Sarah Warburton

Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Joshilyn Jackson, Sarah Warburton's chilling thriller, inspired by the Moors Murders, explores the twisted side of suburbia. Framed for embezzlement by her best friend Aimee, museum curator Kacy Tremain and her husband Michael move from New Jersey to a charming Texas suburb to escape their past. Kacy quickly makes new friends--preppy, inscrutable Elizabeth, chatty yet evasive Rahmia, and red-headed, unapologetic Lena. But good friends aren't always what they seem. As she navigates the unexpectedly cutthroat social scene of her new town, Kacy begins to receive taunting postcards--and worse, discovers cameras hidden in the wall of her home. Lena and her husband, Brady, reassure her that the cameras are just relics of the paranoid previous homeowner . Once the cameras are removed and Kacy's fears are quelled, Kacy and Michael make the happy discovery that they are going to be new parents. Months after the birth of their daughter, Michael accidentally makes a shocking discovery about Brady's past. And when Lena suddenly goes missing, Kacy and Michael begin to uncover the truth about their neighbors--and it's more terrible than anyone could have imagined. Interlaced with transcripts of a chilling "true crime" podcast that follow the tangled threads of the drama, You Can Never Tell is a taut and complex psychological thriller that never lets up until its breathless conclusion.

A Novel

You Can Never Tell

The beginning of this book is so unusual. There is a little bit of a true-crime podcast and a plot story. The plot is everything that you can imagine and more.

After being accused of art theft by her best friend, Aimee, Kacy Tremain and her husband moved from New Jersey to a charming Texas suburb to escape their past. Kacy's latest mates are Elizabeth, who is trendy and enigmatic; Rahmia, who is chatty but indecisive; and Lena, who is red-headed and unapologetic. These are just a few of Kacy's latest friends. Good friends, on the other hand, aren't always as they seem.

As she navigates her new town's unexpectedly competitive club scene, Kacy starts to get teasing postcards and, worse, discovers cameras concealed in her home's wall. Lena and Brady reassure her that the cameras are most likely reminders of the former owner's paranoia. Kacy and Michael discover that they are going to be parents after the cameras are taken down and Kacy's fears are allayed.

After their daughter is born, Michael makes a surprising discovery about Brady's past. When Lena suddenly disappears, Kacy and Michael begin putting the pieces together to piece together the truth about their neighbors, which turns out to be much worse than anyone could have imagined.

You Can Never Tell is a gripping psychological thriller that is interspersed with transcripts of a chilling true-crime podcast. The drama's tangled knots The fact that it was inspired by the real story of the Moors Murder makes this book more intriguing.

Literally Literature Nerd

The beginning of this book is so unusual. There is a little bit of a true-crime podcast and a plot story. The plot is everything that you can imagine and more.

After being accused of art theft by her best friend, Aimee, Kacy Tremain and her husband moved from New Jersey to a charming Texas suburb to escape their past. Kacy's latest mates are Elizabeth, who is trendy and enigmatic; Rahmia, who is chatty but indecisive; and Lena, who is red-headed and unapologetic. These are just a few of Kacy's latest friends. Good friends, on the other hand, aren't always as they seem.

As she navigates her new town's unexpectedly competitive club scene, Kacy starts to get teasing postcards and, worse, discovers cameras concealed in her home's wall. Lena and Brady reassure her that the cameras are most likely reminders of the former owner's paranoia. Kacy and Michael discover that they are going to be parents after the cameras are taken down and Kacy's fears are allayed.

After their daughter is born, Michael makes a surprising discovery about Brady's past. When Lena suddenly disappears, Kacy and Michael begin putting the pieces together to piece together the truth about their neighbors, which turns out to be much worse than anyone could have imagined.

You Can Never Tell is a gripping psychological thriller that is interspersed with transcripts of a chilling true-crime podcast. The drama's tangled knots The fact that it was inspired by the real story of the Moors Murder makes this book more intriguing.

Mars Holscher

I received this as an ARC from Goodreads Giveaways. 

The writing itself was easy enough to get through - there wasn't much flowery language (which I prefer, but with a fast-paced book like a thriller, simpler language is fine for me) and each paragraph moved pretty quickly. 

This book was a page-turner, but not exactly in the way you'd think. I was excited while I was reading the book since it claimed to be full of twists and turns, which made me read even faster to find out what they were. I don't think it's necessary for a book to have huge twists in order to make it good (in fact, I've read many books where the twist has been so ridiculous that it makes me roll my eyes). But I expected a little bit of complexity, since it was marketed as as a "complex and tangled plot." As the pages dwindled down and I neared the end, I realized I was in for a huge letdown. To me, the climax and resolution are extremely important in my enjoyment of the book, as it's the last thing the reader is left with. But this left a bitter taste in my mouth. 

Even worse than the disappointing gap between expectations and reality when it came to plot, was the fact that the motivations behind the main antagonist's actions were never explained. I know that in real life, horrific things often happen and we'll never understand the motivations behind them. It seems like the author may have been trying to emphasize that point, especially by drawing parallels between the book's events and the narration of the true crime podcast. When you listen to these podcasts, you rarely get a genuine inside look into the criminal's mind. The same thing happened here. Still, I expected a tiny bit more from the book in that regard - you'd think with how close all the characters are, there would be a little more emotional intimacy and therefore the protagonist would have found out some more information about what motivated such crimes. 

I still give this book three stars, because I did mostly enjoy reading it. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone I know because it wasn't a "standout" book for me. There were a lot of sentences that made me stop reading for a moment due to how they tugged at me emotionally, but I wish the plot had supported those beautiful bits of writing more.

(A side note: this didn't influence my star rating because it's such a personal and silly pet peeve, but every thriller I've read gives away so much of a plot simply by creating a character that has bright red hair. It's a trope that bothers me a bit because once you find out about it, then you see everything coming from a mile away. It didn't exactly apply here, since the plot is basically spelled out in the prologue anyway, but thought I'd mention it in case anyone else is irritated by this trope.)

Serena Timmerman

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

You Can Never Tell by Sarah Warburton is a thriller that follows Kacy. Kacy and her husband just moved to a rapidly growing suburb in Texas. After going through a traumatic event, Kacy finds herself struggling to fit in and make friends. Eventually, she finds herself connecting with her neighbor named Lena and her husband Brady. Things seem perfect. However, there is a secret that Kacy and her husband don't know about her seemingly perfect neighbors.

As a true crime fan, this book was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed the transcript of the true-crime podcast sprinkled throughout the book. For those who know true crime cases, there were nods throughout this story to the Moors Murders (Ian Brady and Myra Hindley). 

While I found myself able to predict some things in this story, it didn't negatively impact my experience. I found the story to be engaging, page-turning, and suspenseful. I haven't read many thrillers following serial killers much less female serial killers at that. I found the writing to be easy to read while still being atmospheric and engaging. The narrator of the audiobook did a great job as well. When narrated Lena it came out the same way I always imagined Myra Hindley would sound. Overall a really enjoyable audiobook. I will be keeping an eye out for more books by Sarah in the future. 

My Rating: 4 ⭐️’s
Expected Publication: August 10th 2021
Audio: 9 hours 47 minutes
Recommend: Yes

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You Can Never Tell A Novel

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