Books & Literature

Book Review: I Know a Secret, by Tess Gerritsen

Rizzoli and Isles are called to a bizarre crime scene – a young woman has been found murdered, with her eyeballs removed and placed in the palms of her hands.

Rizzoli and Isles are back!

This will be well received news for fans – as it’s been nearly three years since the last novel and almost 12-months since the final episode of the novel-inspired TV series. If you’ve never delved into Gerritsen’s work, there is an extensive catalogue (both written and visual) to dive into.

This novel picks up threads from the previous novels, relating to the personal lives of the central characters and their immediate family members and colleagues. There is a comfort in the return of these people, like you’re catching up with old friends after a brief absence.

Into the middle of these personal goings-on, Rizzoli and Isles are called to a bizarre crime scene – a young woman has been found murdered, with her eyeballs removed and placed in the palms of her hands. In the background, through her first person narrative, another young woman is watching the crime scene – aware of who and what and even why, but keeping those secrets to herself – from both the crime scene detective and the reader.

Over the next 300-plus pages we are taken on a twisting, turning and violence-laden ride which brings about questions and answers from the past, relating to both the crimes and Medical Examiner, Maura Isles. There is extensive personal insight into the well-established characters, alongside a few tenuous links, which seem to be more filler than fact.

The title of the book applies across the range of characters, both established and new,  and it does feel, in the last few chapters, like there is an avalanche of answers, some of which leave you questioning their validity, while others will leave you wanting more information.

I Know a Secret – the 13th Rizzoli and Isles thriller (the 14th if we count Jane Rizzoli’s ‘cameo’ in The Bone Garden) – is a well-crafted read, but doesn’t quite hit the mark in the same way as the previous books. There are a number of resolutions and hints of things to come. Now we wait to see if the hints are fleshed out and where they might lead.

Reviewed by Glen Christie

Distributed by: Penguin Random House Australia
Release date: August 2017
RRP: $45 hardback, $32.99 trade paperback

Rating out of 10:  8

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