2020 Book Review #13: I Know You Know

This is the 2nd book I've read by this author this year and it was pretty good.

I did prefer her latest (titled The Nanny) but this kept me reading far into the night this week as I got closer and  closer to the ending. Normally a book like this will only take me a few days but I've had trouble concentrating on reading fiction the beginning of this quarantine.  I'm back to reading more though and that's a good thing.

STORY SUMMARY

In 1996, twenty years ago, best friends Charlie Paige and Scott Ashby, age 10, were murdered in the English city of Bristol.  Their other best friend, Cody Swift, was not.  Their bodies were dumped outside a dog racing track.  One young man, a mentally impaired person, was charged with the crime.  Decades later, there are still many questions....the main one being "Was Sidney Noyce really innocent like he said he was?"  Sidney committed suicide.

Now Cody is a successful filmmaker but he is still haunted by the memory of his best friends and the murders.  There are still many loose ends regarding the police investigation so he goes back to his childhood hometown of Bristol to try to find some answers.

Cody starts a crime podcast called "It's Time to Tell".  His site is known as Dishlicker Productions.

He begins to investigate and question some older people who might remember the details of that night.  He records everything into his podcast.  But there are several people, including the lead detective John Fletcher, who doesn't want Cody to be broadcasting or questioning anything about the murders.

Charlie's mom, Jessica Paige, now married to Nick and who has a teenage daughter Ericka, definitely doesn't want that period in her life brought to light.

Her husband and daughter don't know much about her early years as a mom to Charlie and Ericka does't even know she would have had a half-brother had he lived. Nick does know she had a son who was murdered.  But he doesn't know details about Jessica and that evening.

Once Jessica's name is mentioned on the podcast, she decides to take matters into her own hands.  And now there's a long-lost body that has been discovered during a dig, on the very same grounds as where Charlie and Scott's bodies were found!  Are they related??  This now launches a new investigation.  John Fletcher begins to open his old case.....and discovers the two crimes are linked!

but how??

And now...more lives are at risk.

Just who did murder the boys??  and why??

MY THOUGHTS

I thought this was a brilliant move on the author's part to make part of the story a podcast with various episodes.  It actually made the book move forward.

I loved the character development and the setting. I especially enjoyed the way I ended up really liking Jessica after not liking her character in the beginning.

Each chapter is a different character's perspective on the story line/plot.  It's very well done.

The main themes of this book explore motherhood, the binds of family, friendship and community, abortion, suicide, binge drinking.

This book also explores the idea of a mentally impaired person and the challenges they face in a crisis setting as well as in criminal trials.

If you enjoy true crime podcasts, you will enjoy this novel.  

Make sure you read the author's notes at the end!  She also gives some good discussion questions at the end.  I really enjoy this author and once the library is open again, I plan on looking for her other novels.  

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature content).

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.