Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen McManus

Author : Karen McManus
Title : Two Can Keep A Secret
Published : 2019
Publisher : Penguin
Pages : 336
Genre : Young Adult / Thriller

     A perfect town is hiding secrets. Two teenagers are dead. Two murders unsolved. And a killer who claims to be coming back. Ellery's never been to Echo Ridge, but she's heard all about it. It's where her aunt went missing at age sixteen, never to return. Where a Homecoming Queen's murder five years ago made national news and where Ellery now has to live with a grandmother she barely knows, after her failed-actress mother lands in rehab. Malcolm grew up in the shadow of the Homecoming Queen's death. His older brother was the prime suspect and left Echo Ridge in disgrace.

His mother's remarriage vaulted them to Echo Ridge's upper crust, but it could all change when mysterious threats around town hint that a killer plans to strike again. Then another girl disappears. As they race to unravel what happened, they realize every secret has layers in Echo Ridge. The truth might be closer to home than either of them want to believe. And somebody would kill to keep it hidden.

      This is a book about secrets, and as we all know by there nature they never stay buried forever. Whenever a murder takes place in a small town the events simmer under the surface for as long as it remains a town. People will accuse anyone they have taken a disliking to or simply don't trust. And when said killing remains unsolved it only adds to the tensions of a place. I think it all works well in these small-town setting when everyone knows everyone else it is hard to escape a past that rips apart all those it touches. As with other books like this, it is these interactions that cause relationships to break apart and family's to fall out. Secret work like viruses and spread from host to host as it becomes know resulting in violent outcomes. It is these things that fascinate me with books like this, Two Can Keep A Secret does this very well, the author works her magic interlacing many threads to keep the reader guessing until the very end

     These characters bring to life the world of small-time crimes, we get to bear witness to a very destructive force pushed on by someone searching for the truth. And as always the search for the one truth can bring about many more that would rather remain buried. I like the way we get to switch perspectives bring each fascist to life of the crime and each of the family's it touched. We also get to see what it's like to not only be real ted to the victims but also that of someone who was accused of the crime.  I find it a fascinating thing to see how the latter plays out, How can you possibly deal with the reality that someone you are related to my have committed such a heinous crime. The author's style lends its self well to this form of storytelling and she manages to wrap me up in the mystery as well as the human drama of it all. I become invested in there lives and how once the truth was finally free it might bring some form of peace to not only them but this sleepy town. I was glad to find that the end was not so easy to guess and did leave me with a pleasant sup prise. 

     While this book did have a lot of merits to it there where also some parts that feel like the lacked a little. I kind of felt like I had seen the basic situation before and while the mystery is where  I felt like maybe I had read better elsewhere. But if you are looking for a mystery to while away a few hours I think this book will serve its purpose well.