The Secrets They Left Behind: A Mystery

Written by Lissa Marie Redmond

Narrated by Laura Jennings

Three missing girls, no leads, a vault of dark secrets, and a case that's getting chillier by the minute set the stage for this nail-biting procedural.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: May 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781666551051

Lissa Marie Redmond

Lissa Marie Redmond is the author of the Cold Case Investigation series, and her short fiction can be found in Buffalo Noir, Down & Out, and other publications. A retired cold-case homicide detective, she has handled a number of high-profile cases and has appeared on television shows such as Dateline and Murder by Numbers. A proud wife and mother of two, she lives and writes in Buffalo, New York.

Reviews for The Secrets They Left Behind

[Darcia Helle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved this story’s premise and I enjoyed moments throughout, but in general the execution didn’t work for me.

First, this book is definitely not a thriller, but instead a mystery that mostly reads like a YA romance.

The pace is slow, even sluggish at times. We’re treated to a whole lot of teenage drama, with the bulk of it having nothing to do with the case Shea is there to solve.

This leads me to the crux of my problem. Shea’s character felt inconsistent. She’s only 23, but the gap between that age and the 18 year old girls she’s hanging out with is, generally, pretty wide in real life. With Shea, it should have been even wider since she’s an independent badass cop with undercover experience. Here, though, Shea fit right in with the giggling and the drama and the boy worries. In fact, she’s so adept at her role that she’s immediately enveloped into the girls’ clique, which seems a stretch in a tight-knit, small community. This wasn’t an undercover act, because Shea’s thoughts and internal monologue fits with a teenager. Yet, she also seems too mature for her age in certain circumstances. Overall, though, the tone is very much YA. In fact, even the adults in the community treat their college-aged children like high school kids.

Nick, Shea’s love interest, is the way-too-good-to-be-true town dreamboy. He puts her on a pedestal and treats her like a princess, except for a couple instances where he behaves like a spoiled, jealous child. Here, again, Shea’s reaction is of a girl of 18 or even younger, not at all fitting of her character, and I wanted to slap them both.

As for the whodunit aspect, I guessed it early on, and I was right. For me, it was too obvious and predictable.

The narration is quite good and kept me engaged.

I think this book will work well for readers looking for a YA feel, heavy on romance.