Emma just found out she’s pregnant. And that her husband Nathan has been laid off from his job. And they can no longer pay their rent.

What to do?

They could move into Emma’s childhood home, but Emma doesn’t want to do that. Her parents were killed there, and the town believes she did it. But facing little choice, Emma and Nathan move in, and the secrets Emma has fought so hard to stay secret gradually come to light.

No One Can Know follows three perspectives: Emma and her sisters Daphne and Juliette. We also look into all sister’s pasts and learn what happened fourteen years ago. Marshall did a good job with cutting back and forth at just the right time from past to present to keep the suspense going.

The first part of the book did a lot of set up, but the last of the book flew by, packed with reveal after reveal. The ending felt a bit too abrupt for me, and I wish we would have spent more time getting the know all three of the sisters, but it was a page=turner.

While I do think this will be a forgettable story in time, it was a fun, engaging read in the moment, and I’d recommend it if you enjoy family drama, buried secrets and chilling endings.

*Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.

SYNOPSIS
- Due to their financial situation, Emma & her husband, Nathan, are forced to move into her childhood home in a small town. Someone murdered her parents 14 years ago inside the home, but the case remains unsolved. Many people assumed Emma did it.
- Since the murder, Emma and her two sisters, Juliette and Daphne, have been estranged.
- Emma’s homecoming stirs up questions, secrets, and searching for answers.

MY THOUGHTS
- None of these characters are very likable or interesting.
- Alternating POVs & timelines.
- This was a slow burn, and there was a lot of build up for the reveal. Ultimately, the ending fell flat & was anticlimactic.
- Story was somewhat predictable to me.
- This certainly wasn’t a bad book, but compared to all the others in the genre, it doesn’t stand out to me. It was a mediocre suspense.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️this wasn’t bad, but it was a mediocre suspense IMO.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is available now for purchase.

3.75⭐️


When her husband Nathan loses his job, pregnant Emma Palmer returns to her childhood home – the same home where her parents were brutally murdered fourteen years ago. Emma and her sisters Juliette and Daphne were separated after the tragedy and have each gone their own way. Though they have drifted apart, together they share ownership of the family home. Emma’s return is accompanied by whispers and speculation, visits from the investigators who believe that Emma is the key to solving the cold case from fourteen years ago and the return of significant people from Emma’s past including her estranged sisters. Everyone has secrets and no one is above suspicion. Emma has never forgotten that fateful night but continues to maintain silence on what transpired on the night of the murders, not even sharing the story of her family tragedy with her husband before she returned to Arden Hills. After all, “No one can know..” and the sisters haven't yet broken the pact they made all those years ago, but it’s only a matter of time before the past comes back to haunt them.

No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall is a well-written, intriguing read that I overall enjoyed. The author deftly weaves past and present timelines into a tight-knit, suspenseful narrative shared mostly from the perspectives of all three sisters. Though the premise of the novel does not strike you as quite original (for fans of this genre), the skillful execution, excellent characterization, the twists and turns and the satisfying ending make for an engaging read. The pace does falter in parts, but this does detract from the overall reading experience. I loved that the author keeps you guessing till the very last page and I especially enjoy such reads when my predictions turn out to be wrong!

Though I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as What Lies in the Woods overall, I found it to be a satisfying read and would be eager to explore more of the author’s work in the future.

Many thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Fourteen years ago, sisters Emma, Juliette, and Daphne’s parents were brutally murdered in their home, Arden Hills. The sisters left Arden Hills and haven't spoken to each other since. Middle sister Emma finds herself pregnant with no other options, so along with her husband she reluctantly returns to Arden Hills.

Emma never told anyone what happened the night her parents died, even when she became the prime suspect. As Emma’s return threatens to reveal secrets that have long been buried, the sisters are reunited for the first time since that terrible night. Soon after, Emma wonders what lengths her sisters will go to to keep the past buried and whether or not she did the right thing staying quiet about what happened.

No One Can Know is another twisty whodunit from Kate Alice Marshall. Not only is this a compelling thriller but it also explores the complex relationship between sisters and the lengths we go to to protect them (even to our own detriment). I really liked the pacing of the book and found it to be very entertaining. This is my first read by the author and I can't wait to read more of her work in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the arc copy!!

No One Can Know is a fast paced thriller following a woman named Emma, her husband, her estranged sisters and their long empty childhood home. The reader follows as Emma learns she must move back into her family's long abandoned home and finally address how and why her parents were brutally murdered there.

This story combines a lot of my favorite elements in a thriller - dual timelines, secrets from the past and unreliable characters. Emma is an interesting main character and I really enjoyed reading from her perspective. As the story progresses we get to see current Emma, guarded and low key subservient, become more assertive and strong. I also really enjoyed the family dynamics and thought there was the perfect amount of story from each sister.

While there isn't anything ground breaking or super unique in this story, the twists were still enjoyable and I found myself flying through this book. If you enjoy creepy houses, revisiting old murders and complicated family dynamics I think you will really enjoy this.

Wow, this one hooked me in from the beginning! I love a family dynamic gone wrong. I kept guessing until the very end! I enjoyed this book a lot!

Many thanks to Flatiron Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy.

I liked this book, it wasn't my favorite, but I would definitely recommend it. There were a ton of plot twists that kept me guessing. I think I would have loved it, but the ending was nit my favorite.

Synopsis: After seeing both her parents murdered in their home and noticing out-of-character behaviors from both of her sisters, Emma doesn’t ask any questions but decides they will lie to protect each other. She doesn’t know what happened, only suspects some things, but suddenly she is the main suspect in their murders. Nothing ever comes from her being under suspicion, and years later she moves back into the house her parents were murdered in. Searching for truth, wanting to clear her name, and build a more “normal” life for herself, Emma runs into old friends and foes in her hometown. Will she ever get the truth about that fateful night? And when someone else turns up dead, is it possible that this new murder is linked to her parents’ murders?

Review: This book was such a disappointment. After reading Kate Alice Marshall’s “What Lies in the Woods” last year, I was so excited for this new novel. “No One Can Know” moved so slowly that it started to feel like chore to continue reading it.

The original premise was interesting, and I immediately began formulating ideas about what could have happened that night and making my own list of suspects. However, the characters felt very one-dimensional, with little to no growth or improvement throughout their lives. I didn’t necessarily like or root for any of them to have a happy ending.

Many of the chapters towards the end of the book were confusing. When we finally get to the chapters detailing what happened that night, it is told in a confusing way that left me somewhat unsure of the truth. They’re told in a hazy type of way, mirroring the character’s frame of mind at that time, but they’re extremely hard to follow. Also, every time you think the twist is explained and might begin to make sense, you find out that was a lie too, and now you’re left to figure it out again. Many of the explanations felt like a tease, and there were simply too many of them to feel realistic or interesting.

I would not recommend this book to my followers. Very little action/plot, especially for a mystery/thriller. When reading begins to feel like a chore, you quickly realize that this isn’t the right book for you. I would instead recommend “What Lies in the Woods” by the same author to my followers.

No One Can Know is a sinister tale of three sisters and the secrets they’ve kept since the night of their parents murder. They’ve been estranged for so long that they no longer know one another anymore, but it’s obvious they all have their own agenda. As they return to their childhood home, it is apparent that neither the town, or each other, have forgotten the events of that night. For the town, that means continuing to blame Emma, the middle sister, for the murders despite the investigation never closing. For the other sisters, it means covering up the parts in it they played, no matter how small. The story they told as children is about to be unraveled. It’s an every-man-for-himself thriller that I could not stop reading, at least once I got out of my reading slump.

I loved the changing character POVs and the flashbacks to the past, it gave such a great insight into who the sisters were at the time of the murder and the total impact it had on them and continued to as adults. We’re given the chance, as readers, to form a bond with Emma, to carry sympathy for her, even as the story twists. We see how she gave up her inheritence, how she's the nice quiet one, the way she works hard for her marriage. However, we meet the other siblings through her lense. That tainted perspective was actually super fun for me, because it made it harder for me to figure out truth from fiction. JJ was the perfect one, but she's shed that skin now, and Daphne just freaked me out from start to finish. Even as we get to know their past and their whys, Emma's perception carried on in my mind. Seeing how they work together and attempt to dig one another down was just fascinating.

With family drama, police corruption, and even a second murder, the pace of No One Can Know is breakneck. There is so much happening, but Kate Alice Marshall weaves it together so perfectly. It’s a haunting tale that I truly could not figure out, which means instant 5 stars from me!

Someone knows everything. Everyone knows something and someone was falsely accused, or were they? That’s how this tale of three sisters whose parents were murdered in their home goes. It is quite an interesting take on a murder mystery and then it is finally solved, or is it? I love a mystery that makes you think through everything and provides many paths to wander. This book kept me on my toes and on high alert throughout, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

I liked this book. The narration was done very well. The overall story kept me interested. At times I wished the story would have moved faster and gave more clues to what was going on.

I mostly enjoyed this book. I loved What Lies in the Woods by this author and was hoping for a bit more from this one. The beginning was great, as was the ending but the middle seemed to lose me a bit.

Fourteen years ago, the Palmer sisters—Emma, Juliette, and Daphne—left their home in Arden Hills and never returned. But when Emma discovers she’s pregnant and her husband loses his job, she has no option but to return to the house that she and her estranged sisters still own . . . and where their parents were murdered.
Emma has never told anyone what she saw the night her parents died, even when she became the prime suspect. But her presence in the house threatens to uncover secrets that have stayed hidden for years, and the sisters are drawn together once again. As they face their memories of the past, rivalries restart, connections are forged, and, for the first time, Emma starts to ask questions about what really happened that night. The more Emma learns, the more riddles emerge. And Emma begins to wonder just what her siblings will do to keep the past buried, and whether she did the right thing staying quiet about what was whispered that night: “No one can know.”
Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for giving me an advance copy.

This my third book from Marshall and she just continues to surprise me with fantastic, binge-worthy reads each time. I’ve read both her adult fiction and young adult fiction, and truly think she has mastered meeting expectations for both.

Our main character, Emma, is clearly hiding secrets about her past and about her parents' deaths. But does she even know the truth behind some of the secrets she’s hiding? That’s what readers get to find out alongside Emma!

Marshall chooses to intricately reveal more and more about the night in question which gives readers a chance to guess at the truth before Emma can reach her own conclusions. On the flipside, readers are also experiencing the present day timeline with Emma where a series of troubling events unfold that may or may not have a connection to her past. Both timelines and the various perspectives we got on them aided in making this story well-rounded. I loved learning about both and determining where secondary characters played a part in each.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a psychological thriller about three sisters whose parents are murdered and 15 years later the youngest moves back into the house with her husband. I really enjoyed the flashbacks to the past leading up to the murder and the insight they gave into the relationship between the parents and sisters. Almost every character is an unreliable narrator at times, but with so many twist, I would expect nothing less! If you like mysteries and psychological thrillers be sure to check this book out!

These sisters need to work on their communication (just sayin). I loved the way that Kate Alice Marshall used the alternative POV’s and alternating timelines to give readers a trail of breadcrumbs to follow to the end. And what an ending it was, that brought the family tragedy, town hatred, and sisterly bond all together.
The writing was fast-paced in a way that allowed readers to enjoy the story, but not too fast that it felt as if the story ending was rushed.

This book was a wild ride!! I loved the comexoty of each sister story and what happened the night their parents were killed. Everytime I thought I had the mystery figured out, something would happen to change my mind until the very last chapter. So good!!

𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭. — 𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐌

💭 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒:
This book— every bit as good as It Lies in the Woods, maybe even better! So many twists, turns, and surprises throughout… continued to the very last page! Just when you think you’ve figured it out- Errrr, wrong. I actually experienced that feeling a number of times while reading. I love that I didn’t exactly figure out the ending— it was a dropped jaw moment for me. However, in retrospect, I can reflect and see there were definitely clues so it wasn’t out of the blue and it is a plausible ending. Sometimes my brain hurt from taking in all the information and exploring all the possibilities but it was worth it! Such a fun, complex whodunnit with multiple crimes to sift through.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🤯 Having to actually think while reading
🔪 Murders to solve (yes, plural)
🎭 Multiple Perspectives
🔁 Nonlinear timelines
🤫 Secrets and lies
💍 Marital issues
👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Complicated family relationships

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

A thriller and suspense novel rooted in sisterhood and secrets.
Emma and her husband move to her hometown for a new start when financial and personal struggles strike them, leading them to her childhood home...where both of her parents were murdered years before. The move comes with its own struggles as much of the town believes Emma was responsible. As she is connected with her estranged sisters, all carrying their own secrets from that night and the years since, something sinister is invading her life once again, putting everyone in danger.
I thought this was a decent thriller that while predictable in a few parts, left me guessing on a lot of it until the final few pages. Thank you to Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! I was hooked from the beginning with a girl returning to a small town and an old crime resurfaces. The slow release of information kept me guessing the whole time. I loved all the twists that were revealed. It wasn’t what I was thinking it would be, but I was happy with the final twist because the one before that just didn’t seem right.