#an unanticipated issue: i got the psych theme song in my head every time i looked at the cover

[e-b-reads]

Some things about I Know You Know:

OK, now down to the real reason I made a tumblr: for when I finish a book and want to say a few things and have nowhere to say them except for into the void.

About the book: I Know You Know is a mystery/thriller by Gilly Macmillan, mostly about the murder of two boys, killed twenty years before the story is set. A subsection of the chapters are the transcript of a podcast by the two boys’ friend, who says that even though someone was arrested at the time, he’s not convinced of his guilt, and wants to revisit the case.

I picked this up at the library and read it today. I thought the idea of a podcast as part of the narration was cool, especially because it allows for a sort of first person narration, but it also lets the character say whatever he wants. For me, though, that potential was kind of the best thing about the book.

OK, at this point I’m not avoiding spoilers--I won’t outright say whodunit, but I’ll come close, so beware.

First off, despite my knee-jerk reaction to cops these days being a sort of general distrust (yes, I am white and haven’t had bad experiences personally, but I’ve had some friends teargassed over the past few years...and this is probably a topic for another post mostly)--despite that, I am generally ready to be a sucker for dishevelled, dour, possibly depressed male detective characters in fiction, so I was disappointed to not care about Fletcher (the main detective who got chapters) really at all. I don’t think you’re supposed to like him, exactly, but I never got a consistent read on him at all, so instead of interested and then betrayed, or sorrowful at his snowballing poor choices, or even angry, I was just kind of bemused at his motivations and eventual downfall.  I would have liked to know more from his partner Danny’s perspective.

And then--well, I kind of liked the twist at the very end. Just like with Fletcher, I couldn’t quite get a read on Cody (the podcaster), but the ending explained that a little. What I didn’t like was the wrap-up to the actual mystery. (This is more specifically spoiler-y.) The murderer’s name never really popped up until the other characters knew what they’d done--no payoff on any earlier reader speculations--and it seemed that though they had dumped two boys--one still alive!--in a spot where they were discovered only several hours later, they also on the same night disposed of a body where it then wasn’t found for 20 years.

Anyway, this isn’t anything, just some things; I haven’t touched on the main woman character who got chapters, but she was there and I probably liked her best!

So overall: I’m not mad I read this! Read it once if you like thrillers/mysteries, and want to consider some creative ways they can be written. But don’t read it if you want to focus on expertly crafted mysteries. I might even pick up another book by the same author; but I won’t read this one again.