Our Little Secret by Roz Nay (A Review by Janice Carkner)

The story is told by Angela, who is being interrogated by a Detective about a missing woman – the wife of Angela’s high school lover. She relays the history of their love and how, over the years, their lives evolved. The mystery is in the connection between their high school love throughout their early adult years and the missing wife, which left me intrigued until the end. Rather than the interrogation being led by the Detective, Angela’s narrative as she tells her story is very cunning and compelling – I had to know more. I had to read more! This book has all the gripping elements of Eleanor & Park blended with The Girl on the Train. It takes the reader through young adult fiction to mystery. While I knew something shocking was just about to happen – the missing woman – I was swept up in the youthful love of Angela and her high school friend, which made me like Angela and be convinced of her perspective, a very clever writing effort of the author. When I first received this book, I judged it by its cover and size (228 pages); I wondered how far on the side of the erotic thriller spectrum the book would fall, which it doesn’t at all. It is for this reason, the cover and short number of pages, which I knocked my rating down by a half point. This is Roz Nay’s first novel, and she has done a wonderful job keeping the reader’s interest from the youthful romance with its component of teenage complication through the puzzling mystery in their adult lives that I kept wondering how and when would evolve and maybe be solved. The book is expected to come in June, and will make for perfect summer dockside reading. It has all the twists and turns. A quick read, a great page turner. Review by Janice Carkner