She Was the Quiet One
A Novel
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4.1 • 113 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
From the author of It’s Always the Husband comes a riveting new suspense novel about privilege, power, and what happens when we let ambition take control.
For Rose Enright, enrolling in a prestigious New England boarding school is the opportunity of a lifetime. But for Rose’s vulnerable twin sister Bel, Odell Academy is a place of temptation and danger. When Bel falls in with a crowd of wild rich kids who pressure her into hazing Rose, the sisters’ relationship is shattered. Rose turns to her dorm mother, Sarah Donovan, for advice. But Bel turns to Sarah’s husband Heath, a charismatic and ambitious teacher. Is Heath trying to help Bel or take advantage of her? In a world of privilege, seduction, and manipulation, only one sister will live to tell the truth.
In a novel full of twists, turns, and dark secrets, Michele Campbell once again proves her skill at crafting intricately spun and completely compelling plots.
Praise for She Was the Quiet One:
"Campbell’s skillful characterization and her shocking final twist make this follow-up to It’s Always the Husband well worthwhile. Readers who enjoyed Simone St. James’ boarding-school mystery, The Broken Girls, should give this a try." —Booklist
Praise for It's Always the Husband:
“Twists, turns, and a puzzling mix of suspects . . . will keep readers turning the pages.” —Booklist
“An intriguing whodunit that examines the explosive potential of secrets to destroy friendships, marriages, and lives . . . a page-turner.” —Kirkus Reviews
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Campbell (It's Always the Husband) sets this twisty thriller against an academic background. Twins Rose and Bel could not be more dissimilar; after their mother's death, ambitious Rose is thrilled to be sent by their wealthy grandmother to boarding school at rigorous Odell Academy in New England, while Bel feels abandoned. Rose immediately excels academically while Bel becomes part of an older, trouble-making crowd. Both sisters are drawn to their faculty advisors, a married couple who are also their dorm parents. Readers learn straight off that one of the sisters will be murdered but which one? And why? Overlapping narrative perspectives and shifting chronologies serve to heighten suspense but sometimes create tiresome redundancies, while the prolonged revelations not only of "who done it" but also "who got done" lead to some awkward moments in the novel's first half. The final narrative twist also feels tacked-on and almost entirely unnecessary to the plot. Readers will nevertheless be drawn in to the novel's intricate exploration of divided loyalties and the brittleness of trust. 100,000-copy announced first printing.
