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  • One Little Secret

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Cate Holahan
  • Narrated by: Hillary Huber
  • Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (133 ratings)

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One Little Secret cover art

One Little Secret

Written by: Cate Holahan
Narrated by: Hillary Huber
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Publisher's Summary

Everyone has a secret. For some, it's worth dying to protect. For others, it's worth killing.

The glass beach house was supposed to be the getaway that Susan needed. Eager to help her transplanted family set down roots in their new town - and desperate for some kid-free conversation - she invites her new neighbors to join in on a week-long sublet with her and her workaholic husband. 

Over the course of the first evening, liquor loosens inhibitions and lips. The three couples begin picking up on the others' marital tensions and work frustrations, as well as revealing their own. But someone says too much. And the next morning one of the women is discovered dead on the private beach. 

Town detective Gabby Watkins must figure out who permanently silenced the deceased. As she investigates, she learns that everyone in the glass house was hiding something that could tie them to the murder, and that the biggest secrets of all are often in plain sight for anyone willing to look. 

A taut, locked-room mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters, One Little Secret promises to keep listeners addicted and debating the blinders that we all put on in the service of politeness.

©2019 Cate Holahan (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about One Little Secret

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Narrator made it impossible to enjoy

The robotic speech pattern of the narrator made it too jarring to listen. Shame because the concept looked interesting.

1 person found this helpful

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  • PWL
  • 2021-12-24

Good story-terrible narrator

Quite an engaging story line but WHY have that nasal narrator with her uncomfortable drawl do the reading? Otherwise, a decent murder mystery touching on pertinent topics such as spousal abuse.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Abi
  • 2021-10-11

It’s okay

The past and present way of writing the story was interesting and it didn’t get confusing. But there are times that the writing got me lost. The introduction of new subject or topic was confusing at times.

1 person found this helpful

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Intense!

Was good and intense. Told in an interesting way, and full of twists and turns

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Sad commentary on our silence

In this novel, the narrator, Hillary Huber, isn't the best at accents, and her narration of Dina's last scene made it seem as though Dina was hiding something, by her tone, when she wasn't at all. The mens' voices were well narrated though. The story, written by Cate Holahan, was a sad commentary on the silence society keeps when we know those amongst us are being abused, and what that taboo of polite innocence can create.

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pretty good

it took a few chapters to get into but I enjoyed it after that

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Horrible narration

I purchased this as an audiobook. This may be a decent story but the narration is so horrible I can’t continue listening. The narrator at times sounds like a computer generated voice. No inflection, strange pauses, and often no emotion. It’s impossible to get engaged in the story. I would suggest listening to a sample before purchasing this an as audiobook.

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  • CLG
  • 2022-07-26

Good story

The story was good but the narrators voice was very robotic and hard to listen to.

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Too slow

Story line is very slow . The book does not build suspense at any stage. Narrator is monotone. Not recommended.

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Terrible narration and super dumb story!

Oh my Lord that was ludicrous! Do not waste your time. The only reason I listened to it was because I ran out of credits and was desperate for a book and this was free. The narration was so dreadful, monotone and robotic. I’m shocked the producer didn’t give her any tips. Her accents were hilarious. The Filipina nanny was so absurd and every woman sounded like she was a total airhead. And the story was dreadful. Wife beatings, impossible situations, just plain stupid. It was so excruciating listening to this and the narration was so slow that I listened to most of the book at 1.5 speed and some parts 2.0 speed!! The end still couldn’t come fast enough…

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  • shelley
  • 2019-07-10

Sophomoric and Boring...

I generally don't like leaving poor reviews. I enjoyed this author's last book (The Lies She Told) so much I couldn't wait to buy this one.
I realize this is subjective but I found this book boring and completely unrealistic. I couldn't find anything to like about the six main characters and by the end of the book I really didn't care.
Three grown, professional couples go on a vacation together. They rent a vacation home. Two are having an affair. One wife is suing two of the husbands but their wives don't know about the lawsuit at all. The men feel emasculated and the women whine. And these are friends? WHY? I didn't even care who murdered one of the friends by the time the killer was revealed.
Hilary Huber does a good job narrating but even she could not save this book.
Not recommended.
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Thank You.

102 people found this helpful

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  • Ruby Fitzgerald
  • 2020-09-27

Interesting story, but author has some annoying issues

The story kept my interest and was entertaining enough, but the author constantly mentioned how the women were “petite”, “tiny”, how the men towered over them, etc. Yeah, we get it, they were small- it didn’t need to be brought up every other sentence. There was even a line about how no man would want his petite wife walking home alone in the dark. As if husbands don’t care about their wives’ safety if they aren’t tiny.

36 people found this helpful

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  • Christy
  • 2020-10-10

Robot narrator

If you want to hear Siri read a book I guess this is the book for you.

27 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Kelly C.
  • 2019-07-14

Did Not Work For Me

This story immediately caught my attention as it started off with an investigation into a sexual assault and a murder. I was very intrigued within the prologue and first chapter to see where this would go next. It did veer off a little different than expected after that and I was ready for it to be over. I thought about DNFing several times. You will be introduced very quickly to several characters (the main characters, their children, their significant others). I had to take a step back and get everyone straight. I had a hard time keeping track of all of the characters throughout the story as there was really nothing distinguishable about them. This also jumps from different times in the story which I normally am not a fan of. It did not bother me too much in this one, but I still just never seemed to care what was going on. This really reminded me of Big Little Lies, so I think you would like this if you liked that. There is a lot of drama. The story jumps from time and place as you are learning what happened while the couples were at the beach house. Overall, this just did not work for me.

22 people found this helpful

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  • KH
  • 2020-09-05

Actually genuinely shocked!

I really enjoy this genre. There are some really obnoxious tropes (crazed single woman whose painfully lonely and unfulfilled without a man, anyone?!) and while this book did fall in to a few of those I still really enjoyed it. Usually the shocks and surprises are telegraphed a mile out but this one actually had me gasp in surprise at one point! So fun! It was part of my premium membership so it was free but if it weren’t I’d still be satisfied if I’d paid for it! Definitely recommend!

10 people found this helpful

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  • Catherine
  • 2020-12-02

Terrible narrator

I couldn’t get far enough into the book to determine if the story was good or not. The narration was terrible. I had to speed it up because she spoke so slow and sounded robotic.

9 people found this helpful

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  • Joan L. roberts
  • 2020-12-07

so boring

Loved her other books ...I was looking forward to this book...after 1 1/2 hrs I gave up. You have to grab the readers at the beginning ..that never happened.

8 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • ShaShaShima
  • 2020-10-10

Glacially slow burn

The story had just enough going on to keep me listening till the end. The pacing is slow. There are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. In the end I don’t believe anyone really got justice in spite of the self-righteous detective’s best efforts. I really wish she would have just left things alone.

8 people found this helpful

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  • Rythea
  • 2020-11-27

Horrible Narration, Stupid Story

I typically never write reviews but I want to hopefully save other from wasting 9+ hours of their lives on this. The premise of this book is ridiculous and truly unbelievable. The narrator ends her sentences in “uptalk”. Her imitations of male voices is beyond irritating. The story kept getting even more stupid as it went on. The only reason why I finished it was to know how ridiculously it ended. Don’t waste your time.

7 people found this helpful

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  • Jennifer Trotter
  • 2020-12-02

So.....boring!!!

I gave it 2 hours of listening....so bored I had to give it up. Nothing grabbed me or got me invested in the story...after 2 full hours! Plus, the narrator straight up sounds like Siri or a robot, it's incredibly off putting. Just speak like a normal person!
Don't waste your time with this one.

3 people found this helpful