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A review by kingrosereads
No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A murder mystery about three sisters whose parents were murdered when they were teens. The middle daughter was blamed but never arrested for the crime. Now, 14 years later, the estranged sisters are brought back to their childhood home and the mystery of their parents' murders slowly begins to unravel.
I have to say, it takes a lot for me to be taken by surprise when it comes to murder mystery novels. I often guess the culprit well before the halfway mark and while that feeling of "I KNEW IT" feels good, I love to be shocked by the reveal. That being said, this book did a pretty good job of keeping me on my toes for about 85% of the book. I loved not knowing, for sure, the identity of the murderer. I had about three suspects for most of the book and ended up being wrong about one of them and partly wrong about the second. It was still nice to have to puzzle it out and the author does a great job of depicting unreliable narratives and how biased and fallible memories are. However, the ending felt all over the place. There were too many twists crammed into the last few chapters it felt very lazy and cheap. The author presented the events as if we were getting the truth but then it would turn out that it was not. Several times this happened, and I'm not sure if it just didn't translate well on page or through the audiobook and it would've been better on film or what, but it was just jarring (and not in a good way). It kind of lost its power in this way. If the "facts" had been presented by the sisters as they theorized the truth that had the reader agree these two stories of two separate murders makes the most sense and then the reveal of what actually happened all at once (instead of having two different parts separated by chapters of one reveal about the first murder and then another reveal about the second murder), that would've been better I think. Also, part of the parents' murders just didn't really make sense and could be a question about a person's motive that goes unanswered, but it feels more annoying then "I guess we'll never know". It just became tired and dragged out by the end, which is a shame because most of the book had me theorizing different scenarios.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
To be more clear for those that read the book, Daphne should've just had one long monologue depicting the murders of her parents and brother-in-law. Instead of the author saying her parents' and brother-in-law's murders went this way and then chapters later Daphne confesses the truth about the first murders. Then chapters after that Daphne confesses the truth about Nathan's murder. It just didn't translate well on paper. I will say that I initially pinned Daphne as her parents' murderer but the author did a good job of making me doubt and giving two of her father's best friends as potential murderers (I still think Chris would've been an interesting twist). Even with Nathan's murder, I thought it HAD to be Daphne, but again, the author made me think it could also be the cop. I just don't understand their mother's motive for killing herself after Daphne killed her father. She never once seemed like the type to sacrifice herself for her children, but I'm assuming the author was insinuating she intended to make it look like she killed her husband then killed herself to protect Daphne and JJ just had the misfortune of picking up the gun and Emma making assumptions. However, shooting yourself in the heart is a wild way to off yourself if you want it to be obvious you did so. Why not take a second to write a note or call 911 and say you killed your husband then shoot yourself to be absolutely sure the blame wouldn't land on your daughter? Unless she was terrified of her daughter and felt she messed up all her children and just put herself out of her misery. I guess we'll never know.
I have to say, it takes a lot for me to be taken by surprise when it comes to murder mystery novels. I often guess the culprit well before the halfway mark and while that feeling of "I KNEW IT" feels good, I love to be shocked by the reveal. That being said, this book did a pretty good job of keeping me on my toes for about 85% of the book. I loved not knowing, for sure, the identity of the murderer. I had about three suspects for most of the book and ended up being wrong about one of them and partly wrong about the second. It was still nice to have to puzzle it out and the author does a great job of depicting unreliable narratives and how biased and fallible memories are. However, the ending felt all over the place. There were too many twists crammed into the last few chapters it felt very lazy and cheap. The author presented the events as if we were getting the truth but then it would turn out that it was not. Several times this happened, and I'm not sure if it just didn't translate well on page or through the audiobook and it would've been better on film or what, but it was just jarring (and not in a good way). It kind of lost its power in this way. If the "facts" had been presented by the sisters as they theorized the truth that had the reader agree these two stories of two separate murders makes the most sense and then the reveal of what actually happened all at once (instead of having two different parts separated by chapters of one reveal about the first murder and then another reveal about the second murder), that would've been better I think. Also, part of the parents' murders just didn't really make sense and could be a question about a person's motive that goes unanswered, but it feels more annoying then "I guess we'll never know". It just became tired and dragged out by the end, which is a shame because most of the book had me theorizing different scenarios.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
To be more clear for those that read the book, Daphne should've just had one long monologue depicting the murders of her parents and brother-in-law. Instead of the author saying her parents' and brother-in-law's murders went this way and then chapters later Daphne confesses the truth about the first murders. Then chapters after that Daphne confesses the truth about Nathan's murder. It just didn't translate well on paper. I will say that I initially pinned Daphne as her parents' murderer but the author did a good job of making me doubt and giving two of her father's best friends as potential murderers (I still think Chris would've been an interesting twist). Even with Nathan's murder, I thought it HAD to be Daphne, but again, the author made me think it could also be the cop. I just don't understand their mother's motive for killing herself after Daphne killed her father. She never once seemed like the type to sacrifice herself for her children, but I'm assuming the author was insinuating she intended to make it look like she killed her husband then killed herself to protect Daphne and JJ just had the misfortune of picking up the gun and Emma making assumptions. However, shooting yourself in the heart is a wild way to off yourself if you want it to be obvious you did so. Why not take a second to write a note or call 911 and say you killed your husband then shoot yourself to be absolutely sure the blame wouldn't land on your daughter? Unless she was terrified of her daughter and felt she messed up all her children and just put herself out of her misery. I guess we'll never know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Car accident
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Vomit