arc / Book Blogger / Book Review / Books / NetGalley Book Reviews

Book Review: Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Saturday Nite Reader15 Comments

4_DiscoBalls

4 disco balls

Publish Date: March 27, 2018 by St. Martins Press
Pre-order/Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BOTM $9.99 add-on
Category: Fiction, Suspense, Mystery

In a quiet neighborhood, a group of five friends (some more acquaintances), enjoyed a ladies night around the fire-pit: involving a few too many glasses of wine. The next morning one of them, along with her two small children, are missing. When the detectives roll around the ladies don’t remember much of the night (oops, too much wine), nor do they really know much of their neighbor outside of a superficial relationship (what was her marriage really like?). You can imagine the gossip within the small town: did the estranged husband have something to do with it or is he a victim?

How do you know who to believe, or even trust? What if your own friends, even spouse, aren’t on the same page as you? Presumption and judgement run amok.

I would categorize this book as a light suspense read: it wasn’t something that kept you up at night nagging through any details you may have missed in order to solve the twist at the end (not to be confused with light subject matter, domestic violence is anything but light). You can follow the story and there are enough details provided that you may often predict the next outcome, but like any suspense (light or not) its that last chapter that wraps it all up. In this case, I thought the ending was very clever and did not see it coming. For that, I gave it 4 disco balls.

I did feel that some characters were more developed than others and some may not have been that necessary, but overall I thought the story line was interesting and relevant. If you read ‘Not That I Could Tell’ and agree/disagree, let me know what you thought!

I received an arc of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
I also won a hard copy from a recent giveaway hosted by Brunette Biblio! Was very excited to add it to my library.

You may also find me here:
twitter-iconapp-icon2  2787175_orig
Please note: this post contains an Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase this book through the link above I will earn a small fee; at no additional cost to you. This will help me purchase more books to read and recommend to you all!

15 thoughts on “Book Review: Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser”

  8. exactly what i need i think! i went all out with thriller and creepy stuff this month so i need something lighter
    maybe contemporary but i do need something suspenseful too just on a smaller scale 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. That cover is gorgeous. I have a love-hate relationship with books that aren’t the strong until the end. On one hand, I love a surprise ending that saves the whole thing. On the other: do I really want to struggle through for 30 ish pages?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment