Ever since I passed along my copy of Megan Miranda’s The Last House Guest, my sister has been flying through most of her bibliography. Such a Quiet Place is only my second read from her, but I know now that I’ll be reading everything else she has to offer eventually. It’s good stuff!
The book immediately opens with Harper in her kitchen getting the surprise of her life when her former roommate Ruby shows up. Now, an old roommate visiting wouldn’t usually be such a shock, but Ruby just got released from prison after 14 months behind bars. She was charged with killing their next door neighbors, the Truitts via carbon monoxide poisoning. She got released because the evidence they had against her really wouldn’t stick, and the fact that another neighbor and local cop got too involved. Harper is rightfully freaked, but she was also never positive that Ruby was the culprit…but still, unsettling.
Not long into Ruby’s stay, she’s made it clear that she came back to the neighborhood for payback for her time behind bars, implying her innocence. This unsettles Harper even more, because she knows they all played a small part in her conviction. That, and if Ruby is in fact innocent, then somebody else is on their quiet street is a murderer. Ruby’s claims are made even more confusing when she winds up dead at the neighborhood 4th of July party. There were only so many of them in attendance, yet everyone claims they didn’t see anything. Poison says otherwise.
Now though, Harper’s eyes are opened to what happened during the aftermath of the Truitts’ deaths. Everyone talking in clipped secrets but trying to nail down details that doesn’t impact any of them. All Harper can really see are the little lies that added up to Ruby’s arrest. And now it seems like more lies are being told, along with threatening little notes. Without spoiling it, literally any one of these neighbors could have been the culprit, including Harper herself! There are some shocking reveals at the end that make me want to side eye all my neighbors honestly.
This was another great, well-paced novel by Miranda, who successfully hides her biggest twists until the end with just enough meat to keep you going until then. I look forward to seeing what else she can pull off, so be on the lookout for more reviews!