Review: Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Expected Publication: March 27, 2018

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It’s a rare kid-free night, and they’re giddy with it. They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal.

By Monday morning, one of them is gone.

Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. Kristin was a sociable twin mom, college administrator, and doctor’s wife who didn’t seem all that bothered by her impending divorce—and the investigation turns up more questions than answers, with her husband, Paul, at the center. For her closest neighbor, Clara, the incident triggers memories she thought she’d put behind her—and when she’s unable to extract herself from the widening circle of scrutiny, her own suspicions quickly grow. But the neighborhood’s newest addition, Izzy, is determined not to jump to any conclusions—especially since she’s dealing with a crisis of her own.

As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what’s going on behind their own closed doors—and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else.

My Thoughts

In Not That I Could Tell it is billed as a thriller of sorts. It's about a group of friends who one night are seated by the fire enjoying some friend time and wine and by the next day, one of them is gone. Kristin the friend in question has left with her twins and as take only what was important to her and has left without a trace. As soon as the police get involved we find out all these things about Kristin her marriage, children and her life behind her closed doors.

Little by little we get to know each of the neighbors and how if any they fit into what has happened with Kristin. But her closest friend and neighbor Clara is the one who seems to be under the microscope as far as the cops are concerned and we see why she is so close to this and how her past reflects the present.

While this read is about Kristin and why she left it is also about the friendships. That’s what I took from this the most, the friendships and to what length you go to, to protect them. Even though they realized they really didn’t know each other there was still a connection as friends and wanting to help one another. This was a good read with a good storyline and the characters were well written. While this wasn’t exactly the read I was expecting it was still a really great book one that’s good to the very end.