How am I going to write this review without giving anything away? Everyone is guilty of something and the main characters each have a point of view, confiding their secrets to the reader. I’m usually not a fan of multiple first-person points of view but the author is highly skilled at making each one of the voices stand out on their own. Everyone in the group of friends has a motive in this small coastal Massachusetts town.
The plot is a puzzle taking shape as each of the characters steps forward to tell a piece of it. I could not guess what was going to happen next or who was going to have the next point of view—I’ve read quite a bit of Edwin Hill, and I think this is the most emotionally intense of his novels. A real page turner and his writing is an absolute joy to read. Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for a copy of this book to read and review.

The story unfolds from the perspective of each of the six characters in succession in the aftermath of the murder of a resident in their small town. Each of the adults have their own secrets that they are keeping from the others in spite of how close and intertwined in each others lives. By the end of the first section, I was hooked and couldn't put this down.

Wow. I really loved this book. Loved the different narrators and their versions of the story. Great mystery and the best part.... the dog!

<b><font face="roboto" size="12pt">TW: Language, drinking, sexual abuse (mention), cheating, suicide (mention), violence, guns, fat shaming, cheating, grief, bullying, family drama, divorce, homophobia, gambling, mourning</font></b>

<b><big>*****SPOILERS*****</b></big>
<b>About the book:</b>
Monreith, Massachusetts, was once a small community of whalers and farmers. These days it’s a well-to-do town filled with commuters drawn to its rugged coastline and country roads. A peaceful, predictable place—until popular restaurateur Laurel Thibodeau is found brutally murdered in her own home. Suspicion naturally falls on Laurel’s husband, Simon, who had gambling debts that only her life insurance policy could fix. But there are other rumors too . . .

Among the group of six friends gathered for Alice Stone’s fortieth birthday, theories abound concerning Laurel’s death. Max Barbosa, police chief, has heard plenty of them, as has his longtime friend, Unitarian minister Georgia Fitzhugh. Local psychiatrist Farley Drake is privy to even more, gleaning snippets of gossip and information from his patients while closely guarding his own past.

But maybe everyone in Monreith has something to hide. Because before this late-summer evening has come to a close, one of these six will be dead. And as jealousy, revenge, adultery, and greed converge, the question becomes not who among these friends might be capable of such a thing, but—who isn’t?
<b>Release Date:</b> January 23rd, 2024
<b>Genre:</b> Thriller
<b>Pages:</b> 320
<b>Rating:</b> ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

<b>What I Liked:</b>
1. I liked the writing style
2. The chapter breaks
3. The characters were interesting
4. Pov of Harper the dog was fun

<b>What I Didn't Like:</b>
1. Very slow beginning
2. Farley is poop
3. Some parts felt repetitive

<b>Overall Thoughts:</b>
<b><u>The Therapist:</u></b>
The book starts off with the murder of Laurel Thibodeau. We follow the therapist, Farley Drake. Who we find out is the someone that has already killed some of the locals;
• Steve Alabiso - was selling drugs to anyone and cheating.
• Jeanine Geller - was giving her daughter stuff to make her sick
Farley would find these terrible people through his clients and then kill them. The twist is that Farley didn't kill Laurel.

<b><u>The Patient:</u></b>
We then jump to the pov of Alice Stone. Alice knew that her husband, Damian. Alice found out that Damian was sleeping with Laurel. We find out that she has killed some people of her own;
• Hans - her 27 year old teacher that was sleeping with teenagers. She killed him with a syringe between his toe
• Father Jean-Marc - for taking advantage of sad and grieving women. She drugged and drowned him.

Awe Max remembering that Alice is vegetarian and getting vegan marshmallows. So nice.

Finally Alice tells Damian that she knew he was cheating and Damian dropped a bomb - he was going to leave her for Laurel. So I guess this dude just cheats and then marries the women he cheats with.

Oh the phone got a text and it's from Richard saying <i>"Meet me at the dock."</i> sent 10 minutes earlier. Who's phone is this? At first I was thinking it was Laurel’s but it can't be because Richard knows that she's dead.

<b><u>The Cop:</u></b>
We get to Max the cop that kissed Alice in her kitchen. The cop that brought her ambrosia salad with vegan marshmallows. What a choice that was... Ew though. (mentions he had vegan marshmallows on hand)

Omg I didn't see that coming. Now Farley is dead.... Omg.

<b><u>The Boyfriend:</u></b>
Now we can get Richard's pov. He also has a secret account where he is sending money because he's going to leave Georgia.

I don't know why Richard said he would get back to the house conversation when Farley already said that Richard bought half the house.

Richard mentions that he signed papers for the house and to be in the will for Farley's house then says he's <b>still</b> married to Georgia, so she'd get the property too. Hmmmm.

We end the chapter on a bombshell that Richard is being arrested for the murder of Farley and Damian - - Damian is dead????

<b><u>The Daughter:</u></b>
Onto Chloe's pov.

I liked being able to find out what happened to her at school with the fight. Taylor is terrible. She called her father a f*g insult. Gross.

Chloe does hate Farley despite what Farley's pov where he made out they were great together. She actually wants her family back together.

The night of the murders she snuck out to the phone back from Noah. When she comes home is when he her father is "waking" her up for the police.

<b><u>The Minister:</u></b>
Now we hear from Georgia. Ah so Damian asked Georgia to pick up the cake for him. Why did he not mention that? That's why she randomly showed up with the cupcakes.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh the burner phone belongs to Georgia!!!

So now Georgia is the one that approached Laurel about stolen items and seeing why she's stealing things from the old people

And then get to the reveal. Georgia killed Laurel because she didn't want Damian and the tow to know that she was tormenting him via a phone. How very random. How could they prove it was really her behind it? Why would the town turn on her after 15 years of being in the town for two people that were cheating on their spouses? She also decides to frame Farley for the murder. Seems silly because he wasn't on camera showing up and he is her therapist - easily explained that she must have picked the hair up when she was in his office at an appointment. She gets worried that Damian will turn over his phone because there is a photo of Laurel with a bag over her head on it. Why send it to him if you are worried? Again how would it be traced to her?

She also killed Damian with her car because he knows too much. She didn't kill Farley. So what happened to him?

<b><u>The Dog</u></b>
Interesting pov from the dog. So Alice and Max are together now. Georgia is arrested - Chloe turned her mother in.

Alice & Harper were out that night when it was raining and they passed Georgia without knowing it. Georgia had dropped the mallet but then Farley was stalking Alice because he knew he had to kill her. Alice attacked him with the mallet. She threw it in the water. The last scene we get us Harper almost bringing the mallet back to Max to play fetch with.

I kept thinking Chloe and Noah killed Laurel and Farley because they wanted their parents to stay together. Honestly it seems like everyone hated Farley. This book is keeping me guessing I seriously don't know who killed them. We know that Laurel didn't kill herself because the case is still open. She had a bag over her head and Simon, her husband found her. He has an alibi but the town insists on treating him like he did it.

I think the detective is over stepping in his investigations. Forcing him to talk to Richard's daughter is not legal. Unless you are arrested you don't have to talk to the detective.

<b>Final Thoughts:</b>
My biggest issue with the book is that there are two killers in this small town both killing people in the name of revenge. Not only that but the more you learn about Farley it seems so out if character for him to even care enough about people to take out vengeance in their name.

I had <i>so</i> much fun with this murder mystery book. The characters all passing one another without knowing it but interlinked into one another's lives was absolutely wonderful.

I kept thinking the killer must be this person and then a new character pov proved that not possible.

I would love to other books from this author.

<font face="roboto" size="12pt"><b>
Thanks to Netgalley,
Kensington for the ebook, and Recorded Books for the audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book kept me on my toes each time I thought I knew who did it I was then directed to another person. Love how everyone had their part in their POV but honestly, this book had me so confused and kept me guessing. It is worth a read.
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I enjoy books having different narrators for each section. It brings life to the book.
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listened to a murder mystery in quite a few months and I’m thankful that @netgalley & Kensington’s let me read/listen to this book and audio.
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#WhotoBelieve #netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreviewer #audiobook #kindlemystery

Oh what tangled webs, multiple webs of deception, tangled lies and betrayals and secrets, twist after twist. I was bemused, befuddled, and bewildered, as public persona gave way to secrets of lust and revenge. Is no one trustworthy beneath the friendly veneer? Whom can we trust? Maybe the teens, and certainly the dog.
We all have things we keep private, we all show more formal public faces when we need to, and we all take risks when we share secrets, but how far would we go to protect them? Where’s the line?
We all tell our stories from our own POV. Edwin Hill’s WHO TO BELIEVE is a reminder to consider those other versions of those stories and to carefully consider the CHOICES we make. CHOICES is the theme of the sermon the minister has been struggling to write, thinking at first that she would write about grief.
One choice that might help follow this Rashomon style of telling would be a notecard to help track the characters. Even without taking notes, all did come clear in the well-written ending, as my friend promised it would, but notes might have helped me figure things out, maybe. It was a beguiling puzzle, a bit like watching seven spiders all spinning webs in the same place. Fascinating!

As another reviewer pointed out, the narrative circles back like groundhog day. However, it unfolds from different perspectives. Still, it got to be monotonous, especially after the second point of view. It was just a re-hashing of the same events from different people. Even though little secrets from each character were revealed, it just wasn't enough for me to keep circling back to the beginning with each character.

What didn't help the narrative was that all of the characters were pretty vanilla. Almost all were the same without any feature that stood out from the rest.

Needless to say, it got boring and I just couldn't see myself wading through the same story with each character. An unfortunate 1 star DNF at 34%

Wow -- what an amazing ride filled with murder and mayhem!

In a small town in Massachusetts, every resident pretty much knows everyone else's business. There's Damian, a documentary filmmaker and his wife Alice. Georgia, mom to Chloe and the town's beloved minister, struggling with her divorce from Richard, who is now dating Farley, the local therapist. (And Farley has a front row seat to everyone's thoughts!) Everyone is watched over by the police chief, Max. As for Max, he is busy trying to solve the recent murder of Laurel--where the main suspect is her restaurateur husband, Simon.

This dark, dynamic story is told from the POV of many of these main characters, one-by-one. What could be a repetitive device (hearing about the same event from each person, for example) turns out to be a suspenseful one, as we get new tidbits of information here and there, slowly revealing the story. Everyone has their own secrets and confessions and there's an interesting choice to reveal a killer up front. (But do not despair, there are plenty of killers and death to go around here!)

Our story revolves around a party held for Alice's 40th birthday, followed shortly by another death. It dips back a few days before via flashbacks. This is a wild ride as so many characters are dark and evil! So much drama, so many secrets, so much sneaking around in a small town! While there are plenty of messed up folks to go around here, I found some to love, especially spunky teenage Chloe and Alice's adorable dog, Harper. The book gets a little wild by the end, maybe requiring a bit too much suspension of disbelief, but overall I really enjoyed this dark web of lies and twisted narratives. If you want a dark, complex, well-written mystery that will keep you guessing, this one is for you!

fantastic suburban suspense that's really well done! these friends are all hiding massive secrets and the dog was fun. thanks for the arc.

This one started out very strong!! I was telling all my friends about how good it was. Then it kinda got repetitive and boring. The ending was lack luster too. I’m very torn on this one!

Who to Believe, by Edwin Hill, kept me guessing (and entertained) on a long flight. Yes, I read it all in one sitting.

A popular restaurateur in a small Massachusetts town is murdered. Who killed Laurel Thibodeaux? Most people in town are looking at her husband. But the entanglements of the rich newcomers to this coastal hideaway make things complicated for the small-town cop on the case.

Was the solution overly complicated? Yes. Did I enjoy the twists and turns getting there? Also yes.

And who can say no to a chapter from the dog's point of view?


I received an early review copy from NetGalley.

Harish’s Substack
D
A restaurateur is murdered in Monreith, a relatively calm New England community, and her husband, a gambling addict, becomes the prime suspect. When a group of six friends meet to celebrate the birthday of one of them, theories and gossip about the killing start flowing around. Slowly, it emerges that everyone of them is leading a double life and possessing dark secrets that the others aren't aware of, and anyone could be a potential suspect. One more murder committed in the same night opens all the skeletons hidden deep inside them, and from then on starts the game of blowing whistles.


Who To Believe is the latest crime mystery novel written by Edwin Hill, who is a best-selling writer of several domestic suspense novels. The novel explores how, even among seemingly peaceful individuals, a deep undercurrent of dissatisfaction with past choices lies and how everyone, who is perpetually sitting on a volcano of suppressed emotions, is capable of disturbing deeds when situations force them to. I received an advance review copy of the book from its publisher, Kensington Books, through Netgalley in exchange for my honest feedback.

The novel follows a non-linear story-telling style where we are narrated the same incidents from the varied perspectives of different characters. The book has seven parts, and each one follows the event of the birthday party and the aftermath from the viewpoint of one of the participants. We even get the perspective of the dog, Harper. The narrative, which starts as a normal murder mystery with stock characters, soon evolves into a complex web of deception, greed, revenge, betrayal, and crime. Each perspective of the participants makes us aware of new motives and inspirations for these characters, thus adding more layers to the plot.

The main asset of this book is the grip that it maintains on the reader until the last page. The plot proceeds at breakneck speed, though told in a non-linear way, with many elements of the plot repeating from different points of view. Instead of boring the reader, these elements help us see new or hidden facets of the characters. The author makes the interaction between the characters very complex and unpredictable. So the narrative has numerous twists and turns enough to keep us guessing till the end.

The characterization is top-notch. We can relate to each character, as their motivations are pretty convincingly portrayed. The author chooses every shade of grey to colour them. Even when they do abominable deeds, we kind of empathise with their angle of the story. Each of them exhibits their own distinct style, philosophy, and outlook on life. They occupy varied levels of social standing. We find a cop, a priest, a gay mechanic, a shrink, a film maker, a teenager, and a dog. Two of them confess to the reader that they used to be serial killers! We are in for a madcap ride with this bunch.

Who To Believe is a tight mystery thriller told non-linearly by multiple narrators. The writer does a great job of constructing a motley assortment of desperate characters and uses their fears, moral dilemmas, and complex psychology to create a tense narrative. Like a magician, he uses several sleight of hand tricks to control the flow of information to his readers. Even while dealing with repetition, he has succeeded in ensuring that each such instance reveals a new angle of the plot to his reader. With great pacing, the writer ties up all the narrational voices convincingly at the climax. This is a thrill ride that I have enjoyed for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy. I’ve liked the author’s previous works and this one did not disappoint. I enjoyed the multiple narrators telling the story. It was a fast and enjoyable read.

An excellent thriller with hints of Liane Morarity and Alex Michaelis clues hidden in plain site. A gated community is shocked when their peaceful community is shattered by the death of one of their prominent citizens. With plenty of motives, the husband is the prime suspect.

one week later, several of the community's remaining citizens will gather for a birthday party. Of course, the murder is the most popular topic of conversation. the story is told through the voice of the interested parties, with each person revealing just a small clue, that is until one of the characters dies by misadventure.....such a fancy word for murder. Now the readers must gather all of their information, weigh the clues and figure out of course.....who done it.

I highly recommend going into this one with as little information as possible, because I went in on the basis of liking the author's last book and discovering what this book held was a really enjoyable reading experience. It's not what I expected, but it also doesn't rely on typical "twists" to tell the story. This one requires relatively careful reading to follow along with all the connections and details of this story. Recommended for fans of darkly clever mysteries.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I found it to be lacking structure, coherence, and any sort of depth.

Plot -
Due to the nature of the book, it isn't easy to succinctly say what it is about. There is a murder in a small town. There's barely a subplot about how it might be a serial killer. I think there may be more than one serial killer, but it seemed everyone killed someone.

Thoughts -
I almost DNF'd this book and can't give a solid answer why I didn't. The book takes place over the course of a weekend after a murder, with multiple character POVs. The POVs are broken into sections, so it is easy to keep track of who is narrating. However, I found it infuriating that each section relived the previous ones. The POVs were not different enough to warrant the structure. Often, we would be reliving the same days with the same actions and same dialogues that we just read one, two, three or four times. There wasn't enough of seeing what the characters were up to on their own to make it worth it, we were just reliving the same scenes over and over again, which felt like wasted page filler.
There was zero-character depth. We were just kind of plopped into the middle of the town after a murder. We find out which people are killers but there is no backstory as to how, what, why... it felt weird. The characters weren't likeable or unlikeable, they kind of just existed. By the time I got the end, I wasn't rooting for anyone. My reaction was just kind of like, "okay..."

Overall, not for me. Maybe others will have an easier time making sense of it.

Who to Believe
by Edwin Hill
Pub Date: 23 Jan 2024

This story is told in a very creative way from the point of view of six main characters of which each character had their own secrets. The story is based on trying to find out who killed the character, Laurel.

Of course the husband is always the main suspect that is until there is another murder!

This page turner was hard to put down I must say! I couldn't wait until the end to find out who was responsible for the murders.

If you're looking for a good suspense mystery, look no further.

Many thanks to #NetGalley, #KensingtonBooks and #WhotoBelieve for providing me with an E-ARC of this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Books, Recorded Books Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this wonderful book by Edwin Hill and perfectly narrated by Jonathan Todd Ross, Jennifer O'Donnell, Robb Moreira, Nick Walther, Laura Knight Keating, Leah Horowitz - 4.5 stars!

In small town Monreith, MA, Laurel Thibodeau is found dead in her home by her husband, Simon, who is naturally a prime suspect.. But he's certainly not the only suspect. As a small group gathers to celebrate Alice's 40th birthday the following week, we see the chief of police, the Unitarian minister, the psychiatrist exchange theories and thoughts. Before the night is over, someone else in the group will be dead.

This story was told in such a creative manner - we hear the story from the POV of six main characters and even the dog who sees all! I always like hearing the same situation told from another viewpoint that will change the way I was thinking. And this book continued to do that until the end. Every character had secrets, motivations, and you'll be questioning all of them. It was so helpful to have the audio narrated by a cast to help keep everything straight. This is a new-to-me author and one I'm anxious to read more from!

This was my first Edwin Hill book and it was just okay. It’s told in different points of view of the main characters living in Monreith, Massachusetts, a small coastal town where everyone seems to know each other’s business. When restaurant owner Laurel Thibodeau is murdered in her home, her gambling addict husband Simon is the likeliest suspect, but there are many sketchy people in this town hiding lots of deep, dark secrets. The local psychiatrist Farley Drake and Unitarian minister Georgia Fitzhugh hear some juicy tidbits from the people they’re counseling. Police chief Max Barbosa grew up in Monreith and thinks he has great perspective on its residents. Alice and Damian Stone are relatively new to town. Damian is working on a documentary that could be relevant to this case. On the night of Alice’s 40th birthday party, another town resident is murdered and the town’s secrets start unraveling. It didn’t feel realistic that there were so many really shady characters in such a small town and it was hard to like any of them. Thanks to #netgalley and #kensington for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Edwin Hill is a master at making you think one thing and then shocking you with another. There were many twists and turns in Who to Believe and I literally never knew who to believe. A small town, a group of “friends,” what could possibly go wrong. Well, it turns out that so much can go wrong when the first body is found. Everyone has motive and everyone has opportunity but which one has the moral compass to allow them to do this? What stands out the most is Hill’s ability to create an environment that is so toxic, yet so impossible to leave. While all these characters were deeply flawed, their actions made total sense to who they were and always felt completely authentic. The switching of POV’s offered a view into this whole world and left me reeling at times with how the same situation could be seen so differently. There was one POV that was my favorite and I think once you read this, you’ll know exactly which one. Each character had a completely distinct voice and Hill was successful at making Chloe sound like a 13 year old. Who to Believe is a page turner, one that is impossible to put down! I’ll definitely be looking for more books by him.