All Her Little Secrets

John Grisham and Michael Connelly should be looking over their shoulders now that Wanda M. Morris has released her debut, All Her Little Secrets. Tightly plotted and unpredictable, Morris’ novel is a welcome addition to the canon of legal suspense thrillers. Ellice Littlejohn has carefully sculpted her life to reverse the trauma and abuse of her childhood. Now a respected attorney at an Atlanta law firm, Ellice has created an entire new identity for herself. The character is ambitious and determined, but also insecure about her chances of success in a firm where no one else looks like her. When one of the executives dies unexpectedly, Ellice is thrust into a promotion for which she feels inadequate. In her new position, she begins show more digging into the firm’s dealings. Ellice notices some underhanded activity that may be connected to the earlier death of the boss. It may even be part of a larger, more insidious conspiracy. Meanwhile, remnants of Ellice’s past have tracked her down and threaten both her status and safety. Ellice is a flawed but forgivable protagonist who is strong and complex. All Her Little Secrets also deftly handles issues of discrimination and power imbalance without becoming too didactic. With this promising debut, Morris provides an enticing plot, a unique point of view, and cleverly woven commentary about current social ills.

Thanks to the author and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. show less

This was one whirlwind of a book with a strong Black female taking on huge social issues.

Ellice was born into a challenging family situation in a small town of Georgia and yet, she broke through and managed to become a successful lawyer. However, she admits her mistake was having an affair with her boss, Michael, who was married with children.

She said we all have buried secrets in our life. She certainly did. The book begins with a meeting she was supposed to have with Michael early in the morning. He had a comfortable suite with a nice view on the top floor as the Executive VP and General Counsel of the Legal Department. Her office is was a few floors below his and it was common that they had morning chats. But this time, she found him show more dead. She followed her instincts to shut the door and leave quickly remembering that this floor had no security cameras. This story takes off from there as Detective Bradford is called in to search for clues to find the suspect.

The writing is excellent with a fast flow of words. The author has a way of describing the setting and characters so perfectly that the reader could easily imagine what's happening. I could just see "a little town of nothing." With each chapter ending, there was no stopping with the high suspense. The story incorporated huge current political issues: racial prejudice, guns and rape. It made me wonder if this is fiction or on the edge of nonfiction as parts could be true.

My thanks to Wanda M. Morris, HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for allowing me to read this copy. show less

this wasn't perfect (and some of the things that pulled me out of the story a bit were small, but some were medium) but it was a very ambitious first novel that overall was very well done. the things that i wished had been done better should have been caught by an editor but are entirely excusable in a first book, especially when she's covering so much ground and being relatively innovative in what to expect from a thriller. this is much more than just a suspenseful story and i'm looking forward to seeing how good she can get when this is the jumping off point.

"...giving him the appearance of a hastily made bed with a pillow tossed in the center of it."

"Their reed-thin wives huddled together nearby in strapless sundresses and Tory Burch show more sandals, their faces full of Botox and unmet desires." show less

Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a “for fun” relationship with a rich, charming executive—her white boss, Michael.

But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice goes to meet Michael… and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head.

And then she walks away like nothing has happened. Why? Ellice has been keeping a cache of dark secrets, including a small-town past and a kid brother who’s spent time on the other side of the law. She can’t be thrust into the spotlight—again.

But instead of grieving this tragedy, people are gossiping, the police are getting suspicious, and Ellice, the company’s lone black show more attorney, is promoted to replace Michael. While the opportunity is a dream-come-true, Ellice just can’t shake the feeling that something is off.

When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma. Suddenly, Ellice’s past and present lives collide as she launches into a pulse-pounding race to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined… show less

Ellice Littlejohn is an African American woman who hails from Chillicothe, a small town in Georgia. She and her younger brother, Sam, were unlucky enough to be raised by a single mother, Martha, who was too busy carousing and drinking to properly care for her children. However, thanks to the assistance of a good-hearted neighbor, Ellie obtained a scholarship to a boarding school in Virginia, where she excelled. Later, she graduated with honors from Georgetown and Yale Law School and is now the only person of color employed in the legal department of Houghton Transportation in Atlanta. Despite her success, Ellie has traumatic memories that haunt her. The author's powerful flashbacks depict the horrors that Ellie and Sam endured during show more their formative years. Ellie feels tremendous guilt for leaving her brother behind while she pursued her educational and professional goals.

In the suspenseful thriller, "All Her Little Secrets," by Wanda Morris, we cringe as Ellie becomes entangled in a potentially ruinous situation at work. One morning, she arrives early at her firm and finds her boss dead of a gunshot wound. Instead of reporting the incident to the police, she leaves the scene of the crime for what she believes are legitimate reasons. Before long, Ellie suspects that some of the executives in Houghton are involved in illegal activities and expect her to help cover up their misdeeds. She fears that if she refuses to go along with their demands, she will risk her reputation, career, and possibly her freedom.

As matters become ever more perilous, Ellie faces some unpleasant truths about herself; for too long, she has been gullible and cowardly. Will she find the courage to do what is right, rather than what is expedient? Ellie is a fascinating albeit flawed character who, having made terrible choices in the past, belatedly tries to redeem herself. The story moves along briskly and consistently holds our interest. "All Her Little Secrets" is the absorbing tale of a lost soul who desperately wants to change the trajectory of her life. It is also an indictment of influential, bigoted, and arrogant men who believe that they are above the law. show less

Ellice is the only African-American employee in the legal department of a VERY evil company where people start getting murdered. She has a painful past that she is trying to hide, but it keeps welling up to the surface.

As a thriller, this novel seemed a bit clunky to me, but it is a debut novel. The parts that came alive most for me were about Ellice's childhood. The one TRULY terrifying part of the story is when teenaged Ellice is given a home abortion with a knitting needle. Why this had to happen like that in what must have been the 1980s or 1990s is something I really felt I needed more explanation on.

I couldn't decide whether to round this down to a 3 or up to a 4. I ultimately settled for three because while I liked a lot of the novel, it had a lot of the pitfalls of a debut. I will likely read Wanda M Morris' next book though because I think she's got a lot of promise as a writer.

My main issue is that the protagonist, Ellice Littlejohn, is a little too passive as a character. For some things, that makes sense: why she carried on a prolonged affair with her married-with-children boss for years and why doesn't have any close friends, for example. But it also means that a lot of the plot just happens to her without her having any impact on it, which in turn meant a few loose strings are left blowing in the wind. Also, Ellice should show more have brought her closest friend Grace in way earlier and gotten her to help. Their friendship was fun and sweet and some of my fave parts were between them.

I really liked how unflinchingly Morris covered the reality of a dark-skinned Black woman struggling with the racism and misogyny of the very white and male corporate America, especially with how Ellice remade herself into someone else who didn't have a brother or a poverty-stricken background. The way she felt walking into rooms being the only Black face, or the only woman, was super real and relatable - you can absolutely tell the author is drawing on her own experiences there.

There's a twist about 75% through where Ellice accidentally uncovers a national white-supremacist conspiracy but it didn't feel earned because Ellice was such a passive character. She stumbled upon it by accident looking into the already-perilous world of white-collar crime, so it felt tacked on to sort of 'prove' she was right about the misogynoir at work when it was believable and appalling all by itself. The whole thing was enough for its own thriller novel, it didn't need to added in with so little time to really explore it.

Ultimately, I liked the author's writing quite a lot and I found Ellice an engaging, relatable protagonist that was easy to root for. I hope Wanda Morris writes more thrillers in the same area because I'll totally read them. show less