"What She Knew"

"What She Knew"
Written by Gilly Macmillan
Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

"What She Knew" is the second mystery thriller by the author, Gilly Macmillan, that I decided to read. After relatively enjoying the first one, I was curious to see how her writing style, creativity, and plot uniqueness transferred into this book.

"What She Knew" was written prior to "The Nanny", which was the first I read. Both books have very strong points of interest, great plot devices, well-crafted characters, appealing settings, and a great overall voice. Unfortunately, the villain and the reveal have tapered off and were ineffective, in my mind. This in no way ruins the book, but that definitely would bring my enjoyment level down, creating a less successful read.

The story follows an interesting set of characters. We meet Rachel, a divorced mom, whose son has disappeared after running ahead in the park, with her permission. John is her ex-husband, who with his new wife Katrina, blames Rachel for Tom's disappearance and possible kidnapping. Additionally, the detective following the case is named Jim, who interestingly tells the story through a first person perspective. Including this narrative style allows us to sympathize more with Jim, even though the story is told after the fact, explained to his therapist to help him cope with possible post-traumatic stress disorder. Nicky, Rachel's sister, has also come to help Rachel with the investigation and news storm.

Additionally, the story allows includes smaller characters, such as Rachel's best friend, Tom's teacher, Tom's teacher's assistant, Emma, a secondary detective, and Dr. Manelli, Jim's therapist.

The storytelling technique reflects the current technology inclusion in modern thrillers and mysteries. The author creates e-mails, transcripts, quotes and facts from law enforcement books, Facebook posts, Wordpress blog posts, and newspaper articles. Prior to each chapter, the quotes and facts allow for red herrings and predictions for the section. Additionally, the count of the days since Tom has disappeared also adds tension.

I absolutely enjoy Macmillan's stories, but the endings are truly ruined by the villain. Creating two major characters in this story that could be the villain, could be behind the disappearance, was wonderful! The suspicion due to the backstories behind each character easily led to tension and worry building. However, revealing a tiny character as the villain allowed my disappointment to fully bloom. The heavy red herrings were well-implemented, but they also lead to a less than perfect ending. Although the motive of the character was well planned, the climax barely existed.

In conclusion, I would absolutely read another book by this author. In the future, I would hope that Macmillan changes the way she writes endings and chooses her villains. I rated this book at four out of five stars. I actively look forward to reading her next published novel.