Where Her Secrets Lie

by Katie Tallo

From the bestselling author of Dark August comes a tense, moody thriller about a reclusive grandmother forced to confront her darkest fears to protect her family from a ruthless foe.

Seventy-year-old Lenny Bird lives in a cage of her own making. It’s protected by a strong will, stubborn habits, and hidden secrets—like the crime-scene photos in her basement. And the body in her backyard.

Lenny shut down long ago, when her daughter was murdered and her husband committed suicide. But fifteen years later, a court has ordered her estranged grandson Juls to move back in with her when he’s arrested, courtesy of his notorious paternal grandfather. Juls has crossed the wrong people and his criminal world comes crashing through Lenny’s door, along with his twin daughters.

Lenny’s sanctuary overrun, she and Juls clash over long-held grudges. When she delves into his shady world, Lenny realizes he’s more pawn than player. But when her investigation threatens to dredge up her own dark past, Lenny must fight a ruthless crime boss—and choose between protecting her private purgatory … or breaking free to save the family she loves.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Book Club, Amazon, Ebooks

335 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2026

About the author

Katie Tallo has more than three decades of experience as an award-winning screenwriter and director. After winning an international novel contest, she began writing mystery thrillers. Her debut thriller, Dark August, was an instant bestseller, earning acclaim as a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and an Apple Book of the Month. It also made the Globe 100 list. Since then, Katie has written two more novels in the critically acclaimed Gus Monet trilogy: Poison Lilies and Buried Road, along with two standalone thrillers, Where Her Secrets Lie (August 1, 2026) and The Last Villa (coming June 22, 2027). The author lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband.

Reviews

[Carin Ganjon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well thought out thriller with twists and turns. It’s one that’s tied up nicely, easy to read. Quick read, compelling not too complicated characters way to follow. Great palate cleanser. It was a little to convenient for me, simple and I really wasn’t a fan if most of the characters until the end.

Follows Lenny a grandmother who was involved in some shady stuff as well as her grandson and almost every other character.

[Mary Taggart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun page turner of a read! Katie Tallo is a master at creating tension and keeping readers on edge from start to finish in the best of ways! Her Ottawa references were fun to read as well!

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Cold Cases remain cold, even when they are 25 years old. Enter Lenny, a detective wanna be , who wants to know how and why her detective husband passed away. This psychological thriller is a page turner!!!

[Bruce Dodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool book that had you on the edge of your seat the whole time…wrapped up nicely!

A great read….drama, suspense, doubt and a creative ending!! Was thinking it started slow, but then gained momentum about 1/3 rd into the book.

[Girl Well Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tallo is an incredible writer and I absolutely devoured this one. Do yourself a favour and pick up any of her books.

[Lis Durst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fast paced! Devoured in under two days. So cool reading about crime in your home town 👀

[Rhonda Zatezalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story, tough lady

It was a fun read. It has heart, good pacing, and a nice tidy ending. It was a fun afternoon living in Lenny’s world.

[Kathleen Fraska · Rating 5 out of 5]

The excitement builds

This was an excellent book. The excitement to read the next page increased as I read along. It was impossible to predict each event. Such a clever and unique author.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to finish the book.

[Jenn (burlingtonbiblio) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review
Where Her Secrets Lie by Katie Tallo

Vibes
Psychological thriller
Family drama and secrets
Precocious twins
Organized crime
Unsolved murder
Fender - senior blind dog

FMC- Lenny
A stubborn old senior wallowing in her grief, she has a penchant for beer, a detective’s intellect and a strong will to protect her family -whatever the cost

Thoughts
📖 Tallo’s best yet- Better than her Gus Monet trilogy- this book is gritty and complex
📖This book starts slow, the multiple timelines might be confusing for some but stick with it, the tension builds drawing the reader in and halfway through it picks up and you cant put it down
📖 Tallo expertly weaves Lennys family secrets amongst present family drama and long lost memories from her past. Each thread pulled, each crisis a stitch in a story woven together with pain and lies.
📖 I binged it in one afternoon- so many twists and turns I didnt see coming made up for those I did …. And just when I thought everything was wrapped up - another bombshell drops-soo soo good!!

Thanks to the author and publisher for my digital ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

[Emilie Curley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one. This was a great read! A suspense/mystery with a really cool ending.

Lenny is a widow who lost not only her husband but also her daughter 15 years ago. As the wife of a cop, Lenny has always fancied herself a bit of a detective. She knows that there is mystery that surrounds the death of her daughter and husband and she is determined to figure it out.

Lenny reconnects with her grandson who has embedded himself in his father’s crime family. Lenny is charged with housing her grandson and great granddaughters while he is out on bail. Slowly the puzzle pieces of the years long mysteries start to fall into place. Putting Lenny and her remaining family in danger.

A page turner for sure! 4 stars.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me hooked from cover to cover! Lenny is a unique grandmother who has been through a lot of loss in her life. Even though she has been through a lot she is extremely resilient and wants to find out what happened to her daughter. She will stop at nothing to protect her family. she may have unconventional ways to solve her daughter's murder her love for her grandson and great grand daughters is endless. I loved Lenny"s character in the book she was smart and I loved her determination to help find answers and even though she went against some tough characters in the book she didn't let that hold her back. Can't wait to read more from this author!

[Kathryn L. Ambrozich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish

I gave up after reading about 10%. There wasn't a single likable character that I could care about or maintain interest in.

[Andrew P. Tschappat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read in years

Totally original story,storyline and characters. I couldn't put it down & after 60+ years of reading that's saying something. Ill read every book Katie Talk I ever writes! Ill read her grocery list if shell let me.

[Lora Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent read

A book full of surprises as much as it is loss! I loved this story of Lenny Bird! She’s one tough lady and any woman would want to have the grit she does! As far as great-grandmothers go, she is EPIC and so is her story of love, loss and finding love again.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar

This took me a bit to get used to as I normally read 1st person POV. But after getting used to it I loved it. So many unexpected twist and turns and Lenny Bird is a bad ass grandma. Who is courageous loving and brilliant! This was a great story. With tears and laughter. I read it in two days.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Where Her Secrets Lie by Katie Tallo
[aka: Lenny Bird Story (my name for it 🙂)]


Excellente!!!

I chose this book as my First Reads selection for July, 2026, and so glad that I did. For once, I remembered to check out the sample before I made a choice. I tend to forget that samples are offered. I began reading the slow and steady start. Several chapters were available, and after I read them all I went on to the next book's sample, and the next...all of which had more action in their first chapters. But I couldn't stop thinking and wondering about this book. Decision made.

So yes, a slow burning start, but my attention was grabbed. The FMC is about (exactly?) my age, which I don’t often find. (Hmmm...why is that?? ) I’m drawn to character driven stories, but I get bored fast when books feature younger women (and sometimes men) characters whose stages in life I’ve surpassed. Been there, done that. Even when the plot is good, it’s hard for me to get into. Even when the author gets the character’s life stage spot on right–I'm bored. If the author gets that phase wrong, I'm disgusted.

And don’t even go there about when an author gets it wrong writing a character my age!

Happily, that's not at all true for "Where Her Secrets Lie." Katie Tallo nails it with the basics. Lenny Bird does not feel or think like an ‘old person’. The nagging details of age plague her–high blood pressure, emotions hitting her body hard at times…but these kinds of things are in the background of her life. The author wrote it much like I feel it. It’s this emotional truth to the character that would make it natural for me to suspend disbelief if I needed to for the sake of the story. I didn’t see much need to suspend disbelief. It all seemed plausible to me, but maybe that’s another nod to Tallo’s talent and skill as a writer?

The story moved along at a perfect pace. Things kept happening, but not so quickly it was jumbled. In reflection, I’m marveling at the building of the plot and how one by one, truths were revealed. Our Lenny was not the only well developed character. The secondary characters were also well presented–most of them likable, and some tragic and hateful. I especially liked the ones who appeared as BG’s (bad guys or girls), and turned out to be sympathetic GG’s (good guys or girls). It worked the other way, too. There were betrayals from traitors that were shocking and sad. (I found myself quite emotionally attached to the story and its people. Is it obvious??) I loved Lenny’s twin great-granddaughters! Like many fraternal twins, their personalities were polar opposites. Each 8 yr old was her own person. Lenny’s grandson, Juls, was the more fleshed out secondary character (Damn! Poor kid!). Of course, it would be nice if all of them had been more fleshed out, but that could have made the book too long.

What I liked most about the characters was how they grew and changed as the story unfolded. At the start of the story, Lenny is a despondent misanthrope who feels she has nothing to lose, and that she needs no one–not any more. She falls in love with her great granddaughters despite the wall she tries to put up. She comes to depend upon her grandson and embrace their relationship. In several parts of the story, she thinks to herself “I’m starting to like [him/her] more all the time!” (or something to that effect)

This book is a mystery/thriller, and part armchair detective story, but it has many themes running through it. It’s about love as it pertains to marriage and other relationships like parenting, family, work partnerships, and friendships. It’s about trust, betrayal, and integrity. It’s about abuse of power. It features some pretty slick professional criminal moves. I admire Lenny’s talent with her hobby: solving crimes like they are puzzles. She finds the pieces and puts them together. That idea is how I got hooked on True Crime shows and thriller novels. *sigh* Lenny does it not only with skill, but with sass and above all, love. All this grit and murder, and the ugliness of organized crime runs throughout the book–but the underlying feeling is love. Of all kinds.

This is the first book I’ve read by Katie Tallo. It will not be the last! It’s still with me days after reading the very last word (in the author’s page!) I keep wanting to return to my friends in the story. Thank you, Ms. Katie Tallo for this wonderful creation! And thanks to First Reads for allowing me to read it a month before it officially comes out.

[Amanda-Marie Spilchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I selected this as the Amazon First Reads for July.
It was a quick read! I read about 80% of the book last night in one sitting and then finished the rest this morning!

I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to friends!

Lenny is a total bad ass and as her great granddaughter, Nora said “I hope to be like you when I’m old”

I didn’t realize it was Canadian setting when I selected it, so that was a fun surprise. Living not far from Millhaven and knowing the Ottawa area, it made visualizing the surroundings easy! There were times I forgot it was based in Canada as many characters carried handguns 😂

I enjoyed the relationship between Lenny and Hank, and how he included her in his work. In a way, she was his superpower and made him a better detective.

I had figured out certain characters weren’t who they were portraying themselves to be ( trying not to give spoilers here LOL), although I hoped I was wrong!

Book talks of:
Suicide, murder, gang violence, human trafficking, violence against women, drug & alcohol abuse, gambling.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. This was my Amazon First Read choice for the month of June or July.
I found it a little bit difficult going back and forth not being sure who the people in the past times were for a while, but it also created interest.

I don't think I ever read a novel that took place in the Ottawa area -- I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't in Virginia or somewhere down in the middle south US.

Lenny was a memorable character -- most of these characters were pretty memorable including even Hank. Often I finish a novel and don't recall any names, but this one I recall all the names. Some of the violence in it felt very real -- I don't think I'd watch a movie of this novel because I don't like to see that much terrible violence although I can enjoy reading it because it isn't in my face.

I am not sure what else Katie Tallo has written but I would certainly consider reading another novel written by her. I enjoyed her writing style and her characters.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my July 2026 free Amazon First Reads book.
Lenny Bird is a 70-year old grandmother (and great-grandmother) with some dark secrets and deep family wounds in her past. But despite the difficulties in both past and future, she remains tough, and does what she can to protect those she loves.
This thriller was the perfect slow, and then not-so-slow, burn: it built the tension very gradually in the first third of the book, and then masterfully held it through the end. I really enjoyed the protagonist as a grandmother - not very common in any genre. And while none of the characters were necessarily likeable or even all that relatable, they were flawed in ways that seemed real, and reasonable. They seemed like they were really just… trying.
The writing was strong; easy reading that I finished within a couple of days. Most crime/thriller books that I have read in the past are either too predictable or have mediocre writing; this had neither problem. A rare 5 stars.

[Sharon Greenwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an uncomplicated, easy read that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The pacing sits at a comfortable medium, so it doesn't rush you through the plot; it keeps things moving as the story twists and turns back and forth.

Although dark and gritty, it has a ‘heartfelt’ feel to it and it wraps up with a tidy ending that doesn't leave you hanging. The whole book is so visually descriptive with great characters, and I would love to see it made into a film!

I chose this as my Amazon First Reads choice for July 2026.

[The author included a lot of specific beer names throughout the story, and I’m still not entirely sure about their significance, if any.]

5 Excellent read, Loved it.
4 Enjoyable read, Liked It.
3 Average read, Mediocre.
2 Below average read, Mundane.
1 Regrettable read, nearly a DNF

[Hillary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my July 2026 Goodreads free book. I finished it, but didn't love it.
Let's start with what I did like: the Canadian setting, some of the characters (Juls, the two sisters, and Lenny, later in the book).
What I didn't care for: There were so many characters that --as far as I was concerned--flitted in an out. I forgot from one day to the next who they were. Some of the character recognition was made harder because some were operating under an alias, so I forgot what their function was in the narrative. There were so many connections between the characters; I forgot who was known to whom, how they were connected, who was a "good guy" and who was a "bad guy." And there were characters who were believed to be related in one way, but it was really another. I pretty much gave up trying to remember them all.
Violence doesn't usually bother me much in a book, but readers should be aware that there's a lot here. There are some very sketchy characters, lots of alcohol consumption, and so on.
In short, the book just didn't do much for me.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty solid Amazon First Reads choice that was a fast read with short chapters. Lenny Bird is a fiesty, yet pretty realistic, 70 year old who has suffered some very tough losses. When she goes looking for answers, and puts herself out on a limb for family, mortal danger ensues. The setting is in Canada, but has a mafia story vibe, so there are some rough parts, and more than one death, as well as some extra extra bad guys. I liked Lenny, and couldn't figure out where the story was going to go at times, especially in regards to relationships, but ultimately it had a satisfying ending that was both happy and sad.

[Bri Calaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly had a hard time deciding what to rate this one, and I might come back and change it later.

Overall, the story was pretty good. It was told in two POV's in two timelines. The past POV reads like an internal monologue. While the other is happening in "real time". I mostly had all the mysteries figured out but it was a fun, fast paced ride to get confirmation.

My issue lies with the writing itself. The story felt as though it was written in short choppy sentences that didn't have much depth or description to them. Maybe it was because the book I read before this was so fluid and poetic, but the abrupt sentences really bothered me here.

[Lisa H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this gritty, dark, psychological thriller. A twisty, complex, fast moving read. The protagonist, Lenny Bird. A seventy year old hard as nails grandmother. Her unflinching resilience is gripping. I found myself really pulling for her, even when I struggled with her decisions. Well developed characters, and rich immersive settings. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story. So satisfying!
My heartfelt thank you to the author for the gifted e - arc.
Congratulations Katie! You did it again

[Pamela Faust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lenny Bird is a widow with a grandson that she cares for deeply. Her policeman husband died fifteen years ago, shortly after her daughter did. Lenny sees that Juls is hanging out with his other grandpa and she knows that Reg will certainly cause him trouble. She knows that Reg’s son, Vinny, was the reason that her daughter died. She does a lot of sluething and, in her doing her Scooby-Doo work, a LOT of other people die. I enjoyed seeing that 70-year-old Lenny had the ability to see good in people and change her mind about them. Like Billy and Rubi-Rose.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

This book was extremely well written. It's one of those that sucks you in, and really makes you feel as you are watching the drama unfold in real time. The flashbacks allow for some foreshadowing, but there are still twists and turns in the plot which are a shock.

Lenny bird is a complex character who is learning how to live and love again despite years of trauma, and watching her evolve into a loving grandmother was a phenomenal journey I wish to experience again.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from Amazon Prime First Reads. When I read the book’s introduction, apparently I glossed over the description. I was not expecting a detective-violent-type story but 1/3 of the way into the book, when I stopped to reread the description it’s exactly what I was reading ha ha. This book was a bit violent (fighting-wise) but the twists and turns kept me completely drawn in! I just keep thinking “what did I just read?!😳”. Grandma Lenny definitely gave me some anxiety but I loved this book, 5 stars!

[Profmarianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a difficult time giving a rating for a genre I don't enjoy. I didn't expect this book to fall into that category based on the book summary but it did. I love thrillers and mysteries but this one was gangland, dark, just icky. I didn't feel any fondness for any of the characters and it moved sooooooo slowly. There were only a few plots I wanted answers to but it was dragged out too long to keep my interest.
For those reasons, I can only give 2 stars.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my free July selection from Amazon Kindle First Reads. Usually the selections offered through this program are really, really bad, (like so bad that even though they were free, you feel like you should get some kind of refund for the sheer torture of having read the book!)

But every now and then they do turn up with a great book. This one was really dark and very grim, but a real standout for Kindle First Reads. I might even read more from this author.