Our Little Secret: The True Story of a Teenage Killer and the Silence of a Small New England Town

Written by Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie

Narrated by Aven Shore

The true story of a teenage killer and the silence of a small New England town.

For twenty years Daniel Paquette's murder in New Hampshire went unsolved. It remained a secret between two high school friends until Eric Windhurst's arrest in 2005. What was revealed was a crime born of adolescent passion between Eric and Daniel's stepdaughter, Melanie- redefining the meaning of loyalty, justice, and revenge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vibrance Press
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781624617669

Kevin Flynn

Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, native New Yorkers, veteran newspaper reporters, and winners of many awards together and separately, now work at The New York Times. Dwyer is the coauthor or author of three other books. Flynn, a special projects editor at the Times, was the newspaper's police bureau chief on September 11. He previously worked as a reporter for the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, and the Stamford Advocate.

Reviews for Our Little Secret

[thomas cooney · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Should have been edited way down by at least 30%

[Jaime Gray · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was really good but a little hard to follow the different timelines.

[Angela Levarto · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just made me think of those less fortunate children in school and wonder if they maybe were going through similar abuse. Definitely makes you think that you never really know what goes on behind closed doors.

[marlene9nl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good read. Do not expect a cruel murder book but this one is all about the details. Very well written which is why the book is good.

[bellafoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

On November 9, 1985 Danny Paquette was murdered, on August 21, 2006 his murderer pleaded guilty to second degree murder. This book is the account of a secret kept for twenty years. The reasons were varied, some kept the secret because of loyalty to the murderer, some because they were afraid of him and his family and some because they felt Danny Paquette deserved to die.

The shooting was at one time ruled an accident, through the efforts of the victim’s brother and the dedication of a young patrol officer, who was on the scene of the original shooting and rose to the rank of chief of police the shooting was classified a homicide and eventually solved.

At the time cold cases were handled by the New Hampshire State Police, the Chief of Police went to the Attorney General and convinced him to let the town investigate the crime. It was a case of knowing who did it, but needing to get the evidence or a confession, they needed to dig through all the lies and hidden truths.

While I liked this book, I did not find it to be especially compelling, it is not a ‘must read’. There is plenty of detail and the book is well researched. The author goes into the motive, other facts that came out during the investigation that had an impact on the case. There is no trial since both parties involved accepted plea agreements. There is a little too much detail in some places. One thing that I did like was the follow-up after the sentence.

One thing I didn’t like was how the shooter was made to look like he lived an exemplary life after the shooting, how he appeared to try to make up for what he had done, and yet he never came forward and confessed his crime, that makes me think that he wasn’t really sorry, he is now saying he did the wrong thing because he got caught.