This was a solid, well paced legal thriller. I enjoyed the way that the narrative went between the past and the present to help the reader gain a better understanding of just who Ellice Littlejohn is - and what she's hiding. What made this stand out for me was the author's frank handling of the effects of racism and sexism in the workplace, particularly the intersection of both race and gender.

It's a slow burn at first, but it definitely snowballs and picks up pace. I enjoyed Ellice as a character - she was flawed but relatable and someone you rooted for. Overall, this was a quick, enjoyable read that touched on a lot of deeper themes, including the ones mentioned before, but also domestic abuse, poverty, and impostor syndrome.

This one is definitely a page turner! The protagonist is Ellice Littlejohn, a middle-aged Black woman with a complicated and secret family history who works at the highest ranks of a corporate legal department. After her boss is found murdered in his office, his death and its aftermath hurtles Ellice forward as she tries to understand who did it and why. All Her Little Secrets covers a lot of topically relevant and suspenseful ground: systemic racism and sexism, multiple murders and countless corporate coverups. Ellice also has to confront a horrific past we get snippets of in flashbacks. There's a lot going on, but I enjoyed the twists and turns!

This was a fast paced thriller about an African American woman, who after discovering her boss/lover has died , gets promoted to his position. The mystery is interesting and the unraveling of the secrets from the past and present worked. While I totally agree with her positions about racism, anti semitism, and as a minority myself, I found myself impatient with all the attempts to educate her readers, less would have been a lot more powerful and that took away from the book for me

If you've ever thought corporate law sounded boring, All Her Little Secrets will change your mind with its devious plot. This story starts off with Ellice Littlejohn finding her boss- who she's also had a long term affair with- dead in his office, which seems like a big enough shock- but this is just the beginning of the gasp-worthy events that will propel this story forward over and over. A thrilling mystery that keeps you reading, this is also takes a serious look at racism in the workplace as well.

Part murder mystery and part legal thriller, this book is the entire package! Determined to rise above her rural roots, Ellice, the protagonist, has hidden secrets about her past and sculpted a picture-perfect professional image. While I don't agree with some of her choices, I haven't rooted so mightily for a protagonist in a long time!

Ellice makes her way to the corporate world, only to find it brimming with racism, sexism, corporate politics, and more. The reader takes a gripping journey with Ellice as she juggles navigation of the corporate world and politics, guilt from her past, and being framed for multiple murders.

This slow-burning, perfectly-paced page turner is ideal for book club reading, with themes of family secrets, poverty, adultery, racism, sexism, deceit, and more, begging to be discussed.

It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel, what a talented new voice in the mystery and thriller world. I anxiously await more by this author!

Thank you Harper Collins, NetGalley, and Wanda M. Morris for the advanced reader's e-proof.

4.25

This is a must read! A book not to be missed. Put it on your wish list, pre-order and tbr . You will not be disappointed.

I'm barely alert. My eyelids are closing on me as I type. I had 10% left and I couldn't put the book down. I had to know what this was all about and the players in this charade. Won't give anything away. However, I will tell you that this book is not what it appears to be. It is deep and far reaching. Once I realized what was occurring, I still needed all the pieces and players.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one and oh boy, it did not disappoint. It's a fast-paced thriller full of moments that made me gasp. It's also a murder mystery with a ton of deeply entrenched racism woven into it. While not every reveal came as a complete surprise, that didn't take away from the enormous weight of the story & how much I enjoyed it.

Ellice Littlejohn is an unforgettable character who is forced to face sinister situations and figure out how to survive them all. Have I ever rooted for a fictional character this much before? I'd say that's a hard no. And it's a debut novel?! Hell yeah, Wanda M. Morris! What a strong, impressive entrance into the book world.

(And a plea to publishers: give us more thrillers written by women of color! We're out here begging for them!)

Morris’s debut hits on all cylinders! As a woman in her forties, I was pleasantly surprised to find her intelligent and resourceful protagonist to be middle-aged. Rarely do I get to see protagonists around my age who are presented as strong, fully capable, and attractive. Add to that a protagonist who’s a woman of color, and I was all in. From the first few pages, Morris throws you into the horrible reality of her heroine’s predicament. And while the story centers around a whodunit, Morris touches on so many aspects of race, code-switching in the workplace, and what happens when people can’t escape their past (or, rather, when society won’t let them escape). Can’t wait to see what Morris puts out next!

While trying to uncover the truth about her boss's sudden death, Ellice Littlejohn's carefully constructed life is in danger of unravelling.

A black woman anchors herself to a married man, going so far as to follow him to his next workplace at his request. When she arrives at the office for (another) early morning meeting she discovers his blood-spattered body. Did he commit suicide? Does it matter if she gets promoted?

Morris has crafted a page-turning story and relatable protagonist with her legal thriller (with shades of Get Out and When No One was Watching) All Her Little Secrets. Ellice Littlejohn is used to being the only Black person in the room, especially at work as a corporate lawyer in a corporation well-known for hiring few people of color. When tragedy strikes an executive she was quite friendly with and she inexplicitly finds herself promoted to the highest legal position in the company (albeit with a ton of side-eye thrown her way) she knows this is too fast and too good to be true, and sets about finding out what happened. When hints of her own past and that of those she loves start to surface, and she starts uncovering things well beyond a few corporate shenanigans, she knows she might be in too deep. Littlejohn is a flawed and quite admirable heroine - the best kind. I can't wait to read more from Wanda M. Morris!

This story has an enticing slow burn, the main character’s past—and for that matter, her present—peeling back layer by layer. The present storyline has some explosive reveals, enraging any reader with a moral compass and making them root for Ellice all the more. A welcome addition to the legal thriller category but also a story that is so much more.

Rarely have I come across a book that hooks me so completely from the start. A successful corporate lawyer, the intrepid Ellice Littlejohn may appear to have it all, but both she and the firm she works for are harboring more than a few little secrets. This is a fresh take on the classic legal thriller, and a deeply satisfying mystery.

Ellice Littlejohn keeps her secrets close to her vest, but eventually, to her great sorrow, they all come out of the woodwork. Growing up in a small town in Georgia as a poor black girl, Ellice had few options. However, a neighbor, Vera or Miss Vee, saw potential and helped Ellice get out of town, attend a private boarding school and go on to a good college. Present day: Ellice is a high-powered lawyer for a business in Atlanta when he life begins to unravel.
There are many things to like about this book: the story line gives the reader plenty of suspense, Ellice is a truly likable character, and the bad guys get it in the end. However, the story moves a little too slowly and Ellice, like so many protagonists, is slow on the uptake, not doing the right thing, when she could have solved all her problems 100 pages earlier if she had just gone to the police, or not tried to solve all the problems on her own.

A good page turner with multi-faceted characters. It was easy to get impatient, though, with the main character's unwillingness (due to a variety of reasons she held), to take obvious steps for safety and help. Definitely worth the read.

What a great read! All Her Little Secrets tells the story of an African-American female lawyer in corporate America whose past is used to manipulate her. Murder, secrets, and lies keep the story moving. I really like the chapters varying between past and present as we learn how our protagonist became the woman she is today. I think this would be a great book group read as the book touches on family secrets, racism, adultery and a great murder mystery.

Fast paced thriller made for fans of Grisham, Baldacci and the like. Morris's novel incorporates many hot-button topics from today's pressing issues - poverty, racial diversity, domestic abuse, imposter syndrome and more - skillfully while delivering a true page turner that will keep you reading! Ellice Littlejohn keeps her private life private, and her lawyer-life clean as a whistle. But she hides secrets from her present and her past - and they soon catch up with her after she discovers her current lover (and boss) dead in his office early one morning. As her life spins toward destruction, her choices narrow and her family and prior life choices catch up and overtake her as she tries to unravel the murder of her boss and the nefarious activities of the company for which they worked.

Being a young black lawyer in the world of corporate business is already impossible. Layer on working in a "good ole boy" firm where secrets, deceit and even murder come into play. Ellice's past and her brother that no one knows she has come to the forefront of her life and threaten to reveal truths she wanted buried forever. This is one you don't want to miss.

. An interesting plot that blends legal thriller and murder mystery while also addressing serious social issues. The pacing in some sections struggled but there were enough twists to keep me coming back.

Special thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Custom House for the ARC of this book in exchange for my own opinion.

This book was really good. Its a legal thriller with a heroine that you will be rooting for all the way through. At least I was. Honestly, I couldn't put this book down, it was that good. It reminded me of the first time I read a John Grisham book. Put this book on your list if you like toxic work environments, buried secrets, and a page turning book that you just can't put down. Also, I loved the complex characters and things that you would do for your family that you'd never thought you'd do, that is, if your family isn't mine, of course. Jk. A little humor never hurts

5 stars!