I so wanted to love this one but it really fell short. I read Defending Jacob years ago and really enjoyed it. I remember being so surprised at the end and was really looking forward to see what twist he’d write next.

This book wasn’t it. I thought the layout was odd and the chapters were too long.

Disappointing.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️/5

I reviewed this for LibraryJournal so my review is their property. You can see my review when it publishes sometime before the March release date.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy. I loved Defending Jacob and when I saw William Landay;s newest one I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately this one didn't do it for me. The story went back and forth and I just didn't enjoy that that type of reading.

A mother vanished. A father presumed guilty. There is no proof. There are no witnesses. For the children, there is only doubt.

Two decades later, the remains of Jane
Larkin are found. The investigation is awakened. The children, now grown, are forced to choose sides. With their father or against him? Guilty or innocent?
And what happens if they are wrong?

I was SO excited to get an ARC of All That Is Mine I Carry With Me, because Defending Jacob is one of my all time favorite books and I've recommended it to so many people! Landay's newest novel definitely had similar aspects that I loved again- a writing style that flowed easily, and kept me on the edge of my seat; twists and turns right till the very end, and multiple narrators. I'd have no hesitation recommending this book and can't wait for more people to read it so I can discuss with them!

When I saw this on Netgalley, where on the print it says its author was the one who wrote Defending Jacob, I thought I had to read it. This book is a legal crime drama, which tends to be slow burn and lengthy. The story is about a cold case of 18 years of Jane Larkin, who went missing on November 1975, where no strong evidence was found but rather circumstantial evidence only. It focuses on family drama, its dynamics as they continue to suspect Jane’s husband, Dan Larkin, to have murdered her. Throughout the book, it laid heavily on my mind that he did it, while as you go along with it, you doubt yourself whether she was actually murdered, or just decided that she was done with her marriage and left her family. It definitely is similar to Defending Jacob with how the last couple of chapters turned out. I rate it 4 stars because I like procedural novels, although what stopped me from giving it a 5 was it was a bit dragging for me.

Thank you Netgalley, author William Landay and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this granted ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for the chance to read the latest by William Landay. Defending Jacob is one of my all time favorite books so when I saw this was available, I couldn't hit request quick enough. However, this one won't make any favorites lists of mine. The changing POV was confusing as I wasn't really sure whose story was being told. To me, the book plodded along and then just ended, and sort of predictably, too. This one just didn't click with me, but I did enjoy reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and share my honest review. Excellent book which kept you hooked throughout. A few likable characters and some really difficult ones as well. The ending was a shocker. Loved to say more but don’t want to give spoilers. Definitely recommend though!!

Very interesting.

This book is by the author of Defending Jacob, which is another really great family story mixed with legal drama.

And that’s what this is, it is very much a dysfunctional family story. The point of action is the mother character going missing, and it certainly is a mystery about what happened to her. One that is explored fully.

But and it is a legal drama. There is a court case, and it is interesting and takes up the last third of the book.

But, it is at its heart a family story. I would say a dysfunctional family story, but everything that goes on in this family is so like every other family that I feel like that would basically mean we are all dysfunctional. Which I guess we are.

The prose is excellent here and that was something that swept me up from the start. I really like the way that William Landay introduces are the characters.

And I really like the construct of the book. It’s told from several different points of you and each one surprised me.

But the most interesting part of this book is the way that he uses the mystery to explore the dynamics within this family not just when it happened, but tracing that over the course of the following year, the following three years and then, more than 30 years into the future.

This was a completely interesting fast read, but it had some substance and that is such a sweet spot for me and not one that you find very often.

This book is out March 7 and I highly recommend it.

This book is good for students of high school age, lots of issues to discuss as we watch a family fall apart after the wife/mother goes missing. The kids are young and we follow them into their adult lives as they wrestle with the loss, the questions and the feeling that their father is the murderer.

This is a slow deep thoughtful novel. slow but not in a bad way, more like subtle. It is the story of a woman who disappears and is presumed to be murdered by her husband and how this affects the family over the next 20 plus years. It is told by a friend of the family. Raises lots of ethical issues and legal ones that add more depth to the story 4.5

On an afternoon in November in 1975 Miranda Larkin returning home from school finds an empty house. Her mother, Jane Larkin is nowhere to be found, nothing is out of order in the home, nothing is missing, her pocketbook is where it always is and there no indication of a struggle. Dan Larkin, husband, father, and criminal lawyers calls in the authorities Jane is listed as missing. For years the three Larkin children, (Alex, Jeff and Miranda) have hopes of their mother’s return. The authorities feel there is foul play and the main suspect in Dan Larkin .. but there is no proof no evidence and Dan touts his innocence.

William Landay author of Defending Jacob crafted a spelling binding mystery novel about family and the secrets they keep. It is about revenge, hate, rivalries and a family that cares about each other. All That is Mine I Carry with Me is told through the eyes of various POV over four ‘books’ – ‘book two’ is chilling – it is Jane’s story of her life with Dan her children and how her disappearance the affects the Larkin family. Will the truth about Jane’s disappearance come to light or will it remain an open case? Will the Larkin children finally have closure? Will justice ever be served?

William Landay does brilliant job with the creation of these fictional characters with depth and complexity of any real-life person. He will keep you guessing what happened to Jane Larkin right up to the bitter end. My only complaint is at times I had difficulty following who was talking and if the person was talking or thinking something.

This was a buddy read with Marlo.

Thank you, William Landay, Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on March 7. 2023.

This was a good mystery it kept me guessing till the end. A young mother goes missing in 1975, forty some years later a childhood friend of her children decides to write a book about the cold case. It switches between the past and present with multiple P.O.V. I enjoyed reading this book and the shocking ending. Thanks to Netgalley for this Arc.

I have just finished reading William Landay's newest novel, All That Is Mine I Carry With Me, and found it to be an excellent portrait of a family ruled by a powerful (and tyrannical) father who damages each member of the family in some way. The father, Dan Larkin, is an attorney with a beautiful, loving wife, Jane, and three children, Alex, Jeff, and Miranda. The story begins with an author, Phillip, ostensibly suffering from writers' block and unsure what he should use as the basis for his next novel. In a funk, he decides to call a friend from his adolescence and see if that helps with his writing. Jeff had been sorry of suffering from his own block of sorts, unsure what to do with his life as he turns thirty.

To reveal many more details would deprive the reader from the pleasure of discovering this family's story as it unfolds across multiple narrators including the author, Phillip, Jeff, the son, and Miranda, the daughter, and the father, Dan. Each character reveals how a family can contain many memories with each person having their own version of the lives revealed by those memories.

This was the first book by William Landay I have read but I'll search through my books and be sure to read his earlier novels.

***3.5 stars***
Since Defending Jacob is one of my all-time favorites, my expectations were high going into this one. Possibly they were too high and that is unfair to the author. This book was pretty good. I liked it. But it just does not even compare to Defending Jacob and I'm trying hard not to make the comparison and let it stand on it's own merit. First of all, the structure/layout was rather odd. But, not in a bad way. (The extremely long forward with pretty much summed up the story... The alternating POVs, one being the deceased mother... the alternating between present, recent past, and early courtship/marriage years.) It was choppy and sometimes I couldn't remember who was talking but also kind of intriguing and unique. I guess my lack of enthusiasm in rating and reviewing the book is that it just isn't very thrilling. The characters are all a little flat. It's kind of a sad and depressing family drama and there isn't really any closure for anyone in the end. It left me feeling a little blah..

Slow burn, whodunnit, family drama, family trauma.
Chapters are miles & miles long.
Did I find this thrilling? No.
Did I turn the pages fast & furious anyway? Yes.
Through its entirety, I genuinely did not know who I found most suspicious, which naturally, I completely appreciate.
I volleyed back & forth several times.
But make no mistake, this story unfolds at a legitimate leisurely pace.
3 stars for me.
I do look forward to reading more of Landay’s work.
Big thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Writer's block sends an author back in time to a tragedy which happened to his best friend's family. A mother gone missing, three children left behind and a lawyer husband who likes the good things in life, including a younger,prettier mistress. Told from the various viewpoints of the family and investigators as well as the deceased herself, the disappearance and murder of Jane Larkin will haunt this family for decades. Did her husband kill her? Should the kids remain loyal to him despite their own gut feelings? Will the legal system finally bring justice and closure to Miranda and Jeff? Will they be able to heal the rift with their older brother Alex who has sided with his father in declaring his innocence? Readers may draw their own conclusions as to guilt or innocence and who, how and why Jane Larkin was murdered but only one person really knows the truth. Will that truth finally come out and what will be the consequences if it does? Author Landay keeps you up late into the night to discover the answers..and a surprise from the most fragile character of them all.

4.5 rounded up
Worth the wait. Great characters and good story. I knew where this was heading at the end and enjoyed the way it was written. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Thanks to Netgalley and Bantam for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story centers on what happened with the disappearance of a young mother, Jane Larkin, in 1975. The story opens with Phil, who grew up with Jane's kids, planning to write a book present day about the cold case. Dan, a criminal defense attorney and Jane's husband, was the prime suspect. But the investigators could not make the crime stick so Dan raised their 2 kids much to the disappointment of Kate, Jane's sister. Fast forward 20 years later and Jane's body is found. Did Dan do it? Will the kids side with him or take Kate's side that he killed her?

This is really a domestic drama about family loyalty. Did Dan really kill Jane? The characters are well developed and seemed to interact as one would expect. I liked how Kate's hatred and distrust of Dan provided more color as to the nature of their relationship. The writing style is different as the author doesn't put conversations in quotes but you get used to it.

Overall, this was an interesting read that I recommend.

In 2015, Jeff Larkin’s childhood friend and author Phil Solomon is looking for ideas for his next book, and an email from Jeff puts Phil on a path to telling the story of the Larkin family’s tragedy. On November 12, 1975, Jane Larkin simply vanished from her home in Boston, never to be heard from again by her husband and children in All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay, slated for March publication. Because “it’s always the spouse,” Dan Larkin is the primary suspect, even though absolutely no evidence points to him.

The three children -- Miranda, Jeff, and Alex -- are absolutely devastated by their missing mother, and they have mixed emotions about the possibility that their defense lawyer father could have killed her, especially when he quickly moves in his girlfriend and her daughter. The mystery of just what happened to Jane Larkin will remain unsolved even when her skeleton is found 20 years after her disappearance.

Miranda has already tried to tell the story from her mother’s point of view just to “get it out” as she is probably the most haunted of the three children. Worse, she’s in charge of taking care of her father who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Could the diagnosis finally “clear” him of any further attempts to prosecute him? While the children have finally been able to bury the skeleton of their mother, they are still troubled because they don’t know what happened that November day in 1975.

In a mystery that spans a lifetime, Miranda remains suspicious of her father yet she is his caretaker, Jeff absolutely hates his father and stays away in San Francisco, and only Alex believes it is possible that his father didn’t murder his mother. How can any of their doubts be satisfied, especially now that Dan’s health is impairing his memories?

William Landay is the author of the New York Times bestseller Defending Jacob, which was produced on film for Apple TV+ in 2020. His debut novel in 2003, Mission Flats, won the Dagger Award for best debut crime novel. The Strangler, a Los Angeles Times favorite crime novel, was nominated for the Strand Magazine Critics Award as best crime novel of 2007.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 7, 2022.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The wait between the release of Defending Jacob and Mr. Landay's new novel has been interminable but, my God, the wait was worth it. An epic whodunnit that spans 4 decades and told from the perspectives of four different players, All That Is Mine...like Defending Jacob is so much more than a mystery. It is a heartwrenching portrait of grief and a searing tale of the way tragedy maims the survivors left behind. Every page drips with empathy for the characters and the ending is one you will never, ever see coming. I can't wait to place this book into the hands of every guest of my store who appreciates literary fiction. Welcome back, Mr. Landay, you have been so very missed.
Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.