The Only One Who Knows by Lisa M. Matlin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Only One Who Knows follows Minnow Greenwood after she quits her job as a TV News Reporter, and breaks up with her fiance all in one go.
Feeling like there’s nothing left for her in Melbourne, Minnow returns to her small hometown of Kangaroo Bay, a place she thought she’d never live again.
She reunites with her estranged brother and even starts to assist with the family business. Her family has a rough history, with both her mother and then their father having disappeared on them. But that’s Kangaroo Bay for you. Everything about it is rough.
When bodies start washing ashore, apparently victims of shark attacks, Minnow isn’t buying the story being told by the police. Minnow starts to do a little investigating of her own into the town she knows is riddled with dark secrets.
This was interesting. I liked some aspects of it, mainly the setting and Minnow herself, and then others I didn’t care as much about. Because of this, the overall experience was a bit of a mixed bag for me.
The bits about sharks, abalone, and the fishing community in general, I could have done without. Of course that’s just personal preference. I would have preferred just the missing person bits, and maybe a little town history.
However, I did like the way it was wrapped up and I also like how Minnow was forced to face past. I do tend to love stories where the MC returns to their hometown, after a long period away, and end up looking into past mysteries, etc. This definitely checked off that box.
For the most part though, I was fairly bored. The tone is also quite morose, and the mystery lacked a certain intensity for me. I think 3-stars based on my experience is quite gracious, but I know there are a lot of Readers who will be able to connect with this one more than I did.
Thank you to the publisher, Bantam, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Even though I found this one to be underwhelming, I still plan to pick up Lisa M. Matlin’s future releases.