This mystery/suspense follows Petal Woznewski as she finds her name, her full name, listed in the acknowledgements in the newest hit thriller - "I know what you did, Petal Woznewski. And now everyone else will, too". She tries to go back to her regular, introverted life in NYC but she can't shake her curiosity. As she reads the book, it becomes clear that the story is based upon the true death of Petal's friend in high school. Only Petal and their other friend, Jenny, know the truth of what happened that night. There is no information available about the anonymous author, so Petal returns to her hometown to find out who wrote the book and why, after all these years, did they decide to unearth the past.
TW/CW: death of parents, suicide, death of a friend, stalking,
The standout element to this debut novel is by far Petal's voice and character. Some readers will definitely find her unlikable because she is pretty selfish and jaded. I loved her character and found that her attitude and personality quirks made perfect sense given her background. I also think these sorts of mystery/suspense that revolve around one character's past really need a strong lead character to draw the reader into the story. Half of the fun is figuring out what happened in the past that would lead them to act the way they do. Due to Petal's anti-social nature, we don't get a ton of side characters. However, the ones that we do get, I thought Osborne does a good job of building their characters out quickly and I was really able to get a sense of these characters in the short time that Petal interacts with them.
This was a fun take on the 'secrets from the past' trope, especially as Petal gets deeper into the book. She can tell immediately that the book is based on true events and everything is lining up perfectly to her memory of those days. However, then the author veers away from how the events truly happened. We get portions of the book which serve as flashbacks, of sorts, but then we get Petal immediately either agreeing with or correcting the flashback. We then get flashbacks of her own memory. It is an interesting push/pull sort of balance going on where even Petal questions her memory, at times. There are some details revealed that she didn't know but isn't quite sure if these details are even real or more creative liberties.
The stalker element was a bit understated but I think it was a real integral part to upping the stakes of the story. It acts as an occasional reminder for both Petal and the reader that this isn't just all a coincidence and that there is something bigger going on. I do wish there was more escalation with the stalker elements - either with type of stalking or frequency - so that tension really ramps up. I also think there could have been some great red herrings with the stalking element, specifically, that would have been fun. The stalker element does come into play when we get to the solution of the mystery and I always like when all the different threads in a mystery come together at the end.
The resolution to the mystery element was probably the weakest part of the book and where this really felt like a debut. I liked where we ended up, but I found the road to that resolution to be a bit rough. Like any good mystery, there were a number of red herrings but I never felt like these options were pursued in-depth enough for them to come off as real options for resolutions. Now, most mystery readers know that the resolution, most times, won't be the first option presented but I find part of the fun is having the case for that option be made so well that it makes you double guess your senses. I also found Petal's personal drive to solve the mystery to sort of wane at certain parts and if the main character isn't super driven to solve the mystery, it can be a bit of a drag to read. I will note that these choices could have been 100% on purpose, but they just didn't come together in the type of mystery read I prefer.
Overall, this was a really fun read with some interesting elements and played on my favorite tropes. I loved Petal's prickly character and though the premise of secrets being revealed via a book was fantastic. I do think the mystery reveal wasn't quite as tightly plotted as it could have been, but I enjoyed the overall resolution.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC
Publication date was July 18, 2023
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