Gracen Ridpath hosts a popular YouTube channel for stay-at-home dads, but off camera he’s still haunted by the death of his eleven-year-old sister Douggy years ago in the small town of Meander. When he mentions her death on his channel for the first time and shares a theory he’s kept quiet for years, that Douggy chose to die, and he knows who’s to blame, the views skyrocket. But the attention also brings Douggy’s childhood best friend Quinn back to town looking for answers, and when people around them start dying, Gracen and Quinn find themselves at the center of an investigation far deadlier than a cold case.
SUCH a strong premise. Small town secrets, a decades-old tragedy, and a main character revisiting his sister’s death publicly on YouTube? The setup alone had me hooked. A grief-stricken brother monetizing his trauma without fully realizing what he’s unleashing, that’s the kind of morally messy, compelling foundation that makes great thrillers.
And for the first 75% of this book, it was working. The pacing was solid, the small-town atmosphere was there, and the mystery had enough threads to keep me turning pages. I liked the concept of Gracen’s YouTube channel becoming this catalyst that drags buried secrets to the surface. The overall plot had all the elements of a twisty, gripping read.
But it didn’t fully deliver on execution for me. At over 400 pages, this one needed a tighter edit. There are stretches in the middle that drag, and while the characters do grow throughout the story, I never felt fully connected to any of them. Gracen, Quinn, the detective, I understood them on paper but never quite felt that pull where you’re genuinely invested in what happens to them. For a book this long, I needed that emotional anchor, and it just wasn’t there.
And then there’s the last 10%. This is where it really lost me. Once the present-day reveal happens, the story takes a turn that felt confusing and honestly out of left field. I won’t spoil it, but some of the motivations, especially around the truth of Douggy’s death, didn’t add up for me. The reveals are all just totally wild as well. The ending felt rushed, chaotic, and hard to follow, which is frustrating after investing 400+ pages. It’s like the book spent all this time carefully building something and then knocked it over in the final stretch.
This one had so much potential and started strong. It just didn’t stick the landing. If you love small-town mysteries with a true crime media angle, the premise alone might be worth picking it up. Just know the ending might leave you with more questions than answers, and not in the satisfying way. 3 stars. A great idea that needed a sharper execution.
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Who Knew the Ridpath Girl is out now. Huge thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.Ā Ā If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
