All Her Little Secrets
A Novel
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4.1 • 90 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
“All Her Little Secrets is a brilliantly nuanced but powerhouse exploration of race, the legal system, and the crushing pressure of keeping secrets. Morris brings a vibrant and welcome new voice to the thriller space.” —Karin Slaughter, New York Times and international bestselling author
In this fast-paced thriller, Wanda M. Morris crafts a twisty mystery about a black lawyer who gets caught in a dangerous conspiracy after the sudden death of her boss . . . A debut perfect for fans of Attica Locke, Alyssa Cole, Harlan Coben, and Celeste Ng, with shades of How to Get Away with Murder and John Grisham’s The Firm.
Everyone has something to hide...
Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a “for fun” relationship with a rich, charming executive, who just happens to be her white boss. But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice arrives in the executive suite and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head.
And then she walks away like nothing has happened. Why? Ellice has been keeping a cache of dark secrets, including a small-town past and a kid brother who’s spent time on the other side of the law. She can’t be thrust into the spotlight—again.
But instead of grieving this tragedy, people are gossiping, the police are getting suspicious, and Ellice, the company’s lone black attorney, is promoted to replace her boss. While the opportunity is a dream-come-true, Ellice just can’t shake the feeling that something is off.
When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma. Suddenly, Ellice’s past and present lives collide as she launches into a pulse-pounding race to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Attorney Morris puts her experiences as a Black woman navigating the corridors of corporate power to good use in her strong debut, a legal thriller. Ellice Littlejohn, a 40-something Black woman, is relatively content as a senior member of the legal department at Atlanta's Houghton Transportation Company. But that all changes when she arrives for an early morning meeting with her white boss, Houghton's general counsel and her lover, Michael Sayles, and finds him dead from a gunshot to the head, apparently self-inflicted. Freaked out, Ellice doesn't report her grim discovery and acts surprised when the news reaches her. She's further stunned to be immediately promoted to fill Michael's role before she has a chance to decide whether she wants the position. She becomes increasingly anxious when she's interviewed by the police, who are treating the death as a homicide. Morris gives her flawed lead plenty to struggle with, including a secret, ex-con brother; workplace sexism and racism; and an awkward encounter with her lover's widow. The fast pacing doesn't overwhelm the deep dive into Ellice's inner life. John Grisham fans will be pleased.
Customer Reviews
Guns, Race, and Lies
I spent a whole summer reading the collected works of John Grisham. It was an interesting experiment that familiarized me with the legal fiction genre. What I took from this book is that it mirrors a lot of the suspense and intrigue of Grisham’s thrillers. This time, from a different perspective that doesn’t usually get the spotlight. The black female perspective opens up the door for a whole host of issues to be explored that set up current and relevant character interactions.
I didn’t like the main narrator’s voice. It was forced and full of detail that didn’t add to the story. The added random perspective switch two thirds of the way through the book was also off and broke the flow. I think that had the book been in third person another rich layer of detail could have been added to round the characters out more and make some of the more obvious plot turns less predictable.
What I do love is that book also serves as love letter and critique of Atlanta and the blending of new and old south. The undercurrent of race, politics, religion, and sexism runs throughout the pages. The cringy moments when the author dives into these subjects are what really give this book life. A further exploration into these topics, combined with a omniscient glimpse into the perspectives of all the characters involved would have really set this book apart. That said, this was a great and entertaining debut effort Wanda Morris.
Felt incomplete
Needed more plot and character development