Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus | Review

Paperback: 327

Publisher: Penguin House

Published: 2019

Language: English

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

I believe this book was the one that turned Karen into an auto-buy author for me. 

If you know me, you know I love playing detective more than anything, it keeps my brain working and if I solve the mystery, I get the endless Sheldon Cooper-like satisfaction of being right 😂

Now, now.

The book follows twin siblings Ellery and Ezra Corcoran, who are forced to move in with a grandmother they never met, in a city they've never been to. 
Ellery is a true-crime lover and Echo Ridge, small as it may be, has been quite a beacon for crime in the past 20 years, which sparks her interest immediately.

A homecoming queen was murdered 5 years prior, her aunt went missing 12 before that and now a girl goes missing just as they arrive? Feels like the welcoming small town isn't so welcoming after all.

Will Ellery manage to solve the mystery and bring the grieving families some peace at last? Or will she end up being just another name on a cold-blooded killer's list?

The synopsis always confused me because I was losing track of who died and who went missing. I had a huge back and forth before buying this book because I thought that if the synopsis is confusing, then the story would be even worse, but to my surprise, the story was phenomenal.

I remember reading this book in under 24 hours, it was so addicting. 

I gotta admit, Ellery was one of the most frustrating main characters I have ever read about. She is a true crime lover, which I thought was going to be fun.

Boy, was I wrong :)

Sadly, this particular hobby of hers only ended up turning her into a very annoying know-it-all who was constantly convinced that her theories were correct and wouldn't listen to suggestions from anyone else and also wouldn't take anyone's advice. This scene has a special place engraved in my brain

"but if years of reading true crime books and watching Dateline have taught me anything, it's this: it's always the boyfriend."

And listen, I know us true crime fans can be over the top sometimes, but she was a whole lot worse. 

The mystery revolving around the missing persons was a complicated puzzle to sort, an intricate blend of theories, evidence, testimonies and accusations that kept tangling more and more until I couldn't tell speculations from truth. That was when I put down my pen and notebook and let the book detectives do their jobs.

But to be frank, if it would have been easy, it would have been predictable. And predictable is boring. This is why we love the unknown so much, it keeps us on our toes at all times.

I think out of the 3 open cases presented in this book, the cold one made my brain work the hardest because if all 3 are connected, how did that one fit? I watched many episodes of Buzzfeed Unsolved trying to perfect my detective skills but I think I failed miserably in that department.

So we'll just keep said detective skills where they are, failing me with every new book this author releases 😂 but that has never discouraged me before. I keep trying until I get it right 😌

One day, maybe 😂

The characters, while not all to my liking, were nicely written and easy to get attached to. I think Ezra was my favourite throughout the whole book and I'm rooting for him to heal that broken heart one day.

The twins' mother is quite an interesting presence in the book. She is mentioned more than actually being an active participant in the plot, but somehow it feels as if she is always there, in every chapter and every scene.
She has an intriguing back story and I found it worth giving a second look to the way all the roads were somehow leading back to her, as if she was connected with everything while being almost non-existent.

I think in the end, she is probably the most complex character in the book. And to me, complex characters happen to be the cherry on top in every story 😌

The ending was a huge surprise to me, because it seems like an odd but also brave move on the author's part. 
The ending is open. Or at least that is how it felt to me. The very last line of the book left enough room for something to follow but my gut says we won't get anything.

But we gotta appreciate the bold move. It was chef's kiss, if I dare say so myself 😌

Currently, Two Can Keep a Secret holds second place in my top 3 favourites from Karen M. McManus and even 2 new releases later, things have yet to change. 

I cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you are a true-crime fan like Ellery and I. And if you're a Sherlock Holmes in training, this book could serve as practice for future cases.

Let me know in the comments below if you read this book and if you did, what are your thoughts on it?