little whispers

3 stars

I had high hopes for this mystery/thriller about a young family that moves to a new, tonier neighborhood in a desirable suburban town, but if fell short for me.

Janey Markham’s husband gets a new job, making twice as much money, that allows them to move to a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood. Janey is thrilled when she meets Tanya, the leader of the “in crowd” of mothers. Tanya takes Janey under her wing, helping her learn to relax and treat herself. Everything seems to be going great, until one day after having too much to drink, Janey shares a dark family secret with Tanya. Despite Tanya’s assurance that she would never tell anyone, Janey fears the worst. When Janey sees Tanya’s teenage daughter in an unsafe situation, she tells Tanya but Tanya is not concerned. When Janey tells Tanya she is going to talk with the police, Tanya turns on Janey and threatens to expose her if she doesn’t let it go.

Despite this book being billed as a mystery/thriller, there isn’t much of either. The first 60% of this book was so slow. I kept wondering when the action was going to begin. When things finally started happening they were so insignificant, and were so rushed, that I felt cheated. One story line seemed like a total throw-away and seemed to be inserted simply for shock purposes. The book is well-written, even if I didn’t really care for the story. I’ve enjoyed previous books from this author, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.