the patient's secret book review

Book Review: The Patient’s Secret by Loreth Anne White

By janet webb.

Early one morning a female jogger runs for her life. She’s terrified because the person coming after her is relentless. She tries to hide in the underbrush but “he’s almost upon her and she can’t take it.”

She screams, bolts up out of her hiding place, and staggers forward like a wounded deer.  Suddenly she’s out of the trees and there is black emptiness before her. She’s reached the edge of the forest. The cliffs. The ocean. She spins around, but he’s right there. She’s trapped.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (N.B. the story is set near Victoria, British Columbia) don’t ride to her rescue: there is no happy ending. She loses her footing: “A scream surges from her chest as she falls and spins and spirals downward in the lashing rain and driving wind,” and dies, a crumpled broken body on the pebbled shore.

The Patient’s Secret revolves around the lives—and secrets—of three women: Dr. Lily Bradley, Rue Duval, a Black detective, and Arwen Harper, a newcomer to Story Cove.

Dr. Lily Bradley is a psychotherapist with an active practice which she operates out of her home in Story Cove, an affluent ocean-front community (fictional). Lily is all about being organized and maintaining a rigid routine.

“Stacking” her habits to build a perfect life is what gives Lily control over her world. She needs routine.

On Monday, June 20 th , Lily leans into her hard-won sense of order more than usual because she and her husband, Professor Tom Bradley had a wicked fight at a neighborhood barbeque the day before. Is that why he’s off running at 5:30 a.m., “in the dark of a storm?” Lily reflects that Tom’s early morning run is not the norm.  She switches gears to meet with an early morning patient, a teenager named Tarryn Wingate. After Tarryn was arrested for shoplifting, her wealthy parents decide to send her to the neighborhood psychologist. It’s no ordinary morning—there’s commotion outside and loud running in the house—and both Tarryn and Lily “see something” but only Tarryn “says something.”

Lily sees Tom rushing down the driveway toward the approaching cops. He wears an orange rain jacket over his running pants with reflective strips—not his usual red jacket. His hair is soaked—plastered to his skull. His running shoes are caked with black mud. “Jesus, is that your husband ?” says Tarryn. “What are the police doing at your house?”

Tom and Lily’s young son Matthew is the hidden chronicler of Story Cove, taking endless pictures from his attic eyrie. When he spots his distraught father, he springs into action, grabbing his digital camera: “Matthew could use a cell phone to take photos, but he’s going to be a famous reporter one day.” The last member of the Bradley family is Phoebe, a youngish teenager who presents as a somewhat alienated Goth, changing her hair color frequently. Tom is at least a decade older than his wife but the Bradley clan is not that unusual a nuclear family.  

Rulandi “Rue” Duval, takes Tom in for questioning.  In the wake of a string of “deadly sexual assaults on female joggers,” Rue was the police liaison with the press—a high-profile detective.  Things are not as they seem in the world created by suspense novelist Loreth Anne White. The Patient’s Secret is “inspired by a horrific true crime” and there’s an undercurrent of palpable accuracy to the events. 

It seems to both Lily and Rue that everything was copasetic before “sensual and free-spirited Arwen Harper” came to Story Cove. Arwen is a grown-up hippie with a sixteen-year-old son in tow. She drives the favored car of an earlier era—a “hand-painted VW van.” She gets a job as a waitress at the local watering-hole. Charming and provocative, Arwen is a catalyst for change, particularly among the men (including Rue’s habitually philandering husband). Does Arwen “know” her new neighbors better than they know themselves? After Arwen arrives in Story Cove, Lily receives missives from a stalker who seemingly knows a lot about her past—is it a coincidence or is there a connection?

The dead woman is Arwen Harper. When the news is released, everyone in Story Cove looks askance at their neighbors. Arwen’s son is dating Phoebe Bradley, much to the dismay of Dr. Lily. Tentacles emerge connecting Arwen to many inhabitants of Story Cove, no longer an idyllic community, given the rifts and suspicions that are rife.

There are spoilers ahead; be warned. The Patient’s Secret is loosely patterned on a true life Canadian crime—a horrific familicide .  Loreth Anne White lives in the province of British Columbia, switching between Victoria on Vancouver Island and the mountain town of Whistler and that familiarity informs the descriptions of the fictional Story Cove. Like her earlier thriller In the Deep White delivers a complex, multi-layered tale that will have readers stunned by the twists and turns in the plot.

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#BookReview The Patient’s Secret by Loreth Anne White @Loreth @AmazonPub @ThomasAllenLTD #ThePatientsSecret #LorethAnneWhite #Montlake

Secrets worth dying―and killing―for, in a novel of suspense inspired by a horrific true crime by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White.

When the battered body of a female jogger is found beneath the cliffs of an idyllic coastal community, these perfect neighbors suddenly don’t seem so perfect…

Lily Bradley is a respected psychotherapist married to a distinguished professor. They live in a dream house with their two children in close-knit Story Cove. Lily lives a well-ordered life. Or so it seems. As a therapist, she knows everyone keeps things hidden. Even her.

Then sensual and free-spirited Arwen Harper rolls into town in her hand-painted VW van, her sixteen-year-old son riding shotgun. Overnight, Story Cove’s secrets are no longer safe. Because Arwen might know her new neighbors better than they know themselves.

Now someone is dead, and it looks like murder. Brutal and personal. The death invites the shrewd eye of Detective Rue Duval. Rue’s job is to expose secrets. But she’s also an expert at keeping them.

As the lives of three women become inexorably entwined, one thing is clear: when it comes to survival, ordinary people can do the most terrible things.

Unsettling, twisty, and intricate!

The Patient’s Secret  is a tortuous, disturbing mystery that takes you into the lives of a handful of people, including the successful psychotherapist Lily Bradley, whose worlds get turned upside down when the bloodied body of a new arrival to the community is found shattered at the bottom of the cliffs leaving some residents devastated by loss, some overwhelmingly consumed with fear, some extremely worried the past will finally collide with the present, and all of them scrambling to keep their darkest secrets hidden and buried for good.

The writing is brisk and sharp. The characters are tormented, scarred, and vulnerable. And the plot, told from alternating POVs and using a back-and-forth style, is an eerie whodunit full of twists, turns, lies, deception, familial drama, mental illness, adultery, depravity, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Patient’s Secret  is another fast-paced, gripping, sophisticated tale by White that kept me guessing from the very first page and left me chilled, satisfied, and curious to see what her devious mind could possibly come up with next.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

Thank you to Thomas Allen & Son for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

About Loreth Anne White

Loreth Anne White is an award-winning, bestselling author of romantic suspense, thrillers, and mysteries.

A three-time RITA finalist, she has also won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Romantic Crown for Best Romantic Suspense and Best Book Overall, in addition to being a Booksellers’ Best finalist, a multiple Daphne Du Maurier Award finalist, and a multiple CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award winner.

A former journalist and newspaper editor who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now resides in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest with her family. When she’s not writing, you will find her skiing, biking, or hiking the trails with her Black Dog.

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Book Review

The Patient's Secret

Loreth anne white.

reviewed by Sandra Hoover

Goodreads  | Crossmyheartbookreviews

At the heart of Loreth Anne White’s newest thriller,  The Patient’s Secret , is a true crime that occurred several years ago. One that was so horrific, so mind-boggling that it defies the wildest imagination.

To this day, the crime continues to be debated in terms of odds for or against lasting rehabilitation to the point a patient can return to society as a functioning, law-abiding citizen. Keep that in mind as you turn the pages of  The Patient’s Secret  and get lost in a profoundly thought-provoking story that I believe is White’s finest work to date. Just beware, once you learn the patient’s secret, you’ll never be the same again.

There are three main players in  The Patient’s Secret whose lives become hopelessly entwined during a murder investigation – Lily Bradley, a highly revered psychotherapist, beloved wife and mother of two, respected member of the coastal town of Story Cove . . . and woman with a dark secret; Detective Rue Duval, a respected member of the town’s police force, skilled investigator, beloved wife and mother – and woman with a life-altering secret; and finally, new to the community is Arwen Harper, a flamboyant, gypsy-like bar waitress and artist, seductress, mother – and woman with a deeply buried secret. When the battered body of an early morning jogger is found lying on the beach at the base of the cliffs, these women’s lives clash in ways they couldn’t have imagined, and a blanket of unease settles over the idyllic town of Story Cove. The victim’s face is beyond recognition. Who is it? Was it a terrible accident? Did they jump from the cliff top or were they pushed? Det. Duval is called to the death scene by Lily’s husband, a distinguished professor, who discovers the body while on his morning run. Questions and suspicions escalate when critical evidence is recovered, and the body is officially identified. It appears several people have motive for wanting this person silenced, including Lily’s husband. As the story unfolds, the past collides with the present, skeletons are rattled and despite their efforts to slap a Band-Aid over them, dark secrets begin oozing out. The stakes are high for several prominent people with everything they hold dear at risk so the question is: Which of these upstanding citizens would kill to keep their secret?

The Patient’s Secret  is an intensely moving reading experience. White’s uncanny ability to continuously gift reader’s thought-provoking stories like this is nothing short of amazing. As a reader, I’m loving her current trend of writing fiction based on true crimes with ramifications reaching far into the future. Her work not only entertains readers, it challenges them to think and consider what if? The Patient’s Secret  is highly atmospheric with a setting that enhances the story line, helping accelerate an escalating pace as the story progresses. White’s brilliant manipulation of each character leaves readers frantically scrambling to discover which of these seemingly ordinary, everyday people would kill to protect loved ones from their dark secrets.

Loreth Anne White is a writer at the top of her game, and it’s never been more evident than with this piece of work. As a reviewer, I struggle to find the right words to review her work without spoilers and as a reader, I’m just thankful for the opportunity to read it. Fans of mystery, suspense, thrillers and true crime fiction, mark your calendars for the release of  The Patient’s Secret  on March 1, 2022. It’s one you don’t want to miss. Highly recommended!

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Up Close: Loreth Anne White

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February 28, 2022

Murder Fractures Even a Perfect Life

Bestselling author Loreth Anne White uses a true crime as the underpinning for her newest thriller, THE PATIENT’S SECRET.

“My story is inspired by a horrific true crime that occurred in my region of the world in 2006, when my youngest daughter was the same age as some of those involved,” she says. “As a mom, it was an event that burrowed into my psyche, and it lingered. Those connected with the crime are dealing with the repercussions to this day, and I asked myself, what if? What if you met someone with ties to this kind of past, and you didn’t know it ? While the fictionalized backstory of my novel echoes the unfolding of the actual events, I moved the timeline to work with my fictional characters and my premise.”

In the novel, Lily and Tom Bradley live in idyllic Story Cove, just north of the US border in Canada. They have what seems to be a perfect life. Lily is a psychotherapist, and Tom is a college professor of abnormal psychology whose “intellectual passion is twisted minds.” Their 12-year-old daughter, Phoebe, sports pink hair and heavy eye makeup, and eight-year-old Matthew is a budding investigative journalist who takes “candid” pictures of everything and everyone. He “is like the National Geographic eye on Story Cove, the safe neighborhood with hidden secrets.”

But their lives unravel when someone murders a local woman, leaving her dead on the beach, the crime exhibiting the same facts as the unsolved “Jogger Killer” murders.

“Story Cove, the fictional town in THE PATIENT’S SECRET, was inspired by the real town of Oak Bay on Vancouver Island,” says White. “While brainstorming THE PATIENT’S SECRET, I walked that neighborhood up and down, and this is one of the bays where I imagined a body could be found.”

The same morning, before anyone knows of the murder, Tom goes on an early run in a thunderstorm and returns bloody. His unusual behavior terrifies Lily. Routine and order hold her life together. “Her kids are her world,” White says. “She will do anything to keep them safe.”

Detective Rulandi (Rue) Duval takes over the case, soon discovering that she has ties to the murdered woman. As her investigation continues, it’s obvious the victim had inserted herself into the lives of the Story Cove residents, including Lily and Tom.

Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that there are seven suspects who had motive and opportunity to kill the woman, including physical evidence.

What Lily and Tom don’t know about each other could tear their perfect family, and Story Cove, apart.

White says the secrets spouses hide from each other and how someone might rationalize their spouse’s actions away—“cognitive dissonance”—is a trait she’s observed. “We humans are perfectly capable of believing two conflicting ideas at the same time, or engaging in behaviors that contradict our core beliefs,” she says. “We’re also highly adept at inventing new thoughts/narratives to support the dissonance within us. Our psyches can protect us by burying dark truths deep into our subconscious so that we can look the other way. It’s a survival tool.

White at the Oak Bay yacht club that served as the inspiration for Tom’s boat scenes

“We are herd animals, biologically programmed to belong to a herd for protection, support, and sustenance. A human alone in the wild is vulnerable—being cut from the herd equals danger. While logic might tell us one thing, belonging is biologically more important. And if the logic—a terrible truth—threatens our mate, our children, our families, our friends, we can go to extreme lengths to hide it, or to hide from it. It can take tremendous energy, and the cracks will show in subversive ways.”

White has experience delving deep into criminal offenses and those who commit them. As a former crime journalist, she has “written in-depth features for a newsmagazine on local restorative justice programs, interviewing psychologists, young offenders, and law enforcement. In part, this background inspired me to tell this story. I’ve also done in-depth features on students and bullying in a small and generally affluent community that is not quite what it seems on the surface.”

White spent many late summer evenings walking the grassy bluffs high above the ocean, where she imagined her character—the free-spirited and troubled Arwen—would run along trails, sometimes in the company of Lily’s husband, Tom.

Not wanting to give away spoilers, White is “a firm proponent of restorative justice versus retributive justice. It brings to mind the quote about pulling drowned people out of a river, versus going upriver to see why people are falling in. Sometimes ‘good’ kids, ‘good’ people, do bad things, but society can help bring them around. There is room for reparation, and it can also help victims heal in more efficient ways. Plus, data shows that restorative justice programs can cause lower recidivism rates. But these are for lesser crimes than murder.

“Can a killer be rehabilitated? Should we give them a chance to try? Especially if they are very young? We can look at famous cases where some children who have killed have become functioning members of society. Others have not. As for a true sociopath? Well, a manipulative sociopath might just be very good at acting as if they’ve been rehabilitated, because it serves them well to do so. How would we know if they are still dangerous?”

Loving the outdoors, White “finds nature creeping into my stories, often playing a role as a character itself. My ideas often grow out of a setting, a mood, an atmosphere. Setting shapes people. Characters who grow up in small and remote towns where everyone knows everyone’s business—versus those who inhabit a bustling, concrete jungle with ever-present sirens, traffic, lights, throngs of people from different cultures and backgrounds, cuisines from around the globe—are generally going to approach a story problem differently.”

“This is one of the ‘Story Cove’ bays where I could imagine my homicide cop, Rue, picking her way over slick stones toward the battered body of the jogger found below the grassy bluff,” White says.

White “likes to poke at the gray areas between right and wrong, and how individual world views shape concepts of what is good or evil.” With THE PATIENT’S SECRET, she poses questions about society’s role in shaping criminals and in punishing them. “Our concepts of justice define who we are as a group, and they’re not always comfortable questions to answer.”

Her next novel is The Maid’s Diary , “a twisty psychological thriller about a maid with a snooping problem who sees something she cannot unsee, and now someone is dead. But nothing is as it seems.”

White takes her work outdoors as often as possible, brainstorming plot problems and listening to true crime and writing podcasts while she hikes, kayaks, walks, swims, or skis.

As advice for other writers, White says “learning craft is a fluid and continuous thing.” She has two suggestions for getting the job done. First, “finish writing your novel! A finished manuscript can be fixed and published. Unfinished, it remains a dream. Set daily goals or targets that are achievable. Hitting a target at the end of a day gives a punch of dopamine that feels good. The motivation that comes from reaching target after target after target and seeing something grow out of your hands and imagination feeds its own fire.

“Second, read. This is so important for a writer. Read in your genre, read across genres, read for study and for pleasure. Novelists stuck in a deadline grind often find less and less time to read, but don’t let it slide.”

What does White love to do when she’s not writing or reading? “I adore open water and long-distance swimming, preferably in wild, surging oceans, and without a wetsuit.”

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But it gets worse — much worse — when the next day, as Lily sits in her psychotherapy office with a client, she sees her husband, Tom, run through the back gate. His shirt is stained red. He goes to a backyard shed, comes out bare-chested and runs into the house. Soon police sirens are rushing down the street toward their house.

The sirens send Lily back in time to a very dark place that neither her parents nor her younger brother survived.

As soon as she can end her therapy session, she races to her husband, now wearing a new shirt and talking to the police. He tells them that he saw a woman’s dead body at the base of a cliff in a nearby state park where he often runs. The woman is Arwen. She appeared to have fallen over the cliff.

Was it an accident? Or was it a homicide? That’s a question Detective Rulandi Duval needs to investigate.

Rue is a distinctive-looking Black woman who has given press briefings on three fatal sexual assaults on female joggers on area trails. While Rue isn’t certain that Tom Bradley is the “Jogger Killer,” she doesn’t think his story about the discovery of Arwen’s body holds water.

Author Loreth Anne White tells this story from different points of view — Lily’s, her young son Matthew’s, her daughter Phoebe’s, Tom’s, Rue’s, Arwen’s and Arwen’s son Joe’s — and at different points in time in relationship to Arwen’s death.

White opens the book with Arwen’s fall from the cliff. In the description, it appears that Arwen is either hallucinating or suffering from mental illness. But it’s also clear there’s another person present.

What makes this novel so intriguing are the secrets that various characters in the book are hiding. Each person’s secret, if exposed, might reveal another suspect in Arwen’s death.

This is a tightly written, suspenseful story that is a pleasure to read. While the multiple points of view and zigzagging timeframe has been used so much by mystery writers recently that it’s become monotonous, White uses it to excellent effect here.

This story was inspired by a true 2006 crime in which three members of the Richardson family were murdered in Medicine Hat , Alberta, Canada.

The Author: Loreth Anne White

A former journalist, Loreth Anne White has worked in her native South Africa and Canada, which she now calls home. She is a best-selling author of thrillers, mysteries and suspense novels.

She is a three-time RITA finalist, an Arthur Ellis finalist and winner of multiple industry awards.

She divides her time between Vancouver Island, a ski resort in the Coast Mountains and a rustic lakeside cabin in the Cariboo.

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Great review!

Thanks, Carl! It’s a really well plotted book. A highly recommended read.

Thanks, Dave! Appreciate you’re taking the time to read it.

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THE PATIENT’S SECRET – A Novel by Loreth Anne White

Murder fractures even a perfect life.

Bestselling author Loreth Anne White uses a true crime as the underpinning for her newest thriller, THE PATIENT’S SECRET.

“My story is inspired by a horrific true crime that occurred in my region of the world in 2006, when my youngest daughter was the same age as some of those involved,” she says. “As a mom, it was an event that burrowed into my psyche, and it lingered. Those connected with the crime are dealing with the repercussions to this day, and I asked myself, what if?  What if you met someone with ties to this kind of past, and you didn’t know it ? While the fictionalized backstory of my novel echoes the unfolding of the actual events, I moved the timeline to work with my fictional characters and my premise.”

In the novel, Lily and Tom Bradley live in idyllic Story Cove, just north of the US border in Canada. They have what seems to be a perfect life. Lily is a psychotherapist, and Tom is a college professor of abnormal psychology whose “intellectual passion is twisted minds.” Their 12-year-old daughter, Phoebe, sports pink hair and heavy eye makeup, and eight-year-old Matthew is a budding investigative journalist who takes “candid” pictures of everything and everyone. He “is like the  National Geographic  eye on Story Cove, the safe neighborhood with hidden secrets.”

But their lives unravel when someone murders a local woman, leaving her dead on the beach, the crime exhibiting the same facts as the unsolved “Jogger Killer” murders.

The same morning, before anyone knows of the murder, Tom goes on an early run in a thunderstorm and returns bloody. His unusual behavior terrifies Lily. Routine and order hold her life together. “Her kids are her world,” White says. “She will do anything to keep them safe.”

Detective Rulandi (Rue) Duval takes over the case, soon discovering that she has ties to the murdered woman. As her investigation continues, it’s obvious the victim had inserted herself into the lives of the Story Cove residents, including Lily and Tom.

Read the rest of my review and interview in The Big Thrill .

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K.L. Romo writes about life on the fringe: teetering dangerously on the edge is more interesting than standing safely in the middle. She is passionate about women’s issues, loves noisy clocks and fuzzy blankets, but HATES the word normal. She is also a book reviewer, her bylines included in The Big Thrill, Washington Independent Review of Books, BookTrib, and Shondaland. Her reviews and articles appear at www.romosreadingroom.com, and you can find her on Twitter @klromo and Instagram @k.l.romo View all posts by K. L. Romo

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Last to Vanish & The Patient’s Secret

It’s Thriller Thursday with Sharon.  I cannot believe it is September already. And with September comes spooky season, well for me spooky season is year round. LOL!  This week I am happy to share my thoughts on Megan Miranda’s new book, The Last to Vanish and Loreth Anne White’s new book The Patient’s Secret. I enjoyed both of these books very much.

Author: Megan Miranda

Publicatio n Date: July 26, 2022

Publisher: Scribner / Marysue Rucci Books

I have loved all the books I have read by Megan Miranda and her latest book, The Last to Vanish is no exception. The book is set in a small North Carolina mountain town called Cutter’s Pass. Cutter’s Pass is known for its outdoor activities, especially hiking, with access to the Appalachian Trail. Cutter’s Pass is also known for the mysterious disappearance of seven people spread out over twenty-five years. In June 1997, a group of four men known as the Fraternity Four went missing while hiking in the mountains. Alice Kelly went missing in September 2012, last seen at a tavern in town. Farrah Jordan was last seen as she was entering the hiking trail in January 2019. And the last to vanish was Landon West, who was last seen at The Passage Inn in April 2022.

The book follows Abby Lovett, who moved to Cutter’s Pass ten years ago and is the manager of The Passage Inn. Though she sometimes feels like she is still an outsider, Abby loves Cutter’s Pass. This small town is a very close-knit community that looks out for each other. When Landon’s brother, Trey, comes into town looking for answers on what happened to his brother, he stirs up a hornet’s nest of secrets that the town has been keeping. Abby and Trey work together to try and find answers on what happened to Landon, but when they start uncovering evidence that leads them closer to the truth, Abby realizes that she does not really know her neighbors in town and all the secrets they are trying to keep hidden.

I really liked Abby. She came to town just after Alice Kelly went missing but was there when Farrah Jordan and Landon West disappeared. She took the investigation and outcome at face value. But when she started working with Trey and uncovered secrets, she kept pushing forward even if she didn’t like the direction it was taking. She wanted to be able to give answers to the families of the missing people. I really liked her determination.

I loved the setting of the book as well.  Aside from people disappearing, Cutter’s Pass sounded like a great vacation spot. Megan Miranda did a great job of describing the town, that I could visualize the mountains and hiking trails. She made me want to jump in my car and go.

I also like how the book was rolled out. It is broken up into five parts, and with each part we get a look into when each of the people went missing, starting with Landon West, and working backwards. And then in the last part, we get a look into what brought Abby to Cutter’s Pass and her connection to the town.

The Last to Vanish is a great mystery with lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.    4 stars

Author: Loreth Anne White

Publication Date: March 8, 2022

Publisher: Montlake

Loreth Anne White’s newest thriller, The Patient’s Secret , is set in a close-knit community of Story Cove and follows the investigation into the death of a female jogger found at the bottom of a cliff. Was it an accident or murder? As the investigation evolves, it is clear that everyone in this community has secrets.

Lily Bradley and her husband, Tom, seem to have the perfect life. They have 2 children, twelve-year-old Phoebe, and eight-year-old Matthew. Lily is a psychotherapist and Tom is a professor at the local university. Lately though, Lily has been on edge. She cannot get over the feeling that she is being watched and she thinks that the terrible secret she has been keeping is about to be exposed and destroy her life as well as the lives of her children. Tom has also been keeping secrets from Lily and those secrets could very well land him in jail for the murder of the jogger.

Free-spirited Arwen Harper and her sixteen-year-old son Joe have recently moved into town. Arwen knows what Lily’s secret is and she is determined to expose it. Arwen does not care who gets hurt in the process. While I didn’t really like Arwen and her method to expose Lily, once I found out the secret I did sympathize with her a bit.

Detective Rue Duval is leading the investigation into the death of the jogger. But Rue is hiding secrets of her own, and these secrets could alter the outcome of the investigation.  I felt Rue should have recused herself from the investigation since the secrets she was hiding were a conflict of interest. She set her sights on Tom instead of following all the evidence no matter where it led.

My favorite character was Lily and Tom’s son, Matthew. He was such a cutie. Matthew loves to take photographs. One day he wants to either be a crime photographer or photojournalist. His bedroom is in the attic, so he secretly photographs people as they go about their day. It is Matthew’s photos that actually help crack the case. I just loved watching him sneak around taking pictures of everyone and putting them into his “case” files.

This book is told from many POV’s as well as dual timelines, but White does a great job of keeping the flow of the book from getting confusing. We also get some chapters that are excerpts from a true crime story regarding the brutal murder of a family that took place in 1989. I will warn you though, these chapters are graphic and do involve the brutal murder of an eight-year-old boy.

There is not a lot I can say about what actually happens in this book because any thing I say would be a spoiler. But I will say that The Patient’s Secret was full of lots of twists and turns and shocking secret reveals that kept me turning the pages.  3 ½ stars

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I am liking the sounds of The Patient’s Secret — there are so many secrets to come out !

I know right. I love trying to figure out everyone’s secrets.

I’ve seen Megan Miranda’s books around a lot but haven’t tried one yet – this might be a good place to start!

Oh yes. I have loved all her books and definitely recommend them 🙂

The Last to Vanish sounds like my kind of book, and the setting sounds perfect for this mystery. Thanks for sharing😁

You are welcome. I loved the setting for The Last to Vanish. I love when books can make me want to go where they are set 🙂

I’m a fan of Loreth Anne White, so I usually enjoy her books. And I have The Last to Vanish on my TBR list. I’m looking forward to that one, too. 🙂

I hope you enjoy them. I have only read a few of Loreth Anne White’s book, but like them all. Really need to check out more from her.

Last to vanish sounds like a really interesting mystery one, but thanks for the warning on the patient’s secret, definitely sounds too violent and scary for me!

Hope you are having a lovely day 🙂

You are welcome. Yeah I always like to note when there are very violent sections / abuse etc.

I used to read Megan Miranda’s books and liked them, but have missed the last couple. This new one sounds really good so I need to catch back up.

Yes you do LOL! Hope you enjoy it 🙂

I have Last to Vanish to read and am looking forward to it. I have not heard of The Patient’s Secret, nor the author, but it sounds good. Wonderful reviews, Suzanne.

Thank you. I hope you like Last to Vanish 🙂

My history with Loreth White goes back years and I’m glad to see her catching on with a pretty big audience these days. Her books are so atmospheric. I’ve got both books in the queue.

Great reviews, Sharon💜

Thanks 🙂 I am relativity new to White’s books and wanted to read more of them. Glad her audience is growing.

I really enjoyed The Last to Vanish too! The audio was fantastic! Very atmospheric. I’ve enjoyed Loreth Anne White, but I haven’t got to this one yet. She does get kind of graphic which I would think would be tough seeing as the victim is only 8 yrs old!

Oh Glad you enjoyed it as well 🙂

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Book Review: ‘The Patient’s Secret: A Novel’ By Loreth Anne White

by RedCarpetCrash | Feb 20, 2022 | Books | 0 comments

Inspired by a real life story, The Patient’s Secret is one great novel. It starts off strong and never lets up. With so many twists and turns, you’ll need a scorecard to keep track. Just when you think you might have it figured out, bam another twist. You will not want to put this one down. Might make my top-10 books of the year. Lily is married to Tom and they have two kids, a really nice house in a nice neighborhood and each have successful jobs. But their lives are about to take a big turn. Tom finds a dead body belonging to Harper, who is new in the neighborhood, while out running and when he gets home calls 911. The police show up but don’t believe his story. As they investigate, truths are revealed and any number of people could be responsible for the murder. The book goes back in time by weeks and days and in the present and every question is answered and every secret revealed. If you’re a fan of pyschological thrillers, this is the book for you.

You can pick up The Patient’s Secret in stores on Tuesday, March 8th.

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Thrillers by the Book Club DC

The patient's secret: a novel.

By Loreth Anne White

Secrets worth dying--and killing--for, in a novel of suspense inspired by a horrific true crime by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White.

When the battered body of a female jogger is found beneath the cliffs of an idyllic coastal community, these perfect neighbors suddenly don't seem so perfect...

Lily Bradley is a re... show more

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Average rating: 7.85

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The Patient’s Secret

Loreth anne white. montlake, $12.95 trade paper (410p) isbn 978-1-5420-3406-7.

Reviewed on: 12/10/2021

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Compact Disc - 978-1-7136-2144-7

MP3 CD - 978-1-7136-2145-4

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The Patient's Secret: A Novel Kindle Edition

Secrets worth dying—and killing—for, in a novel of suspense inspired by a horrific true crime by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White.

When the battered body of a female jogger is found beneath the cliffs of an idyllic coastal community, these perfect neighbors suddenly don’t seem so perfect…

Lily Bradley is a respected psychotherapist married to a distinguished professor. They live in a dream house with their two children in close-knit Story Cove. Lily lives a well-ordered life. Or so it seems. As a therapist, she knows everyone keeps things hidden. Even her.

Then sensual and free-spirited Arwen Harper rolls into town in her hand-painted VW van, her sixteen-year-old son riding shotgun. Overnight, Story Cove’s secrets are no longer safe. Because Arwen might know her new neighbors better than they know themselves.

Now someone is dead, and it looks like murder. Brutal and personal. The death invites the shrewd eye of Detective Rue Duval. Rue’s job is to expose secrets. But she’s also an expert at keeping them.

As the lives of three women become inexorably entwined, one thing is clear: when it comes to survival, ordinary people can do the most terrible things.

• Print length 383 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Montlake
• Publication date 8 Mar. 2022
• File size 4061 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

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Product description

“[An] exceptional psychological thriller…White does a superb job keeping the reader guessing as she peels back the layers of a seemingly perfect family to reveal the shocking truth. Suspense fans will want to see more from this talented author.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“ The Patient’s Secret is an intensely moving reading experience…Loreth Anne White is a writer at the top of her game, and it’s never been more evident than with this piece of work.” — Mystery & Suspense

“White delivers a complex, multi-layered tale that will have readers stunned by the twists and turns in the plot.” —Criminal Element

“A powerful, tautly written, twist-laden tale inspired by a true-life Canadian crime.” — The Patriot Ledger

“ The Patient’s Secret is a must-read for fans of true crime–inspired fiction. It’s so tightly plotted, the characters so fascinating, and the shocking secrets so expertly revealed that you won’t be able to put it down.” —Jess Lourey, Amazon Charts bestselling author

About the Author

Loreth Anne White is an Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of thrillers, mysteries, and suspense, including Beneath Devil’s Bridge , In the Dark , The Dark Bones , and A Dark Lure . With well over two million books sold around the world, she is a three-time RITA finalist, an overall Daphne du Maurier Award winner, an Arthur Ellis Award finalist, and a winner of multiple industry awards. A recovering journalist who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now calls Canada home. She resides in the Pacific Northwest, dividing her time among Victoria on Vancouver Island, the ski resort of Whistler in the Coast Mountains, and a rustic lakeside cabin in the Cariboo. When she’s not writing or dreaming up plots, you’ll find her on the lakes, in the ocean, or on the trails with her dog, where she tries—unsuccessfully—to avoid bears. For more information on her books, please visit her website at www.lorethannewhite.com.

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B091H4M97R
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Montlake (8 Mar. 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 4061 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 383 pages
• 1,199 in Women Sleuths (Kindle Store)
• 1,378 in Psychological Thrillers (Kindle Store)
• 1,519 in Women Sleuths (Books)

About the author

Loreth anne white.

Loreth Anne White is an Amazon Charts, Washington Post and Bild bestselling author of thrillers, mysteries, and suspense. With over 3 million books sold around the world, she is an ITW Thriller Award finalist, a three-time RITA finalist, an overall Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Arthur Ellis finalist, and winner of multiple industry awards.

A recovering journalist who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now calls Canada home. She resides in the Pacific Northwest, dividing time between Vancouver Island, a ski resort in the Coast Mountains, and a rustic lakeside cabin in the Cariboo.

When she’s not writing or dreaming up plots, you will find her on the lakes, in the ocean, or on the trails with her dog where she tries—unsuccessfully—to avoid bears.

Connect with her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Loreth.Anne.White

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Loreth

Or via Instagram: lorethannewhite

Or Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/150272.Loreth_Anne_White

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‘The Stone Home’ peers into dark corners and dares readers to look

Crystal hana kim’s historical novel is inspired by horrifying conditions at state-sanctioned reformatory centers in south korea during the 1980s.

If history is made of culture’s collective memory, novelists have an important role in enlarging and complicating that memory — especially when it comes to the lesser-known chapters, even the ones that seem best forgotten. Crystal Hana Kim does exactly that in her courageous new novel, “ The Stone Home ,” which peers into the darkest corners and dares the reader to look.

In the years leading up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, South Korea ran a number of institutional “reformatories” ostensibly designed to “rehabilitate” vagrants and other marginalized people. That history serves as the foundation for Kim’s novel, which begins in 1980 with 15-year-old Eunju and her mother, who are living a hardscrabble, hand-to-mouth existence when they are abruptly seized by police and locked in an internment camp called the Stone Home. They are given no explanation, no recourse and no information about this place, but they quickly learn they are being held in a state-sponsored hellscape that will take them all their daring and resilience to survive.

The story of Eunju interweaves with that of Sangchul and his older brother, Youngchul. The teenage boys also were captured. Unlike Eunju, they have a home and a family they believe will rescue them; instead, they become prisoners, given no access to the outside world, and no details about where they are or how long they are to remain. Sangchul and Eunju share similarities — they are wily, intelligent, filled with grit and a fierce resolve to escape. They work together in one of the reformatory sweatshops; each has a kind of grudging admiration for the other, but in many ways they’re too alike to become friends.

Intersecting these stories is another narrative line. In 2011, a strange woman appears at Eunju’s doorstep holding a knife. The woman says that the knife belonged to her father, who recently died, and that she has come in search of information. Stunned, Eunju recognizes the knife, an artifact of her past; at the same time, the identity of this visitor begins to dawn on her. Raised in the States, this young Korean American woman named Narae has almost no information about her biological family, but her father has indicated that Eunju holds the answers.

“The Stone Home” is, at its heart, an excavation of family secrets and a claiming of the truth, as Eunju suddenly finds herself unearthing repressed memories. In retelling these traumatic events to Narae, Eunju relives all of them.

The stories are horrific. The inmates of the Stone Home endure inhuman conditions at the hands of deranged individuals, such as Warden and Teacher. The prisoners are starved and beaten, the children are made to work long hours, laboring to meet impossible quotas, churning out fish hooks and sneakers that will be exported and sold overseas. Alliances between the inmates shift; friendships are made and betrayed. Eunju and Sangchul are both bolstered and frustrated by their incarcerated family members. Sangchul chafes against his older brother’s gentler nature, insisting that it’s only through brute strength that one can survive. Eunju frets endlessly over her mother, who will do anything to protect her daughter. More than 30 years later, Eunju despairs of ever being able to adequately convey these experiences to young Narae:

“Her American impatience, her want to find a neat answer she can hold upright in her palm.

“ I’m telling you what he wanted you to know. I point to the deepening sky, as if the answers are written.”

Eunju wishes she could soften these memories for Narae but believes she owes the young woman the unvarnished truth. “The Stone Home” is relentless in its account of brutality: Sometimes the writing is so emotionally overwrought and fragmented that it’s difficult to follow the chain of events. Still, the beauty of Kim’s prose creates a lyrical counterpoint to the atrocities she depicts, heightening the sense of poignancy, intimacy and horror.

Some fiction is both story and testimonial — a bearing witness to lessons that must not be forgotten. Haunting and elegiac, “The Stone Home” is fearless in its clear-eyed recounting. It asks readers to consider our own secret histories, to allow hard truths to be heard and, in so doing, to never let such barbarity happen again.

Diana Abu-Jaber is the author of “Birds of Paradise,” “Origin” and the culinary memoir “Life Without a Recipe.” Her most recent book is “Fencing With the King.”

The Stone Home

By Crystal Hana Kim

William Morrow. 352 pp. $30

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Book Reviews

'the familiar' is a romance, coming-of-age tale, and a story about fighting for more.

Gabino Iglesias

Leigh Bardugo's The Familiar is an entertaining slice of speculative fiction wrapped in historical fiction and delivered with heavy doses of magic and wit.

At once a love story, a coming-of-age tale full of secrets and tension, and a narrative about wanting more and doing anything to get it, The Familiar is a solid entry into Bardugo's already impressive oeuvre.

Luzia Cotado is a scullion with callused hands who sleeps on a grimy floor and constantly dreams of a better life where she has more money, complete freedom, and love. Luiza works for a couple who are struggling to maintain their social status, so she doesn't make much and owns almost nothing. To help her get through her days and take care of menial tasks, Luzia uses a bit of magic, which she keeps secret from everyone.

On Netflix, Leigh Bardugo's 'Shadow And Bone' Celebrates A Diverse Grishaverse

Luzia learned how to perform little miracles from her aunt, a strange woman and the lover of a very powerful man. When Luzia's mistress discovers her servant can perform "milagritos," she sees it as the perfect opportunity to improve her social status and forces Luzia to work her magic for their dinner guests. But what begins as entertainment soon turns into something much more serious when Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king, enters the scene and sees Luzia's magic as an opportunity for himself.

The king is desperate to improve his military prowess, and Pérez thinks Luzia's powers might be the thing that puts him, once again, in the king's good graces. There will be a competition, and if Luzia wins, everyone around her might gain something. But winning won't be easy, and Luzia fears her newfound fame will get her and her Jewish blood in the Inquisition's crosshairs. Surrounded by people with secret agendas, learning to use her magic, caught in a new romance with a mysterious undead man, and an unknown pawn in a plethora of self-serving machinations, Luzia will soon need more than a bit of magic to survive.

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The Familiar drags readers into a world of servitude, magic, power struggles, and intrigue. There isn't a single character in this story that doesn't have a secret agenda or something to win—or lose!—that's directly tied to Luzia. The desires of some clash with those of others, and those battles slowly make the narrative more complex while simultaneously increasing the tension and the sense of doom. Despite the many elements at play and the bafflingly large cast of characters she juggles here, Bardugo delivers every twist and turn with clarity, plenty of humor, and charming wittiness, the latter of which fills the novel with superb, snappy dialogue that shows Luzia lacks everything except a quick intelligence and a sharp tongue. Also, while many of the plot elements here like the magic battle, someone being trapped by a curse, and an impossible love are far from new, Bardugo mixes them well together and manages to make them feel fresh.

Known mostly for her Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology—all of which are part of her Grishaverse universe—Bardugo delivers an entertaining standalone here with a strong female protagonist that's very easy to root for. Through Luzia, we get a critique of religion, a look into the lives of those who have no option but to serve to survive, and a romance that's as full of passion and sensuality as well as lies and treachery. Lastly, the magic system Bardugo created, which is Jewish magic based on phrases sung or spoken in mixed languages, is interesting and allows the author to talk about otherness without straying from the core of her narrative.

While Bardugo accomplishes a lot in this novel, the crowning jewel of The Familiar is Luzia, a memorable character whose most personal aspirations possess an outstanding universality. We watch her suffer, emerge from her cocoon, fall in love, and then receive her ultimatum: "Your life, your aunt's life, your lover's future all hang in the balance. So do your best or I will be forced to do my worst." Through every single one of those steps, we want her to triumph and to learn to hone her powers, and that connection keeps the pages turning.

At times the endless descriptions of clothing and the increasing number of characters and subplots—some with a satisfying arc and some that just fizzle out—seem a bit excessive and threaten the pacing of the story. But Bardugo is always in control and her masterful use of tension — and that, along with her talent for great dialogue, more than overpower the novel's small shortcomings.

The Familiar is full of "milagritos" and pain, of betrayal and resentment, of fear and desire. However, the novel's most powerful element is hope; Luzia is all about it, and her feelings are so powerful they're contagious. That connections makes this a book that's hard to put down.

Gabino Iglesias is an author, book reviewer and professor living in Austin, Texas. Find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Gabino_Iglesias .