Small Towns, Big Secrets: 7 Gripping Novels Rife with Scandal

Elizabeth Strout is quite possibly my favorite author, and, although she is best known for her later novel OLIVE KITTERIDGE, her debut AMY AND ISABELLE is a literary masterpiece that examines small-town politics in the ’60s and the troubled relationship between Isabelle Goodrow and her teenage daughter Amy. The story does involve a missing girl, but this is really a background element of the narrative, which focuses on the scandalous secret that Amy is keeping from her strict mother, while Isabelle herself is hiding the truth about her past from her daughter and the people of their small town in Maine. It’s an exquisitely written and deeply moving look at the damage that dishonesty can wreak.

Another protagonist returning to her hometown, Nicolette Farrell is pulled back into a decade-old missing-persons case when another young woman disappears. She believes the sudden vanishing of Annaleise Carter is connected to the disappearance of her best friend Corinne—a case in which Nicolette and her friends were the main suspects, with Annaleise acting as their alibi. Now that Annaleise too has gone missing, the truth of what really happened to both girls begins to unravel. I’m a huge fan of different timelines and narrative tricks, and so I love that this novel is told in reverse, making for even more twists and turns that keep you guessing right up to the end.

I think families make for one of the most interesting topics in mystery fiction—everybody’s family has secrets, and the stakes are always higher, and the exposure more devastating, when it’s people you love. THE WINTER SISTER is a brilliant example of this, with protagonist Sylvie returning home to care for her sick mother, the two of them still haunted by the unsolved murder of Sylvie’s sister, Persephone, sixteen years ago. This atmospheric novel really utilizes that wintry New England gloom, emphasizing the struggles of coming home to a place that has rejected you, as we explore Sylvie’s complex relationship with her family, her mother’s secrets, and her own guilt regarding her sister’s case.

In Harper’s bestselling debut, Federal Police agent Aaron Falk returns to his hometown in rural Australia for the funeral of his childhood friend Luke, whose family have all been brutally murdered. The townspeople of Kiewarra believe Luke himself was responsible, but Falk becomes determined to prove otherwise. I love stories of people coming home to places that have previously rejected them, the emotional and social obstacles this creates for the characters. This is definitely the case for Agent Falk, as we learn why he and his father were driven out of town years before, and that he and Luke were hiding a mystery of their own.

This gothic classic revolves around Merricat Blackwood, living in isolation with her sister and ailing uncle in their crumbling manor house in Vermont, following the poisoning of the rest of the family six years earlier. The people in the nearby village are convinced that Merricat’s elder sister Constance was the culprit and have ostracized the family, so the Blackwoods have no real contact with the outside world until their estranged cousin Charles arrives. Merricat, who practices sympathetic magic, believes that Charles has brought bad luck with him, and, sure enough, the tension between the Blackwoods and the village soon comes to a catastrophic head. A master class in unreliable narration and creeping mystery, this is one of my all-time favorite novels.

Flynn’s famed debut about journalist Camille Preaker returning to her small Missouri town to report on a series of brutal murders is one of my favorite crime novels, period. The fictional town of Wind Gap is hiding many secrets, but, beyond the two dead girls with their teeth pulled out, the real mystery revolves around Camille’s dysfunctional family, particularly her relationship with her cold mother. It’s a compelling and refreshing read, and I’m impressed that Flynn writes brutally, never shying away from the grisliest crime scenes or the violence that women inflict upon each other and themselves.

This beloved classic follows young narrator Jean Louise “Scout” Finch through dreamlike, oppressively hot summers in her fictional Alabama town, where she and her older brother, Jem, become obsessed with their reclusive neighbor Boo Radley, while their lawyer father is tasked with defending an innocent Black man, not only from his white accuser, but from the prejudices of the whole town. The novel plays with many southern gothic tropes—mysterious Boo Radley and his decaying house seem almost supernatural at times—but ultimately shows us that the real horror here is bigotry of the townspeople themselves.

Where the Truth Lies comes out on August 3! The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets. When seventeen-year-old Abigail goes missing, her best friend Emma, compelled by the guilt of leaving her alone at a party in the woods, sets out to discover the truth about what happened. The police initially believe Abi ran away, but Emma doesn't believe that her friend would leave without her, and when officers find disturbing evidence in the nearby woods, the festering secrets and longstanding resentment of both Abigail’s family and the people of Whistling Ridge, Colorado begin to surface with devastating consequences.

Explore the book club kit for WHERE THE TRUTH LIES!