhood take a vacation together. Someone is murdered and everyone is a suspect. They all have secrets that could make them the killer. I wish so badly that I loved this book, but the characters were so unlikable and while it was a quick, fast-paced read, it just didn't thrill me like I had hoped it would. It definitely held my interest and I really wanted to know how it would end, but I felt underwhelmed when I finished.

Excellent psychological thriller! It moved at a fast pace with twists and turns throughout! Well-developed characters and plot. Highly recommend!

It's a vacation, what could go wrong? One Little Secret is all it takes to change the lives of three couples forever. After moving to a new town, Susan decides a good way to get to know her new neighbors is by renting a beach house together while their kids go off to camp. Nobody had any idea that the lies they kept between them would unravel and wind up intertwined in a murder investigation. Clearly there are many secrets between the three couples, but could any of them really have done something as sinister as committing a murder? Is anybody really innocent? One Little Secret is a horrific story that shows you how easily one little secret can catapult into disaster and you won't be able to figure out just who is at the hands of it until it's too late.