Promise Not To Tell By: Jennifer McMahon
Jennifer McMahon decided to write this book transitioning between the past and present. In this book there are really two main characters, Del and Kate, but Del is more of a main character in the past, and Kate is more of a main character in the present. The main reason being that Del did not live to see the present. No, her death was not a suicide, and it was most certainly not by natural causes, her death was most deifinately a murder. Now before I get into much more detail about this murder, I am going to tell you a little bit more about Del, Kate and their friendship.
Although their friendship was very much unknow to the others at school and in the town , Del and Kate met everyday after school in a forest between the two girls' houses. They often played games where Del was the Sheriff and Kate was the Deputy, and Del's older brother, Nicky, sometimes joined in as an extra player. The other kids at school all made fun of Del, and called her the Potato Girl, which they only did because she smelled slightly of raw potatoes; it's later discovered that she smells like this because she lives on a pig farm and he family has hardly enough money to put food on the table, let alone be able to bathe everyday. Other than the constant name calling of Del,and the ignoring of Kate, everything seemed just fine. That was until the night in the forest when Del, Kate, and Nicky were up to their usual games of Sheriff and Deputy when Del was running from Kate and Nicky who thought they'd never catch her only to find out that someone else had beaten them to it.
They found her completely nude, a rope around her neck, and a large patch of skin over her heart removed. The case was not closed for a very long time, all possible suspects had been interrogated, and they all had alibis that checked out. At this point, the case was merely set aside for ' the time being ' which turned out to be about 30 years.
We are now in the present day, but often jump back to Kate's memories of the past, Del, and her death. We find out that Kate's mother is severely suffering for Alzheimer's and has caused many fires. That's why Kate has come back home, to stop the fires, and keep every thing locked up that needs to be, including knives, matches, and at night she even has to lock her mother in her room. The one night she decides her mother will be okay to not be locked up, something terrible happens, something exactly like what happened before. The town now begins to wonder if the legends about the Potato Girl's ghost are true or not. Many strange things occur when Kate comes back home, things that all relate to Del and the friendship they had.
This book, as I've already mentioned, takes place both in the past ( about 30 years ago) as well as present day in New Hope, Vermont. The atmosphere ( in case you couldn't tell ) is most definitely suspenseful, for a few reason. First of all there are 2 murders, one in the past and one at the moment, that are exactly the same. There is also the suspense in wondering who the murderer is, and is it the same murderer as last time, or just a copy-cat killer?
It was tough to pick a main character but i decided Del would be the most sensible to describe. Del, for one is quite mischievous the reader knows this from her actions taken in the book, she doesn't follow rules very well at school nor does she follow them at home, she is also known for taking things from people, nothing of great value just things that she thinks are interesting or weird. Although Del is mischievous, she always keeps her word to people she trusts, which aren't many. One example from the book is when Kate shows Del where she lives, this may not seem like a big deal, but Kate lives in a teepy with her crazy mother and she has never told anyone that because she knows everyone else, the popular kids, will tease and make fun of her because of it. Del never told a soul, not even her older bother Nicky, any of Kate's secrets.
I absolutely LOVED this book! I mean what's not to like??? I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great suspense novel, something to keep you on the edge of your seat every time you turn the page. However, if you are easily confused when books or movies go back and forth from one time period to another, this book might not be the best thing for you because it changes between the past and present very often. Other than the book had me wanting to read more every time, I really enjoyed the fact that they did not reveal who the killer was until the second to last if not the last chapter, I thought this gave the book even more of a suspenseful atmosphere.
If you are interested in reading this book, which i highly recommend, or any other books by Jennifer McMahon here are two more titles of books within the same genre as the one described above: Dismantled: A Novel 
Island Of Lost Girls: A Novel 
I don't know about you, but I can't wait to read them!
