Does The Truth Set You Free?

First book of the year, even though it was started in 2021. Everything We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart is a thriller that is a slow burn for me. I am not going to lie, it took me quite some time to get into this book. At first I couldn’t say I liked our main character Juniper “June” Baker, she seemed selfish and very self-important. The time jump helped really grasp why she turned into this person. She is the typical small town girl that wants out and to never come back. This was amplified by a child she had and the murder of her neighbors. A summer almost 15 years ago her neighbors, Beth and Cal Murphy, were shot right on their farm with Cal’s own gun. This murder remained unsolved, but June’s own brother, Jonathan, was and still remains to many the main suspect. June returns to Jericho, Iowa officially to help her friend Cora with the library, unofficially she wants to convince her daughter to move with her and solve this murder once and for all. There are things about the night of the murders that no one can seem to put together, but June might just hold the pieces. When her brother is being harassed and almost dies because of it, June knows this case needs to be solved to finally get the peace they all need. You sit there trying to look for clues throughout the story and suspect after suspect is thrown at you. Until the switch and everything starts to fall together. This story is a little unsatisfying because you end up empathizing with the killer instead of feeling a strong sense of justice. I do have to say this is a story that won’t exactly stand out to me, but is was a good twist.