Hands down, one of my favorite devices to move along a plot in a book is the unraveling of secrets. I of course love detective/mystery books for this, but it really can be done across a range of genres, and it pretty much always makes for juicy reading with some good reveals - because if there's anything fiction has taught me, secrets will always out! Here's a roundup of a few recent-ish ones in this vein:
If you followed the recent celebrity college admissions scandal in the news, you'll know the general gist of this story - in which the secret deals to get kids higher SAT scores or land essentially bribed positions in elite schools all come to light in a big media explosion. But in this YA book we get a bit more of a personal look at what it would be like to go through this from the perspective of one of the high school students. In alternating chapters of the present, in which her b-list actress mom has been arrested for the bribery/fraud, and the recent past, in which she was struggling through her college admissions process, we experience Chloe's shock at the secrets her parents kept from her about their involvement with her private college admissions coach, struggle with the media exposure and loss of friendships/life as she knew it, and come to terms with her own guilt in it all. It's an intriguing story, but it wasn't quite as unputdownable as I had hoped - not entirely sure why. In a way, none of the characters are very likeable as they take their position of privilege and just try to exploit that for even more privilege - feels kinda gross - but I thought Chloe's character was written such that I could start to understand where she was coming from in trying to convince herself that everything was fine even if deep down she knew that there was something false about what was going on with her new admissions coach. I think that's a pretty human tendency of self-preservation, especially in light of being a teen feeling such high expectations from parents about grades/colleges, and feeling such low self-esteem about being the "dumb one." The parents in the story, on the other hand? Still don't understand what would make them do such a thing, just as much as I don't understand the parents in the real-life news version of this story.
3.5/5 stars, picked up for intriguing story and also because I really loved Julie Buxbaum's Tell Me Three Things (which I recommend if you like YA!)
Camino Rios is a teenager in the Dominican Republic who lives with her aunt, and is always looking forward to summers when her father comes back from New York to visit; Yahaira Rios is a teenager in New York whose father is her favorite person. At the beginning of this book, they both learn that their father 's plane has crashed, all of the passengers dead. Readers realize the big secret - that their father is actually the same person - and gradually these girls themselves learn this too, uncovering the extent of their father's deceptions, covering the fact that he has two families. They both have to grapple with grief on many levels - losing a loved one and at the same time losing the image of who they thought that loved one was, now that they realize all of his secrets, losing trust in the other family members who kept the secrets from them, and maybe also losing the dreams for their futures now that their family's financial source is gone. As they meet each other and are both part of planning their father's funeral in the Dominican Republic, you get a really compelling story of grief, of growth, and of the bonds of sisterhood. This is a novel written in verse, which if you aren't used to reading will feel a little strange at first, with so many fewer words on the page, but after a while with the the beautiful flow and artistry of this writing, you won't even realize it - except for moments when you might have to stop and marvel at how this format really makes you feel the characters' emotions or experiences in a way that regular prose might not by changing your reading rhythm. Also loved how Acevdeo captures the two girls' individual voices so distinctly, in their alternating chapters, but also brings them together in this lovely new relationship after their (understandably) rocky start when they learn of the other's existence.
4.5/5 stars, convinced me that novels in verse are great (and now I've loved other ones like Brown Girl Dreaming and Solo thanks to Elizabeth Acevedo's work opening my eyes to the genre)
This is the third installment in a mystery series, so you've really got to start at the beginning rather than here. But I'm including it anyway because you should totally read this series, and also it's such a good example of my favorite kind of detective book with secrets: the kind in which the current case that the detective is dealing with runs up against and/or threatens to expose some secrets from her childhood. Think books like Tana French's Faithful Place or Liz Moore's Long Bright River (also love the parallel with Long Bright River in the strong female protagonist who has a great mentorship relationship with her older male detective partner). DC Cat Kinsella grew up in a family with ties to organized crime in London, so she knows the ins and outs of this world; she has always kept this secret from her colleagues and superiors at the Metropolitan Police, not to mention her boyfriend, but it always threatens to bubble to the surface when her past and present come close to intersecting. That backdrop of secrecy runs through all three books; in her current case, Cat and her partner Luigi Parnell have uncovered some questions about a serial killer case that everyone thought was closed 6 years ago. While they re-investigate, they find that there are many involved, both witnesses and police, who have secrets that they will do whatever they can to keep hidden... A great series if you like the procedural detective book that has really well-developed characters with good back stories and relationships, has interesting mystery cases with great pacing, and doesn't have too much violence/ickiness/scary scenes. The plot of this one, with the serial killer/cold case, also reminded me a lot of the latest installment of the Cormoran Strike series by JK Rowling, but this one was even better in my opinion, more tightly written.
4/5 stars, definitely recommend this series (starting with Sweet Little Lies) if you enjoy British mysteries in the Tana French/Susie Steiner vein, especially with female protagonists
Another YA pick, in a favorite sub-genre of mine, YA mystery: Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins who haven't seen each other since they were kids, given their parents' estrangement from each other, and from their wealthy grandmother, whom they've never met as she completely cut off ties with her children and disinherited them before the cousins were even born. But out of the blue they each receive a letter from their grandmother, asking them to come work on her private island resort for the summer, and their parents all think this would be the perfect opportunity to get back into her good graces, so they drop any other plans and head off to the east coast for the summer - where they quickly learn that the invitation wasn't about what they thought it was. They end up working together to figure out what's going on, realizing that there are more secrets in their family's history than they realized - and of course all the while each is keeping his or her own secret from the other cousins. With all of these secrets, the plot had some excellent and clever twists and turns that kept me surprised and interested, but in a really fun way rather than a stressful way of a real thriller. That's what I love about YA mystery - the story is twisty without being icky/scary (even if slightly unbelievable at times), the protagonists are often likeable (not exactly malicious, even if they do have secrets), and you just might get a little cute romantic interest thrown in there too... I whipped through this one, and it made for a very satisfying Saturday!
4/5 stars, maybe competing with One of Us Is Lying for favorite selection from an author who got me into this sub-genre and is my ultimate go-to in it!
Jane Harper is so good at atmospheric, slow-burn mysteries - and she impresses me how each of her 4 books has an entirely different Australian landscape, which always weaves into the atmosphere of the story so well. This time, we're in a small, windswept coastal town where the sea can ravage lives with its storms - and it has done to Kieran's family, years ago, when his golden-boy older brother drowned while trying to rescue Kieran from some seaside caves, where he really shouldn't have been. The town, and of course Kieran's family, has been marked by this tragedy even if they don't speak of it - until a woman's body is found on the beach during the time Kieran and his young family are visiting. And as her death makes the tragedy of years ago be inspected in a new light, Kieran realizes that there are many secrets surrounding it, and perhaps all is not what it seemed, despite the heavy guilt he has carried all this time. A fairly slow burn, as we learn what the secrets of the town's past are and how they're going to unravel through the current-day tragedy, but for me it still moved along at a perfect pace. I also loved how the plot had a procedural mystery feel, despite the characters being ordinary people, not detectives; speaking of ordinary people, I enjoyed as well that despite the family secrets and tragedy, Kieran actually is a pretty well-adjusted guy, with a sweet relationship with his girlfriend and baby daughter. It gave a bit of a different feel to the story than your average thriller type book, making the character more relatable and real to me. Even if it wasn't my very favorite of Jane Harper's books (that's The Lost Man), I still read it within about 24 hours of starting. So... I say a satisfying mystery read!
4.5/5 stars, preordered as soon as I knew it was going to be a thing, because I'll read any and all Jane Harper
A couple of other books I recently read fit this category perfectly, especially the idea of how family secrets can perpetuate their effects down the generations, but unfortunately the writing/characters just didn't land for me: The Kindest Lie and Saving Ruby King. The books actually have decent parallels, so if you happened to enjoy one, you might check out the other. But I think for me, I felt in the reading that these were debut novels, so they just didn't dazzle the way some others on this list did...
Some other authors who are great at writing stories with unraveling secrets that I would recommend: Kate Morton (historical fiction that alternates with contemporary storylines, usually uncovering a family secret; especially liked The Forgotten Garden and The Lake House), Joshilyn Jackson (contemporary fiction; especially liked Never Have I Ever and The Almost Sisters), Liane Moriarty (of course Big Little Lies, but also Truly Madly Guilty fits this sub-genre well).
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