Book: The Secret Witness
Author: Victor Methos
My Rating: 4 thrilling stars
Hey readers! It’s been a minute since I’ve been consumed by a legal thriller – emphasis on “thriller” – but this one got me. I often take notes as I read, then quickly turn those notes into my official review. In this case, however, my notes were all over the place. I was completely engaged in the mystery, reading this book wasn’t a passive activity for me.
So, let’s get into it shall we? First, I need to say that I did NOT read the synopsis until I was about 45% through the story, and I am glad I didn’t. I’m my opinion, the synopsis on Amazon has kind of a major spoiler. So, if you read this one, maybe don’t read the blurb.
That being said, I’m not going to tell you much background info because I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything. One of my favorite things about this book were the reveals. Like why the main character, Solomon walks with a cane and practically lives as a shut in. And how what looks to be a standard case to catch a serial killer is suddenly way more complicated.
There were plot twists galore. Some you could see coming a mile away, some really caught me by surprise. And the suspense!! I don’t know if I could name another legal thriller that does suspense as well as this one. The book comes in hot, with three murders in the first chapter, and all of them from the point of view of the victims. It definitely set the tone for the rest of the novel.
I loved Solomon instantly. Although, he was pretty introspective and philosophical with a lot of internal monologue – usually not my cup of tea. He was just a perfect blend of vulnerable and snarky. Sheriff Billie, the other main character was super cool, but I definitely felt like I didn’t get to know her as well.
So many parts of this reminded me of real life cases. A serial killer writing letters to the press, going dormant for years and then popping up again, being concerned with their reputation compared to other serial killers. Very reminiscent of the zodiac and BTK for sure. Part of me worried that I would judge this more harshly because of how much true crime I watch, but I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
There were a few reasons I didn’t give it five stars. Some parts seemed really irrelevant to the story. Like, a really long description of a conference room and the people in it for a briefing that was twice as long as the actual briefing. And a random chapter of Solomon in a bookstore that had absolutely nothing to do with anything. A whole side story that took up a lot of the plot ended up being completely unrelated, I found it incredibly frustrating.
And secondly, after the whole book sucking me in and keeping me riveted to every page, the resolution of the case was a little lackluster for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was realistically how a lot of cases end in real life… but come on, this wasn’t true crime, it was fiction!
Overall, if you like legal thrillers, you can’t go wrong with this one. I really enjoyed it and read it in one evening!
Krystle Goodman is a crazy cat lady, who loves to drink exorbitant amounts of coffee, and read a shocking amount of books. She lives in Benton with her husband Josh, her son Roman, and their two cats Roxanne and Abby. When she isn’t reading, you’ll find her cooking, painting, or watching true crime shows. Watch for Krystle’s book reviews every Friday. Send fanmail to: [email protected]
See more of Krystle’s reviews at www.mysaline.com/krystle.