This review is written with thanks to Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read and review Our Dark Secret.

Blurb:

From the author of The Missing Girl, Jenny Quintana’s gripping novel, Our Dark Secret, tells the story of two girls, two deaths and two decades of silence . . .

The crazy girls, they called them – or at least, Elizabeth liked to think they did. As a teenager in the late 1970s, she was clever, overweight and a perfect victim for the bullies. Then Rachel and her family arrived in town and, for Elizabeth, it was as if a light had been switched on. She was drawn to the bright and beautiful Rachel like a moth to a flame.

Rachel had her own reasons for wanting Elizabeth as a friend, and although their relationship was far from equal, Elizabeth would do anything for Rachel.

Then the first body was discovered.

Twenty years on, Elizabeth wants nothing more than to keep the secrets of her teenage years where they belong: in the past. But another body has been found, and she can’t keep running from what happened.

Can she?

Review:

Set over two timelines, in the late 1970s and 1999, Our Dark Secret is full of mystery and lies and I couldn’t wait for each stave so I could get to the bottom of what was happening. Quintana is brilliant at placing little clues throughout the text that at first seem insignificant but have a deeper meaning that becomes clear much later. I enjoyed looking out for them and trying to work out some answers.

The protagonist, Elizabeth, often seems a little immature and I sometimes found it hard to believe that a teenager (as she was in the 1970s) would be so naive and act in the way she did. Nevertheless, she is an intriguing character and I wanted to keep reading to see how things would work out for her.

Through Our Dark Secret, Quintana explores a wide range of themes, some of which make for some uncomfortable reading. However, I liked the way these were weaved into the plot and handled in a very sensitive manner.

As we reach the ending, Quintana increases the tension brilliantly. As the answers were revealed, I was hooked until the very end.

Our Dark Secret is available from Amazon.