3.5 stars

Lauren Berry, May Hanover, and Kelsey Ellis first met about two decades ago, at a summer arts camp called Wildwood. At the time, May and Kelsey were adolescent campers, and Lauren was the 23-year-old music director. The trio were at Wildwood every summer for years, with May and Kelsey eventually becoming counselors. The threesome became close friends and kept in touch, but haven't been together in the same place for a decade. That's about to change this weekend, with a planned get-together at a luxurious Airbnb in the Hamptons.

In many ways, Lauren, May, and Kelsey have enviable lives, but each of them has encountered 'cancel culture'.

Lauren: Lauren is a world class musician and the first African American Music Director of the Houston Symphony. While working at Wildwood arts camp, Lauren was romantically involved with Thomas Welliver, the married Texas oilman who co-owned Wildwood with his wife. When Lauren and Thomas's affair became public knowledge, an ugly culture war erupted with Lauren at the center.

May: May is the child of a Chinese mother and White father (who played no role in her life). May graduated from Harvard University and Columbia Law School, after which she became a prosecutor and then a law professor. May's troubles stem from an incident on a subway platform, when someone called her a racial slur, and May wrongly attributed the insult to a Black man. The incident went viral, with people calling May "AsianDAKaren".

Kelsey: Kelsey grew up in a very wealthy family and has a good job in her father's commercial real estate company. Kelsey married a restaurant chef called Luke Freedman, but it didn't work out and the couple filed for divorce. In the midst of the proceedings, Luke was gunned down and robbed, and the homicide went unsolved. Internet trolls flooded the internet with messages saying Kelsey hired someone to kill her husband. Kelsey knows the harassment will continue until Luke's murderer is caught.

For the Hamptons weekend, Lauren, May, and Kelsey plan to relax and enjoy swimming, food, music, drinks, and conversation. On their first vacation day together, the gals start to party hardy, then drive to Sag Harbor for dinner at the historic American Hotel. Sag Harbor is crowded, but Kelsey - who's driving - spots a pickup truck preparing to leave a parking space. The women wait a few minutes, and as the truck leaves, the spot is snatched by a small white sedan. A handsome man and beautiful woman exit the sedan and stroll off, two happy little lovebirds.

Later, over dinner with LOTS more liquor, Lauren, May, and Kelsey grouse about the stolen parking space and joke about revenge. The result is that the following note is left on the white sedan's windshield: 'He's cheating. He always does.' The fallout is unexpected and unfortunate. The next day, the handsome man in the white sedan, whose name turns out to be David Smith, is a missing person.

Much to their chagrin, Lauren, May, and Kelsey get drawn into the police investigation. This happens, in part, because May's law enforcement instincts lead her to stick her nose into the David Smith case, which brings the women to the attention of the authorities. As a result, secrets emerge - revelations that threaten the women's longtime friendship as well as their well being. One plot point involves frozen embryos, which I found interesting and enlightening.

Additional characters add interest to the story, including: Kelsey's well-meaning but interfering father, who tries to control every aspect of her life; Kelsey's stepbrother Noah, whom May dated many years ago; May's current fiancé Josh, who may be too humdrum for her; and oilman Thomas Wellifer - who's still in Lauren's life.

I enjoyed the book, though the motive for the wrongdoing stretches credulity a little bit (for me). Still, I'd recommend the novel to fans of suspense novels.

Thanks to Netgalley, Alastair Burke, and Knopf for a copy of the book.

The Note by Alafair Burke was a book that was hard to put down, full of surprises. Very will written, your imagination will be able to picture in your mind as is if you were the main character. Great use of descriptive words.

I dnf’d half way through because I just couldn’t connect with the characters….. it was an okay book but predictable and slow paced for me. With that being said, I still want to read other books by this author and still think many will enjoy this one!!

The Note, written by Alafair Burke, is an interesting fictional mystery, written about friends May, Kelsey, and Lauren. Each woman has gone through some sort of public embarrassment, that has in a way helped their friendship reconnect and grow. When the three gather for a weekend vacation, it seems they are set up for more drama!
This books take the reader for a wild ride, with lots of space for guessing along the way. I loved how it seemed the readers figured things out along with the characters, and I appreciated how the characters came together in different ways throughout the book.
I definitely recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley and to the author and publisher of this book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have read one other book by this author so I was intrigued to see an ARC for another book of theirs. It was a great read and went by quick. I am looking forward to reading more by this author!

When I read thrillers, I'm looking for something that keeps me reading. This book started with a great set-up, and as soon as the characters got together, alluding to something icky in their past, and then started getting messy, I was ready for a great thriller. But then, it just kind of fizzled for me. I wanted more from the story and more from the characters. It's a pretty standard thriller, but there is nothing here that leads me to recommend it to readers, which makes me sad because I do like this author.

3.5 rounded down

A friends trip goes awry, and it all starts with a stolen parking space and a note. It was interesting seeing the dynamics of the friends, and there were some fun twists throughout the story. This was a good and quick read!

I wanted to love this, but it just didn’t work for me. The idea of this was awesome, but there was a lot of issues with the book.

A note left on a car as a practical joke sends this story into twists and turns and quite the roller coaster ride!!! It took me until 92% complete to figure this one out and I absolutely did not see that coming!!!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read and review this amazing 5-star read!!!

May, Kelsey and Lauren have been friends for over two decades now, drifting in and out of touch before a series of personal scandals cemented their bond for good. While May and Kelsey have been best friends since they were kids, Lauren had been the head counselor at the music camp they’d attended each summer. Now in their thirties and forties, the women have each made the headlines for less than terrific reasons. Their relationship with each other was one of the few things that carried them through their seasons of public notoriety.

Now that the COVID lockdowns are over, they’re planning on enjoying a fun if low-key girls’ weekend in the Hamptons. May and Kelsey are both Boston-based, but Lauren lives in Houston and is flying in to stay at the house that wealthy Kelsey has rented for them on the beach. May’s fiance Josh worries that introverted May might sour on being in such close proximity with other people for so long, but she assures him that she’ll be fine.

And at first everything goes splendidly. But when the women decide to have dinner in town, the experience of someone rudely stealing their parking space – and then appearing to gloat about the steal – brings out a streak of righteous anger:

QUOTE
“I know exactly why it made you so mad,” May said, leaning forward as a customer at the next table slid behind her to leave. “Because they knew we were waiting. And they didn’t care. Because something is broken in people now. Rules don’t matter. Basic decency doesn’t matter. And it’s not just that they did it. They were proud of it. They loved getting away with it. It’s like there’s no such thing as shame anymore. So it’s not just about a parking spot. It’s the whole fucking society.” She realized that Kelsey and Lauren were sharing an amused look. “What? I’m serious. People are objectively horrible now.”
END QUOTE

Fueled by alcohol and indignation, the three joke about getting their own back against the smug couple who stole their spot. May, who is Asian American, and Lauren, who is Black, find catharsis in writing a mean note on a cocktail napkin. They have no intention of doing anything else with it but Kelsey, who is white, has other ideas.

On the last day of their shared vacation, Lauren is surprised to recognize a face on a Missing Persons poster. The man from the couple they’d been so annoyed with has gone missing. She thinks that that’s a weird coincidence, until Kelsey admits that she left their poisonous note under the windshield wiper of the couple’s car while her friends had been elsewhere. Law professor May immediately wants to call the police but her friends beg her to reconsider. Any public attention could bring their old scandals roaring back into the spotlight, the last thing that any of them need.

Against her better instincts, May agrees. Her rule-following nature, however, has her doing something that will lead the police to their doors anyway. As the investigation into the missing man wears on, May will discover that her friends have been keeping potentially deadly secrets from her. Will their friendships survive what is starting to look more and more like murder?

Alafair Burke’s latest suspense novel captures the interior lives of three very strong but different women. Almost as engrossing as her examination of her main characters’ psyches is her depiction of the post-lockdown zeitgeist that combined a growing lack of civic-mindedness with a slanderously judgmental attitude. While I disagreed with her criticism of cancel culture, I did appreciate the way she explored how conflicting pressures can cause people to behave badly, in ways they almost don’t expect of themselves. May, for example, often acts in bewilderingly off-putting ways. It’s not that she doesn’t have reason to, though, as she confides in Lauren:

QUOTE
“You don’t understand. It’s my mother. Her culture. Her whole reason for having a daughter in America. All the sacrifices she made–I’m the outcome. I can’t be bad, I can’t fail. I can’t just be average. It’s not fucking fair.” In that moment, May didn’t sound sad or insecure or worried. She sounded angry. She sounded pissed.

It was a familiar feeling that Lauren had been ingrained to hide from an early age. She hadn’t gotten to where she was by showing her anger. And there was no question in Lauren’s mind that May’s anger had always been there, simmering beneath the perfect, polite surface. If she had to follow the rules, so should everyone else.
END QUOTE

I will always be here for books that seek to explore, understand and provide an outlet for feminine anger, which The Note very clearly is. It’s also a great depiction of the way that its protagonists grow and change – or not, when they don’t need to – for the better.

This is hard for me to rate. There were parts I liked and parts that didn't work for me.

I'm only one person and reading tastes are so different so don't let my review discourage you from reading if you vibe with the synopsis; also check out other reviews there is some love out there for this story!
I'd recommend this if you love:
-social issues; cancel culture (each of our FMC have been 'cancelled' for one reason or another)
-longtime friends from childhood; with some of their history sprinkled throughout the storyline
-slow burn mystery
-every character has secrets from each other, from the people in their lives, etc.

Let's start with these characters. WOW. They are each so unlikable in their own ways. Most specifically, they are all lying to each other, to the people in their lives and, honestly, sometimes to themselves. This isn't something I disliked initially but they just get worse and worst throughout the story.
The lies and secrets just kept coming towards the middle and ending. I usually love some good twisty twists but this felt like it was trying too hard at times. It gets a bit convoluted. Like-- this character knows this thing about this other person but the third person doesn't know, yet that person knows more about one of those people. I just couldn't really care enough about any of them to care about these secrets coming out, even the big, decades old secrets that probably should have made a big impact on me as the reader. Oh well. They won't all work for all readers :-)

The overall premise sucked me in, the execution wasn't it FOR ME. I think a LOT of readers will (and already have! just look at other reviews!) LOVE this one! This will work well for a lot of folks, I presume.

I liked this one. Once i got to the final few chapters, i could not put it down (and stayed up late to finish it).

I enjoyed the friendship - made me wonder what it would be like to reconnect with some of my old college friends.
The mystery unfolded at a great pace... kept me guessing. I did not have Nate on my suspect list until right when May suspected him.

I will check out other novels by this author

Really enjoyed this book. Loved the characters. I felt like I knew them personally - or maybe just someone like each of them. Liked the pace of the story and the plot twists. Recommend to anyone wanting a good suspense novel.

After reading It Had to be You, written with Mary Higgins Clark I was excited to read The Note. Unfortunately this book did not keep my attention as much as the first book did. I am sorry to say I had a hard time finishing it.
I want to thank @net galley for the ARC copy and will definitely look to try another book by Alafair Burke.

One of my favorite reads so far of 2025. A vacation and a harmless prank with3 lifelong friends what could go wrong. This is a suspense book until the end. Friendships are tested and you wonder how well do you know someone. The storyline is intriguing until the end. I did get some of the character.s mixed up, but I still think it’s a good book to read.
This is the first book that I have read from this author, but I am hooked.

Three friends spend a weekend together in the Hamptons. Each of them have been cancelled by social media at one time or another and they haven't seen each other in a while. A person steals their parking space when they are headed out to dinner and one of the friends leaves a note on the car as a joke. Only it turns out to be more than a joke when the man in the white car disappears and is found dead. These women were also involved in another death years ago when they were at a summer camp together and another girl drowned.

I have always enjoyed this author's clever domestic thrillers but this one is lacking a sense of suspense or any stakes for the women. May is an attorney now working as a professor, she is the main character and she is not especially likable. At one time she accused a Black man of saying something racist in the subway and has since been called the "KarenDA". Kelsey is a wealthy woman who works for her father and who was suspected in the death of her ex-husband and Lauren is a composer who has had a decade long affair with a married man. I kept waiting for something scary to happen or threaten the women here but all of the crimes happened 'off-screen" as it were and there was lots of telling instead of showing. The villain was pretty obvious but the reasons for the crimes didn't make a whole lot of sense. I like the authors writing style but found this one hard to finish because it didn't hold my interest. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

The Note by Alafair Burke is a suspense filled book with many red herrings and misdirections to keep the reader on the edge of their seat.
A fun filled reunion trip to the Hamptons with 3 long time friends and a prank with a note left on a car windshield turns into a who done it psychological thriller…..the ending is not what the reader expects.

The Note by Alafair Burke is a tightly woven psychological thriller that dives deep into secrets, deception, and the ripple effects of a single mysterious message. Burke’s skillful plotting keeps the suspense high, with perfectly timed twists that keep you guessing until the very end.

The characters are complex and well-drawn, with layered motivations that add depth to the central mystery. While a few plot points feel slightly familiar within the genre, Burke’s crisp writing and ability to build tension make it a gripping, fast-paced read.

4 stars — a clever and twisty thriller that will keep you turning pages late into the night. Perfect for fans of smart, character-driven suspense.

Alafair Burke's latest novel, THE NOTE, is a twisty, riveting, muli-layered psychological thriller that explores complex friendships, loyalty, betrayal, and dark secrets.

A vacation in the Hamptons, a prank, a note—all goes wrong for three longtime friends with a complicated history while bringing out the worst in one another.

A seemingly innocent prank takes a dark turn, setting off a chain of events that will test the limits of their friendship and lead to a shocking revelation.

About...

May was a good girl and a rule-follower. A first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations raised her. Her friends called her the Little Sheriff.

But good girls have secrets and regrets.

May developed a friendship with two other girls, Lauren and Kelsey, and they had a close bond when May was twelve. They have each experienced tragic accidents, scandals, heartbreak, and loss.

During their stay in the Hamptons, the three friends have a chance encounter with a pair of strangers. This seemingly innocuous meeting leads to a drunken prank that spirals out of control, leaving them grappling with the consequences of their actions.

My thoughts...

THE NOTE is an emotionally charged contemporary suspense thriller that unfolds after a harmless prank that turns into a nightmare during their Hampton weekend getaway. Following comes a full-blown investigation. What was meant to be an inside joke only for the three will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Over the weekend, their shared history catches up with them, revealing the toxic, dangerous secrets beneath the surface of their friendship. The intensity of these revelations will keep you turning the pages.

Three 'canceled' women gather to heal their wounds, with a prank that spirals out of control, a missing person case, and a web of lies. The complexity of the plot will keep you guessing until the very end.

From a party girl (Kelsey/husband murdered), Lauren (musical prodigy/affair), and May (free-spirit, lawyer/confrontation on a subway platform). Kelsey had been the one who rented the beach house for ten days. Three women were judged and vilified by strangers.

With unlikeable characters and women behaving like teens, the author explores how well you know your friends and the emotional and psychological scars of betrayal. There are also social issues and those of untrust while testing their friendship and loyalties with other topics of pandemic, race, gender, and power with courtroom drama.

I enjoyed the author's notes and the inspiration behind the novel.

Recs...

The Note is for fans of the author and those who enjoy works by Lisa Jewell, Megan Miranda, Kia Abdullah, Fiona Barton, Michele Campbell, and Laura Lippman.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advanced reading copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Jan 7, 2025
My Rating: 4 Stars
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This wasn’t for me! I found the pacing to be very slow and the storyline predictable to a point and where it stopped being predictable it ventured into unsettling. I also really hated May. With friends like her, who needs enemies? This author is talented but this was a miss.