ARC Review: I Know What You Did by Cayce Osborne

I Know What You Did
Author: Cayce Osborne
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (July 18, 2023)

Description: When a bestselling novel fictionalizes the death of her childhood best friend—and accuses her of the murder—Petal Woznewski must figure out who wrote it and why. Truth and fiction collide in this captivating debut novel by Cayce Osborne.

Petal Woznewski is content with her quiet, introverted life in New York City: she has her junk food, her movies, and her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Gus. That peace is shattered when her name appears on the dedication page of an anonymously written thriller with a cryptic note: “I know what you did, Petal Woznewski. And now everyone else will, too.”

As she reads, Petal realizes the story is rooted in a secret she buried thirty years earlier, when she was fourteen. A secret involving the tragic death of her friend, Megan. A secret that only one other person knows—their old friend, Jenny. Armed with a copy of the book and her own suspicions, Petal returns to her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. There, she discovers more questions than answers. Jenny has disappeared, and Petal’s old high school crush, Ben, doesn’t know anything about the book—at least not anything he’s telling.

As sinister clues pile up, and the thriller’s plot detours dangerously from the facts, Petal has no choice but to confront her past and solve the mystery of who wrote it—before her very real life ends as tragically as the novel.

My Thoughts: Petal Woznewski is living quietly in New York City. She's an introvert who spends a lot of time watching action movies and smoking marijuana. She has an off and on boyfriend named Gus. She's content with her like. Then her gynecologist calls her attention to the latest book that is climbing the charts. He's amused that it is dedicated to a woman named Petal Woznewski. Petal buys a copy of the book and learns that it is all about a tragedy that happened more than 30 years earlier when three girls went to hang out and only two came home. 

Petal is surprised at how much of the book gets the facts about her long-ago friendship with Megan right and how much it gets wrong. All the names have been changed except for Petal's. More impartant, the book has her killing her friend. Petal knows that isn't true and becomes determined to find the author and set the story straight.

But setting the record straight means that she has to return to Madison, Wisconsin, and open wounds she thought were healed. Petal had a charmed childhood until her parents committed suicide forcing her to go live with her aunt. Then, just a couple of years later, her best friend dies in an accident. It was no surprise that she left Madison as soon as she graduated. 

Petta, as she prefers to be named, has to try to connect with those she left behind and she hasn't kept in touch. Her main goal is to find the third girl in their friendship triangle. Only they haven't spoken since Megan died and Jenny dropped out of school and left town after their freshman year. 

Making new connections isn't easy and it made harder by the fact that someone is actively harrassing her. Someone doesn't want Petta to be able to clear her name.

This was an intriguing story with a conflicted narrator who has never really gotten over the traumas of her childhood and now has to gather all her courage to find some answers and finally be able to move on with her life. It was a compelling story.

Favorite Quote:

"Once upon a time," I whispered to the plume of smoke snaking out of my pipe, "a beautiful princess named Megan lived a charmed life in a city hugged by lakes. She was beloved by all who knew her. Until the day she met Petal. Who was not a princess. She was a troll. Disguised as an ogre. Pretending to be a witch."

Sometimes the stories we tell ourselves become more real than the truth.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.