Who Knew the Ridpath Girl: A Mystery

by Stacy Johns

A gripping mystery perfect for fans of Amy Tintera following one man's investigation into the death of his sister years earlier, forcing him to confront old faces, a strong-willed detective, and a string of new murders in his remote small town. 

Welcome to Meander, where truths are best left buried.

Gracen Ridpath has a secret. As the host of a successful YouTube channel for stay-at-home-dads, Gracen is known for his handy tips and trademark self-deprecating humor. But off camera, he struggles with the aftereffects of a tragedy that shaped him and everyone else in his hometown of the death of his eleven-year-old sister, Douggy. 

When Gracen mentions his sister's long-ago death for the first time on his channel, he taps a vein of interest he hadn't known existed. Soon enough, he finds himself discussing a theory he's kept quiet for that Douggy chose to die. And he's finally figured out why . . . and who is to blame. 

At first, Gracen is grateful for the jump in views, until his shift in content brings Quinn, Douggy's childhood best friend, back to Meander looking for answers. And when people start dying around them and detectives start asking questions, Gracen and Quinn find themselves at the center of an investigation that will prove to have consequences deadlier than they ever could've imagined.  

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

448 pages, Paperback

Expected publication April 14, 2026

Reviews

[Amina · Rating 3 out of 5]

✰ 2.75 stars ✰

​​

“​It’s going to be okay. ​This terrible thing—it will leave scars. But life goes on. I promise.​​”

I would not call it a mystery. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a thriller, more like an investigation that grew root when present-day murders inadvertently entwined with the past of those ​Who ​Knew the ​Ridpath ​Girl and their unsettled emotions regarding​ eleven-year-old Dougg​y's tragic apparent suicide that occurred in Meander, nearly fifteen years ago.​ 🍄

For despite how the three perspectives did eventually connect, there was no moment where I was able to connect the dots, regarding an explanation to the past, nor clues that led me to the culprit behind these twisted killings.​ The only way out is through.​ 😟​ I had a very lackluster response to each reveal, as there was no build-up, nor indication, nor true revelation to each. ​It is just an admission; so what's the fun in that​ - as a reader.

​“​... I’m still waiting for that click of rightness when the pieces fall together and the lies are unmasked.”​

I felt neither the tension nor the thrills, more like, okay, that's so out of left field, now how can I bring myself to care about it being solved?​ 🤷🏻‍♀️ It was also a slow start; one very much dedicated to setting the scene and introducing each character's background and their distinctive personalities​ and how affected they've been by ​a tragedy - a friend, a brother, and a cop, each with their own attempts to grasp it, as the mind remains at unrest.

​Quinn's loss of their best friend, Gracen, whose guilty conscience ​as the brother who failed, was not allowing him to live in the now as a good father and husband, living out his grief and trauma through his podcast​ - he’d give a lot to know the truth, and Kirsten, whose own marriage is suffering because she brings the work home. The author does not shy to say how each is still struggling with the darkness of their traumatic pasts.​ 🥺

​“​​The awful things people do, out of pettiness, or loneliness, or pain. The unbearably permanent, disproportionate consequences.”​

​As the truths were revealed, secrets no longer stayed hidden, it gave them each a moment of clarity and forgiveness for their past sins.​ ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 Quinn ​taking the brave steps forward to the next stage of their lives, repairing fractured wounds, Gracen, whose only outlet had been his podcast, but now with the answers solved, he can finally forgive himself, and Kirsten, who of the three did not really get a fulfillment of happiness, but one where she at least has a moment to reflect on her future choices.

So as much as the suspense element failed to ignite, I can appreciate it as a character-driven one that allowed them to gain the closure needed in order to lay to rest the demons of their traumatic pasts and find a way to move on.​ 🌷

[Megan Magee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel the characters' relatability in my bones. Quinn and Gracen are our main characters and we follow their lives in both the past and present. When Gracen discusses his sister's death in a podcast he creates, it brings factors into motion that had the potential to uncover sinister small town secrets. As a dweller in a small southern town, at least in spirit, I can relate to the whispers barely concealed as Gracen maneuvers recovering from this tragedy in relation to the family he loves now. This one is quickly paced and fraught with mystery- I could not look away and was so dedicated to unraveling the metaphorical red threads that I didn't want to put this one down. I came away from Ridpath concluding it was as entertaining and enthralling as a crime television show around generations of poverty, abuse, and how such things can end terribly and cause repercussions generations will suffer from. Stacy Johns delivers a thriller that is utterly bleak in it's reality, and she delivered. Thanks to the author and Poisoned Pen Press for the chance to read and review this eARC! All opinions are my own.

[Carol Borneman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book of Stacy's that I have read, Teague House being the first, and I really enjoy her writing style. Good mystery that keeps you guessing. Thought I had it figured out, but nope, loved the twist! Look forward to reading more of Stacy's work.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good 85% of this book was what I expected from the blurb.
Damaged people still coming to terms with trauma, months, or years after it happened.
Our three main characters were written well, each of them seemed believable to me.
I particularly liked Quinn.
But the book hits a certain point where it goes quite wild, just not what I expected at all. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it felt very different to the rest of the book.
I'd be interested in revisiting each of these characters, checking in on them in the future, see how they've moved on.
Always a good sign when you feel that for them.


Thanks to netgalley for the free digital copy.

[OutlawPoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read.

It's not super suspenseful. It's a quiet mystery full of damaged characters and the backdrop is definitely atmospheric.

There's a historical mystery and a modern one - the historical mystery being the more successful of the two. The solution to that one was both sad and oddly satisfying. As for the modern mystery, that solution was a bit out of left field and felt like it belonged in a different book.

Regardless of my dissatisfaction with mystery #2, I enjoyed the read and loved our damaged main characters. I would read the author again.

* ARC via Publisher

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning this was a book I absolutely could not put down. Unfortunately about midway in it went a bit flat for me, I’m not sure if it was the various POVs and trying to make connections as the story was unfolding that slowed the pace or the direction the story was taking in general. I was still interested, just not as much. The tie back to Celeste/Bella came a bit out of left field and was a bit strained for me as was the dad being the one who was responsible after all the years.

Overall. The story is a solid premise but it didn’t land like I’d hope it would.

[Steph Longdon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Told from 3 different perspectives, Who Knew the Ridpath Girl?, follows successful YouTuber, Gracen Ridpath, as he covers the death of his eleven year old sister, Douggy. Gracen believes her death wasn’t just an accident and as he takes his followers through the case, people from his past start dying. I was definitely hooked at the beginning but midway through the story fell a bit flat for me. I had a lot of questions about the characters that I felt were never answered. There was a bit of a twist (more like a pivot) that felt like it came out of nowhere.

[Hannelore Cheney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC.
Once I got into the rhythm of the book, I loved it. The characters were well.fleshed out and I liked them all, Quinn in particular. There's quite a bit of childhood trauma, but it's not triggering.
The murderer though: wow, I did not see that coming! The last quarter of the book was quite intense and exciting, unexpected and well done ... Great read!

[Katie’s Bookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️
From the start I couldn’t get into this. We're given multiple different povs and not really shown how they're relevant until later? Starting a story like that just puts me on the back foot- now I'm struggling to enjoy the story, waiting for it to show that it's actually good. I just struggled to connect with the characters the whole way through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Emziethebookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was certainly a hard one to put down once you got into it. I decided to listen to it on the read out loud option and it made it have a more mystery theme to it for some reason and honestly I really enjoyed it.
The characters were amazing throughout this book again made the book come to life.
Thank you to netgallery for allowing me to listen to this on the read out loud option.

[A.D. West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love how contemporary this book is and that it kept me guessing all the way through. It's so important for nonbinary people to see themselves in art and who doesn't love a messy Youtube influencer? Definitely a great read!

[Trisha]

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given an ARC to read for this one given how much I liked the author's prior book, and I'm glad I was. I couldn't put it down. The pacing is phenomenal and kept me engaged for the entire read.

[Amanda Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, unfortunately, I found myself not really caring what happened. It wasn’t as suspenseful as I had hoped and man, she was a long book. I forced myself to finish because I don’t DNF books, I will say it was very character driven, which was it’s one redeeming quality.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!