Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of this book. I had high hopes when I first started reading this but as the book progressed I felt the author was sitting asking herself what else can I add to this book resulting in a ‘throw in the kitchen sink’ effort. It got so ridiculous that I nearly just gave up but I soldiered on. Sorry , I hate giving bad reviews but this was a Totally unsatisfactory book

Liz McCallister has grown up with her sister, Meredith, as the only family she could truly rely on, but now her sister has been murdered. Although Liz is explicitly told to stay out of the investigation (by Meredith's cop ex-boyfriend), she can't help but look for answers to mysteries she didn't know existed. Liz had no idea just how complicated her family's past really was.

I felt like this was a beautifully written mystery that kept my attention with every turn of the page. Liz not only fights a battle against her sister's unknown murderer, but she is also battling her own demon of alcoholism as well. Everything Liz does is motivated by making the world right for her sister even if that means getting in trouble with the law.

This was a great read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries.

Liz and Meredith McCallister are sisters that have stayed close even through rough times. They were raised by stepparents after the death of their biological parents. Liz is devastated when Meredith is suddenly murdered in her home. Liz is desperate to solve the mystery of this tragedy and starts to play detective on her own. She finds out that Meredith has a daughter that was given up for adoption years ago. The daughter is now a troubled teen who had reappeared into Meredith’s life recently. Was this related somehow to her murder?

Looking for a very entertaining, quick and easy read? WHERE SECRETS LIVE fits the bill perfectly. A compelling murder mystery drives this story and keeps you on your toes. The writing is on point and I would highly recommend this excellent novel!

TW - Sexual Assault

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Let me start with the cover and name of the book, both are PERFECT for the plot.

The author doesn't waste time and straight away the main character, along with her cousin finds out that her sister is murdered and that that too by someone she knew. And here the quest for the murderer starts and layer by layer all the family secrets start revealing.

The plot keeps us thinking "I'll just finish one more chapter before putting the book down", but it becomes more and more difficult to do that. The plot line becomes a little confusing because of unusual family dynamics,  but the story is told from only one POV and that helps a lot to get a clear idea of everything. 

There are some moments where you feel like rolling your eyes and yelling to the main character "there is a killer out there, don't do this alone", but we also can understand that she only really trusted and relied on her sister her whole life and she is gone, so she has do this on her own.

If you like fast paced, heart pounding whodunit plots and screwed up but strong main character,  then don't skip this book.

Beware of some trigger warnings: Rape, grief, abandonment.

I thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for ARC copy in exchange of my honest review.

Meredith’s dead. Perfect, sweet, and behaved Meredith. What did she get wrapped up in?

I loved this book. The story was unique and we got into the action immediately! I would have never guessed the twist at the end! I read this so fast because I just had to know what happened next! Such a good read!

Fantastic book!!! Keeps you on the edge of your seat to find out what the next surprise is going to be!

I just could not get into this one... I may be over domestic thrillers. It's possible that I've read too many, because this felt like several others I've read recently. I can't really point to anything being wrong with it - it prominently features the over dramatic characters and suspension-of-disbelief plot lines and character decisions that are so common in this type of book, perhaps more than most, but that seems to be a genre requirement these days. I just couldn't enjoy the hyperbola with this one and I quickly found my interest flagging... Again, I suspect this is me more than the book, but this was not one of my favorite stories of this type. I could see things coming and the layering of twists upon twists upon twists eventually started to feel draining rather than revelatory.

Where Secrets Live by S.C. Richards follows Liz through family secrets and endless drama after her big sister Meredith gets killed. Liz and Meredith were raised by two stepparents after both of their parents died and the two sisters were the only constants in each other's lives. Liz is desperate to find out who killed the sister who took care of her her whole life, but the more she digs, the messier things become and Liz realizes she may not have known her sister very well at all. Meredith was protecting Liz from more than she could've imagined and pulling out all these secrets could unwind the entire family. While the premise was exciting and the character development was lovely, aspects of the story were confusing. On multiple occasions, the author seems to have forgotten what each character knows and doesn't know, the tension created seems false, and there are too many bad guys that the last third of the book feels like you've been hit over the head by twist after twist. As a thriller, it wasn't compelling, but there was a lot of potential in the plot.

Meredith and Liz are really close and have always been part of each other's lives. Meredith has always been responsible and organized and a social worker helping people whereas Liz is the one who is usually off-kilter and out drinking. So when the sweet and caring Meredith, who has no enemies is murdered, in her house, after leaving a very weird voicemail to Liz, she is determined to find out who did this to Meredith and why? What she doesn't anticipate is the amount of secrets that have been buried by close and known people around her including Meredith.

When I started this book, the first few chapters seemed a little disorganized. I really liked how they dived into the murder from the very first chapter, but the flow of the book was a little abrupt. But then, Liz starts investigating and that's when the book gets interesting.

And the best part...? She starts investigating almost immediately and secrets start coming out. I don't like when the murder drags on and then the main character obsesses over the last conversation between them and the victim for like a hundred pages and I am so so glad that it didn't happen here honestly. Once Liz figures out something was wrong in the voicemail and also the last time she and Meredith spoke, she dives right into the mystery.

Another super awesome thing was that literally everyone could be a suspect and have something to hide. Everyone was hiding something, and just when you would rule out someone as a suspect, one of their deadly secrets would come up and they would be back on the suspect list which made the book even more fun.

And omg the end!! I was completely shocked!! I mean I thought they caught someone but they actually didn't and then they caught someone else, and then a third person just wow. And oh god the past and present intertwining and the fact that there were so many different people who had done separate different things made you look at everyone with a suspicious eye.

As a murder mystery, this was great! It was a lot of fun with the murder the main plot along with mixing the past and present stories and dashes of romance (it was so cute). But, honestly only the last 30% of the book was thrilling. I know murder mysteries don't have to be thrillers but yeah.

The Mc Callister family has so many secrets. They are old money and some will stop at nothing to keep their reputation and money. Their lives are like a deck of cards falling apart one secret at a time.

Thank you NetGalley, thanks to the publisher and author for the chance to read this book early! This book was a merry go round of emotions, kept me very interested till the end and trying to figure out who did it. What a emotional ride, lots of twists and turns. Great book, thank you!

As soon as I read the synopsis for this I knew this may be a book and I would enjoy and I was right. Another new author for me and I will look out for further books in the future.

Liz is looking for answers in regard to to the death of her sister Meredith. After the death of their father both girls were raised by Ruth their stepmother and her new husband David. I have to say this was one character in the book I disliked and also along with her husband David. The couple did provide for the them in every way but I felt there was not a lot of love shown to the girls and I just did not warm to them at all

The book moves at a fast pace and there is plenty of action and twists to keep the reader engrossed. Family secrets will be laid bare and these will all come together to provide the answers that Liz is looking for to resolve Meredith's death and give Liz an understanding of where things went so terribly wrong. A quick read that I really enjoyed and would recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for proving me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Where Secrets Live follows Liz, she has lost her birth parents and now her sister, Meredith.
With the death of her sister completely shattering her heart and leaving her feeling so alone, she is shocked that someone would be after such an amazing person.
Liz is determined to figure out who murdered her sister and along the way, the curtains are pulled back to reveal that her sister actually kept a HUGE secret from her- she has a niece...

She is determined to find her sister's killer and she finds herself buried deep in family secrets and betrayals.
Just goes to show you that even those with money aren't living as good of a life as they seem to be.


This book was a quick read. I did find some of the happenings a little hard to believe because of how quickly the events came and went; however, not a bad book! I had some moments where I went, "oh snap!"
Overall, I didn't love it- didn't hate it.
If you are someone who doesn't like gore and super graphic stuff, this would be something I'd recommend. I personally, love gruesome in my thrillers.

I just reviewed Where Secrets Live by S. C. Richards. #WhereSecretsLive #NetGalley
Thank you for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

A death in the family prompts Liz to dig into family secrets. When you’ve come from old money, you come from strange secrets and dirty pasts. The only question remains, are the dead really dead? And where money is concerned, you can never really know where anyone’s loyalties truly lie.

I always love me a nice mystery/thriller book when I am stressed about my college exams. This book did not disappoint! A lot of folks may have seen who the person was coming earlier on, but I did not get it, so I was SUPER surprised when they were revealed! I really enjoyed how ambitious and broken our main character is and how it's maintained and even built upon throughout the novel. I kept going chapter to chapter wondering what was next and how much more trouble could she get into. The plot was very well-developed and I feel like the pacing that we got information was a tad fast and uncalled for at that period, but I will take it. Wasn't my absolute favorite, but I would still read it again or recommend it to a friend. I still got an enjoyable read out of it!

3/5 stars for a wonderful mystery/thriller that leaves you flipping into the next chapter no matter how tired you are!

**Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC! I am voluntarily leaving this review!

'Where Secrets Live' is an apt title for this novel. I have never read anything written by S.C. Richards before, so this was a great introduction to this author for me. Filled with intense moments and fast-paced action, the plot follows the antics of Liz, our main protagonist, and only narrator. The book entails her search for the truth behind the death of her sister, Meredith, who she describes as the backbone of her family. Arriving at Meredith's home with her cousin, Fred, Liz makes the grizzly discovery that her sister was murdered; and seemingly by someone she knows, as there is no evidence of a struggle or forced entry. This leads her along a path of hidden secrets and convoluted pasts, as she uncovers that everyone has something to hide, and no one is who they appear to be on the surface. In the end, she has to learn to reconcile what she has learned about her family, including her sister and deal with the repercussions of unearthed lies.

If you like action, and a novel that will constantly have you on your feet, this is the read for you. I enjoyed that it was fast-paced and I never felt like there were any dull moments. The storyline constantly kept me guessing and waiting for what would come next. I enjoyed Liz's character portrayal; book heroines in these tropes tend to be written in a "damsel" light, which can be quite annoying.

Alternately, there were times when Liz did go off half-cocked, getting herself into unnecessary trouble. If you know there's a crazy psycho murderer running around, why would you constantly be going out on your own?!? If there is one major issue I had with this, it was that I found the plot to be a bit scattered. I understand that the author was trying to make the book interesting (which she did succeed in doing), however it became a bit difficult to keep track of all the alternating stories.

Of course, who wants much reality when reading something like this, am-I-rite! 'Where Secrets Live' will definitely keep you reading, and while your head may spin sometimes, it is a fun way to pass a few hours. Trigger warnings include: rape (of a child), pedophilia, abandonment, death of a loved one, so if any of these significantly bother you, please look out. Due to some of the more sensitive areas tackled here, I would not recommend persons under 18 read this one. Otherwise, I would recommend this for lovers of 'whodunit' mysteries that are chock full of crazy moments. Happy reading!

*A great many thanks to Netgalley, S.C. Richards, and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC. It is important to note that I was under no commitment to provide a positive review, and all opinions are undoubtedly my own.*

I loved this book! The twists were amazing. The story had me guessing the entire time I read it. I highly recommend this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The title says it all. The McAllister family secrets haunt the family until Liz McAllister stops at nothing to uncover them in her determined quest to discover who murdered her sister Meredith. Raised by step-parents, Liz and Meredith are sisters and best friends, having only each other to depend on. In her determination to uncover secrets about their dysfunctional family that she hopes will lead to Meredith's killer, Liz faces dangers from multiple sources and many close calls with death. This is satisfyingly twisty and fast-paced story of how family secrets destroy lives on so many levels, and of how the tenacity of one person brings the devastating secrets into the open. Truly unputdownable read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read a pre-pub of Where Secrets Live in exchange for my opinion.

Liz and Meredith are orphaned at an early age and brought up by stepparents. Then Meredith is murdered. Liz is desperate to find out why. Lots of family secrets come out. I think the book took a bit too long to get to the point, it was good, but not my favourite. Having said that I admire anyone who can write a book.

What an absolutely shocking novel filled with twists and turns that I never saw coming! This ARC I was able to read, thanks to NetGalley, is about Liz and the secrets her family has been living and keeping since she was a very small girl. When her sister turns up murdered, she uncovers things she didn't know she didn't want to know as she tries to unravel who took her sister from her. Absolutely strongly suggest everyone preorder/read this book!