Title: I Know You Know by Gilly Macmillan
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
From New York Times bestselling author Gilly Macmillan comes this original, chilling and twisty mystery about two shocking murder cases twenty years apart, and the threads that bind them.
Twenty years ago, eleven-year-olds Charlie Paige and Scott Ashby were murdered in the city of Bristol, their bodies dumped near a dog racing track. A man was convicted of the brutal crime, but decades later, questions still linger.
For his whole life, filmmaker Cody Swift has been haunted by the deaths of his childhood best friends. The loose ends of the police investigation consume him so much that he decides to return to Bristol in search of answers. Hoping to uncover new evidence, and to encourage those who may be keeping long-buried secrets to speak up, Cody starts a podcast to record his findings. But there are many people who don’t want the case—along with old wounds—reopened so many years after the tragedy, especially Charlie’s mother, Jess, who decides to take matters into her own hands.
When a long-dead body is found in the same location the boys were left decades before, the disturbing discovery launches another murder investigation. Now Detective John Fletcher, the investigator on the original case, must reopen his dusty files and decide if the two murders are linked. With his career at risk, the clock is ticking and lives are in jeopardy…
Review:
I Know You Know by Gilly Macmillan is a thoroughly enthralling mystery with a compelling storyline.
Twenty years earlier, Cody Swift’s friends, ten year old Charlie Paige and eleven year old Scott Ashby, were brutally beaten to death. The case was quickly solved and mentally challenged Sidney Noyce was convicted for their murders. After Sidney commits suicide in prison, a newspaper article by Owen Weston raises questions about Sidney’s guilt and Cody decides to revisit the crime. Through a series of podcasts, he interviews Owen, disgraced ex-Detective Superintendent Howard Smail and Detective Superintendent John Fletcher. Cody also interviews his own mother along with Scott’s mum, but Charlie’s mum, Jessy absolutely refuses to meet with him. Despite threats against him and his girlfriend/producer Maya Summers, Cody continues publishing his podcasts as he tries to learn the truth about who murdered his friends.
Jess is now happily married with a teenage daughter. She has completely reinvented herself and while her husband knows about Charlie, her daughter does not. Desperate to keep her past from colliding with her present, Jess goes against her husband’s wishes and contacts the one man she can count on to help silence Cody. Is Jess just trying to protect the life she has made for herself? Or is there a far more sinister reason behind her refusal to co-operate with Cody’s requests for an interview?
In the present, DS Michael Fletcher is still on the job and he remains partnered with longtime friend Detective Sergeant Danny Freyer. Their current investigation involves the recently recovered body of a man who turns out to have been reported missing twenty years earlier. Fletcher is quick to notice the burial site is eerily close to where Scott and Charlie’s bodies were found. This discovery along with the recent death of the boys’ killer leaves Michael with the very uneasy feeling the cases might be connected.
A series of flashbacks from Michael’s perspective offers startling insight into the investigation into the Charlie and Scott’s murders. Fletcher is a rising star who is quite ambitious. He is not a fan of DS Smail and throughout the investigation, he is on the losing side of his power struggle with his superior. He is determined to not only catch the killer but also make sure he is credited with cracking the case. How far will DS Fletcher go to attain this goal? And what does this mean for the investigation in the present once he realizes the two cases might be connected?
Seamlessly weaving between the past, the present and Cody’s podcasts, I Know You Know is a suspenseful mystery. Cody is a sympathetic character who is determined to uncover the truth about his friends’ killer. Jess is an interesting character who has come a long way from her wild child days but what is her motivation in keeping silent about the past? DS Fletcher’s career stalled after Sidney’s conviction which raises intriguing questions about what happened to derail his meteoric rise through the ranks. Gilly Macmillan brings this clever novel to an absolutely brilliant twist-filled and stunning conclusion. Fans of the genre do not want to miss this outstanding mystery.
