Ellice Littlejohn has worked her way into a good life. She was raised by a lousy mother and had to fend for herself. She became a corporate attorney working for a company. Her boss, who she also dated despite him being married, is found dead in the office. It was ruled a murder. As Ellice goes through his office she finds intriguing information as she is appointed to his position. Her boss's wife holds clues as well as members of the company. The excitement mounts as Ellice winds her way to solving the murder and other puzzles. A good read.

Wanda M. Morris's All Her Little Secrets is a riveting thriller that grabbed me with its first murder mystery and never let go.

After her boss's mysterious death, African-American lawyer Ellice Littlejohn is thrust into the executive suite. Ellie, as one of the few people of color in her workplace, wants to utilize her newfound visibility to push for more people of color to be hired, but her efforts are thwarted by coworkers whose objectives lay elsewhere and may not be totally legal. Ellie's childhood secrets threaten to destroy her carefully constructed success, forcing her to go inside herself for the fortitude to stand up to those who would use her to further their own goals as she grapples with difficult moral and ethical problems. The author had me guessing who the bad guy was due to the abundance of possible antagonists until the unexpected turn of events at the conclusion.

Ellie, who overcame adversity as a youngster to become a successful lawyer, is unusually well-rounded. Despite her achievements, Ellie continues to face obstacles because of her gender and the color of her skin. Her coworkers are also well-developed, and one of my favorite descriptions is of a rumpled colleague: "giving him the impression of a hurriedly made bed with a pillow flung in the midst of it."

There was a steady buildup of tension and plot twists that had me flipping pages until I reached the satisfying conclusion. I find myself questioning some of Ellie's choices because of my own moral compass, but if I were in a similar situation in real life, I might have done the same.

All Her Little Secrets is a great read for anybody who like legal or business thrillers like those written by John Grisham.

This is not my usual type of book, but I was very engaging and enjoyable. I found it hard to put down. It had great character development. It was not a book that you knew what was coming next. I highly recommend it. Step outside your typical reads and check this one out.

All Her Little Secrets is a semi-legal thriller that takes place in Georgia. Ellice Littlejohn is a lawyer at a large transportation business who is having an affair with her boss. She comes into the office early one day, to find him dead in his office. Secrets and mysteries ensue that include racists and mysognists working for the company and participating in shenanigans, as well as secrets from the past that Ellice has tried to keep buried.
I ended up listening to this one on audio and did enjoy it. I wish there was a bit more to the legal side of things as that was what drew me to the premise. I did appreciate how the story played out and I liked the flashbacks to Ellice’s past that coincided with the present. Overall, it was an interesting mystery and I am glad I read it.
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Loved it!
Attached is my interview with Wanda on the Crime Writers of Color podcast.
https://www.crimewritersofcolor.com/cwoc-podcast/wanda-morris

Thank you to William Morrow Publishing and the author for allowing me to read this title through #netgalley

Where to start. I wish I had read this book earlier. It does what I expect which is thrill me. And let me tell you, Ellice Littlejohn had secrets for days! I was engrossed from the beginning to end.

Let me say that I am usually cautious of thrillers that are advertising racism as part of the book. Some of those I have read have been done poorly or just a passing touch. I was pleasantly rewarded with a book that speaks to racism directly, from a perspective that is refreshing and eye opening. Ellice comes from a traumatic and abusive background and is just trying to do what she thinks is best in the situations she finds herself in. Does she do it perfectly? No. Can we identify with that? Yes. This twisty story just keeps coming and challenges you to think. Please keep writing books such as these.

Ellice Littlejohn is a Georgetown graduate with a Yale Law degree. Yet, when she discovers her colleague's dead body the dark secrets from her past make her handle the situation suspiciously. When she is promoted to replace her dead colleague she discovers shady company dealings. This puts Ellice and everyone she loves in danger.

I could not put this book down. I read it in one sitting. The characters were genuine, damaged survivors of the circumstances of their upbringing. The struggle to keep painful secrets hidden or reveal oneself to friends was examined from multiple angles throughout the book. This was a wonderful debut novel. I look forward to reading more from this author.

All her little secrets is an amazing debut. I got some serious John Grisham vibes. A legal mystery/ thriller. This was an amazingly fast faced read. I loved Ellice Littlejohns character maybe we’ll see some more of her in the future?!

Ellice Littlejohn has secrets. Lots of them. And perhaps that explains why, when she arrives early one morning at the transportation company where she works as an attorney and stumbles across the body of her married lover, Michael, she doesn't immediately call the police. Perhaps that explains it. But it didn't for me. While there were many things I liked about this book—the sense of place (Atlanta, and a cameo by a fictional small town called Chillicothe, GA), the strong depictions of small-town life and complicated family relationships—I had a hard time recovering from that discordant first scene.

I think the author was trying to show how hidden trauma follows a person, making them react in ways that seem inexplicable and even irrational to others, and how one might even act against their own self-interest just to protect that secret. It isn't irrational at all given her background that Ellice Littlejohn (how great is that name for a character, by the way?), accustomed to concealment, does in that moment what she has always done—she pretends.



The secrets Ellice had to protect were significant, I'll give her that. But the connection between them and her actions didn't sync for me. I was also a little thrown by how casually and cursorily she absorbed Michael's death, given that he was a man she had been with for many years. I think she may have gotten teary-eyed once or twice, but not much else. He was a shadow figure, developed so incompletely that I didn't care that he was dead, and didn't see much evidence that Ellice cared either, and that didn't change, even when it became clear he was one of the good guys in the novel. He was less a person than he was a plot device, a catalyst for the later action. I just wished the author had spent more time making him both.

And finally, the mystery at the center of all the nefarious activity and the role that Ellice was being unwittingly enlisted to play in it was sufficiently complex and interesting that I thought it deserved more than the summaries delivered in dialogue during the last seventy-five pages. The plans Ellice uncovered had a lot of interesting potential for development, saying important things about race and power and the limited scope of success permitted minority groups in America, but it was given really short shrift. Instead of sprinkling clues and foreshadowing of the central conspiracy, there were a lot of descriptions of micro-aggressions faced by Black women in corporate America; the kinds of things that would be very difficult to edit out (because believe it or not, not everyone knows that this is a thing) but which I think added little ultimately. The ways in which Ellice uncovered the plot at the center of the novel were also a little unimaginative—inexplicably unlocked computers and desk drawers, overheard conversations—and in some ways unbelievable given the explosive nature of what was being concealed.

In general, I think this novel was for me a problem of plotting, not writing. I liked Ellice, I liked her family and friends and found them fascinating enough to keep reading, but the thrill part of this thriller wasn't there for me. I'll read more from this author, but I can't help but wonder whether she has a good unpublished contemporary family drama lurking on her computer somewhere. Those were the sweet spots in this book for me.

My rating: ⭑⭑⭑

“All Her Little Secrets”
By Wanda M. Morris

When poor young black girl, Ellice Littlejohn, boarded a Greyhound bus from her home in Chillicothe, Ga., in “All Her Little Secrets,” by Wanda M. Morris, sordid gossip and rumors quickly topped community conversations. However, the truth was Ellie won a full-ride scholarship to a private boarding school in Virginia.

Intelligent and a quick learner, Ellice grew up to be a successful lawyer in a predominantly white Atlanta “old school boy’s club” firm. Although single and sleeping with her married boss, Ellie was content until the morning she found him dead at His work desk. From then on, Ellie’s life spun out of control. Did Michael commit suicide, or was he murdered? Was his secret work project connected to his death? What was the significance of the unusual lapel pins worn by some law firm members? Was Ellie also in danger?

Ellie had to remember lessons learned as a child in Chillicothe, “…you use your heart to love, but you use your head to fight...”

I found “All Her Little Secrets” a terrific murder mystery thriller that kept me guessing until the end. However, the archetype stereotypical “white Southern” racist aspects were bothersome and trite.

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The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“All Her Little Secrets”
Author: Wanda M. Morris
Genre: Fiction (Adult) | Mystery / Thriller
Publication Date: 02 November 2021
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

My sincere appreciation goes to NetGalley, Author Wanda M. Morris, and HarperCollins Publishers for Providing this Advance Reader’s Copy for Review.

When you first meet Ellice Littlejohn, here’s what you know about her: 1. She’s an incredibly successful, Ivy-league educated attorney. 2. She’s impeccably put together, always in well-tailored designer clothing. 3. She has a small group of close friends who are supportive and there for her when she needs them. 4. She has been having an affair with her married, white boss, Michael who she has just found dead in his office when she arrives for an early morning meeting.

With composure that only someone who has been through worse can muster, Ellice collects herself and leaves the office, pretending she was never there. When I tell you this was a shocker of an opening chapter, I am not kidding. Even though I knew what would happen from reading the book trailer, I was shocked seeing it play out!

Instantly I knew Ellice was not an average character in any way. She is this woman with a perfect exterior, but behind it she is a mix of flawed, damaged, resilient, strong, and relatable. I really loved Ellice and she is one of those characters I didn’t want to leave behind when the book ended.

The story unfolds in both the past and the present and I want to be cautious not to give away more than the teaser did here so I won’t say too much. But Ellice has a past. And I don’t just mean a nerd-in-high-school past (not that I’m undermining those who go through that)—Ellice has a deep, dark, leave-it-all-behind and never tell anyone where you are from kind of past. She didn’t just grow up poor, she grew up barely able to survive kind of poor. The kind of poor where people take advantage of your family. The kind of poor where no one comes to your aid when you need help. The kind of poor, black life that the rich, white good-ole-boys at work would judge her for.

I really enjoyed the past chapters and learning about the people who shaped Ellice, in good ways and in bad ones. Ellice’s past seems separate from what is happening in the present, but ultimately this is a book about how you never truly leave your past behind.

In present day, Ellice quickly finds herself promoted into her dead boss-slash-ex-boyfriend’s role at her very white company. And while this is the job of her dreams, nothing about this feels ok. Ellice knows that many think she only got this because of the race pressure on the very-white Houghton corporation. She knows that her education and performance only had so much to do with this promotion—she’s the token black board member. And when she quickly learns how the other woman on the board has been able to be successful in her role, Ellice feels even more desolate.

On top of all of this, someone knows about Ellice’s secrets and is threatening to expose them. As Ellice struggles to keep her past hidden, perform her new role, and dig into what really happened to Michael, she soon learns that everything she thought made her life so secure can unravel with the pull of a single thread.

This book is not only an expertly crafted thriller at the top of the genre, it also is an unapologetically black story about a black woman in a white corporate world facing racism, sexism, and corruption at the highest of levels. This book delivers for those who are only looking for a thriller, but you’ll be hard pressed to read it and not learn more empathy for black women in the corporate world. One of the best books I read in the past year—this should be on every thriller-reader’s list.

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller! The mystery kept me hooked and I appreciated the diversity of the characters. It covered a lot of relevant topics like toxic workplaces, racism, sexual discrimination and more and the twists kept me guessing. A solid debut - I'm looking forward to ready Morris's next book!

Such a thrilling read! Started off a little slow, but once I was sucked in, I couldn’t stop! I can’t believe this was a debut!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for my advanced copy!

I was so excited to read this book, but ultimately did not finish it.

I was expecting a fast-paced thriller, but this seemed to drag in places. However, the thing I that ultimately made me put the book down were the choices the main character made throughout the story. She is described as a strong, smart woman and a successful lawyer, but she kept making choices that were clearly not ideal like leaving long incriminating voicemails for her brother when she couldn't find him!

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately I wasn't grabbed by the thrilling aspects or the characters.

I appreciate all the issues that the author tackled throughout the book, but there was too much going on for me. I had a lot of trouble keeping up with the characters and subplots.

Her childhood is one of extreme poverty and abuse, but Ellice earns the chance to attend an elite private boarding school. Education changes her life and she leaves her poor rural town, family and past behind to pursue her career.
But racism, misogyny and evil catch up to her “secrets” and wreck havoc in her life.
As the lone black woman in the executive suite of her company she fights back against those who are backing a shady deal. Can she get to the people she trusts before her world collapses?
You will be rooting for Ellice in this page turner!
I received a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions in this review are my own.
Thank you William Morrow and Harper Collins Publishing.

Ellice is a woman that seems to have it all with a well-paying job, great social ties to great support having great friends, and a secret relationship with her boss Michael. Michael seems to have some secrets of his own when Ellice goes to meet him one morning to find him dead with a gunshot to the head!! Ellice has her own secrets to hide so she pretends like she was never there and walks away like she never seen Michael lying there dead. When Ellice is put in Michael’s place to run the company, she finds more hidden secrets within the company, and she is thrown into a past and present collision tailspin! Ellice is portrayed as a strong character, but I was thrown off by how many times she had bad judgement, made bad choices, and just seemed to overall be going in the wrong direction for a character built on success and perseverance. I enjoyed this but found some pitfalls in the plot to character mix. Thank you NetGalley for the copy to review.

Thank you NetGalley and Book Club Girl for this ARC.

This was a wonderful thriller that had very timely plot points to the story. It keeps the reader on the edge of their seats for most of the book.

Ellice is part of the legal team for a shipping company in Atlanta. The book starts out with murder of Ellice's boss and her quest to find out what really happened as she is pulled into the mess.

Ellice has spent a lot of her life running away from terrible things. Her mother was an alcoholic in Chillicothe and she was given the opportunity to attend private high school by winning a scholarship. She ran away and didn't look back very often. Ellice has a lot of guilt for leaving her brother Sam behind and him not having the same avenue for success as she did.

Ellice's boss is murdered and she is the one to discover the body, but she keeps that fact away from the police. She thinks she is protecting herself, but she is really getting herself more involved in the mess.

She realizes after a time that Sam is also involved and she tries to get to the bottom of things as quickly as possible to save him from jail time.

Ellice is also one of the few people of color that work at this company. When her boss is murdered, she is automatically promoted that position to make the company look better, Ellice doesn't want to be involved and tries to resign. She is not successful and is threatened with secrets from her past to stay with the company.

There are a lot of layers to this plot and it fits together really well. A very enjoyable read!

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, however I ended up listening to the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

This was a good political thriller full of social commentary. The book is full of secrets, some stemming from the main character's past and some that she must uncover to save her future. Ellice Littlejohn is a lawyer at a transportation company. She has worked hard to get where she is from the small town she is from. She doesn't like to talk about her past or her personal life. In fact, most of her friends and coworkers don't really know anything about her. Ellice likes to have her life in order, so when her entire life is thrown headlong into chaos when her boss is murdered she isn't sure what to do. Ellice quickly finds herself in the middle of the executive suite and in the middle of a shady corporate business deal. As she begins to question the business dealings of her new peers, they begin to question everything about her and the secrets she has worked so hard to keep may not be secret much longer.

The main character is supposed to be extremely smart and well educated, yet she was portrayed as having no common sense. Not that there aren't real people like that out there, but in her inner monologues she knew what the right choice was and made the wrong one anyway. I'm not a fan when this technique is used in writing to make the main character, especially a female MC look lesser. This just goes to show that secrets and lies always backfire in the end. At times it felt as if her image was more important than saving her own life and solving the crime.

Overall this was an entertaining listen. The audio narrator did a good job and the story kept me engaged.

Do you have something from your childhood that you wouldn’t want your coworkers to know? Ellice Littlejohn has an Ivy League law degree and is a lawyer at a large corporation in Atlanta. She doesn’t want her co-workers to know about her troubled childhood or her brother who has spent time in prison. She also doesn’t want them to know that she is having an affair with her boss, Michael.

Ellice’s world comes tumbling down when she comes to work one morning early to meet her boss and finds him dead in his office. Who killed Michael? Why is her workplace pushing her into his executive position so quickly? Why does most of the executive team seem to be hiding something and taking an active dislike to her?

I enjoyed All Her Little Secrets. It’s a good legal thriller. It was slow burn at first, but once I got past a point in the middle, I literally couldn’t put this book down until I finished it. I really wanted to know what happened. I also really liked the details of Ellice’s life and her experiences as the only person of color on the executive team. She was also one of the only women in a powerful position was interesting as well. Keeping secrets comes back to haunt Ellice as it makes her look very suspicious to the police. I love how she wanted to protect her family and I also really liked her brother’s friend Juice. It made me laugh that she made assumptions about him that were totally off base.

Favorite Quotes:

“Just because he made a mistake doesn’t mean he can’t right himself up. Mistakes don’t make nobody bad. It makes ‘em human.”

“Every lie you tell, every secret you keep, is a fragile little thing that must be protected and accounted for. One misstep, one miscalculation, and your safe little treasures can topple the perfect life you’ve built around them.”

“I had to believe that I was more than my worst mistake. Every one of my secrets had been a painful lesson that I should have been learning from instead of running from.”

Overall, All her Little Secrets is a riveting legal thriller while also being a great discussion about being a black woman in corporate America. It’s also a great look at the side effects of telling lies, even what you believe to be harmless ones.

Book Source: A Review Copy from William Morrow. Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.