Such a Clever Girl
- Judith D Collins
- Jan 18
- 6 min read
By: Darby Kane
Narrators: Megan Tusing, Rebekkah Ross, Emily Woo Zeller, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw HarperAudio
ISBN: 9780063352018
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: 01/20/2026
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
Darby Kane, author of the #1 international bestseller Pretty Little Wife, returns with a gripping domestic thriller in which a family goes missing and a long-buried family mystery resurfaces.
Fifteen years ago, the Tanner family vanished without a trace, leaving behind a chilling scene: half-eaten meals, a bloodstain by the door, and a smoldering fire consuming their business across town.
The once-vibrant home stands untouched, a haunting relic of the past. As rumors fade into local folklore, the mystery of their disappearance seems destined to remain unsolved—until Aubrey Tanner returns.
Now a hardened thirty-year-old, Aubrey arrives in town with secrets etched in her silence. Why did she come back? Was she a victim of the night that changed everything, or does she hold the truth of what happened to her family? The town is rife with theories, but three women share a dangerous bond: they know more than they’ve ever confessed.
As the past resurfaces, old alliances fray. A teacher, a café owner, and a psychologist are drawn together by memories they’d rather forget. Each holds a piece of the puzzle—and a dark secret of their own. When a new disappearance sends shock waves through the town, blackmail begins, and the stakes climb higher.
In a race against time, these women must confront the truth or risk becoming the next victims of a past they cannot escape. With tension rising and danger lurking, one thing is clear: someone is destined to kill again.
My Review
In SUCH A CLEVER GIRL, a gripping and intricately woven psychological thriller by Darby Kane, we delve into the enigmatic return of Aubrey Tanner, who resurfaces fifteen years after her family's mysterious disappearance. This compelling tale is further enriched by the secrets harbored by three other women in the quaint town of Sleepy Hollow.
Prepare yourself for a tense domestic whodunit thriller filled with hidden secrets, unraveling family mysteries, and a relentless race against time in a town haunted by its past.
Through the use of multiple perspectives, the narrative masterfully unravels the truth behind that fateful night, keeping readers on the edge of their seats.
About...
The Disappearance:
Fifteen years before the main events, the wealthy Tanner family—parents Patrick and Victoria, and their children, Aubrey and Noah—vanished from their home. The scene left behind was chilling: a bloodstain by the door, half-eaten meals on the table, and the family business ablaze across town. The case went cold, becoming local folklore.
Aubrey's Return:
The story begins when the family patriarch, Xavier Tanner (Aubrey's grandfather), dies. Aubrey, now a grown woman, reappears in town for the reading of his will, stunning the community who presumed she was dead. Aubrey's primary motivation for returning to Sleepy Hollow is to uncover the truth about her family’s disappearance and force those involved to "confess their sins".
Multiple Perspectives and Hidden Secrets:
The story is told from the alternating first-person viewpoints of four women: Aubrey, Marni, a teacher and Victoria's best friend; Hanna, a local café owner with her own ties to the family; and Stella, Aubrey's cousin and a psychologist. Each of these women holds a dangerous, long-buried secret about the night the Tanners disappeared.
A New Disappearance:
The situation escalates when another person goes missing, sending shock waves through the town and raising the stakes. The women must confront the truth of the original disappearance to prevent further harm and avoid becoming victims themselves.
My thoughts...
SUCH A CLEVER GIRL is full of twists and turns, and unreliable narrators with every character seeming suspicious at some point. The secrets, once fully revealed, explain the mystery of the family's disappearance and provide a shocking resolution to the various tangled relationships and dark family dynamics for a satisfying conclusion.
Through a clever multi-perspective lens that shifts between four central women, each hiding a piece of the puzzle add layers of intrigue.
The narrative emphasizes that nearly all characters are "unlikable" or "despicable," making it difficult for the reader (and the characters) to know who to trust. Aubrey is characterized as a "troublemaker" with potentially psychopathic tendencies who is determined to dig up everything that is buried.
The story unfolds through the perspectives of Aubrey, Marni, Hanna, and Stella, gradually revealing layers of deceit.
The Three Key Secrets:
~Marni (Teacher): Victoria Tanner's former best friend.
~Hanna (Café Owner): Has "multifaceted ties" to the Tanner family that she has kept hidden.
~Stella (Psychologist): Aubrey’s cousin, who is deeply distressed by Aubrey's sudden reappearance.
A modern-day disappearance occurs shortly after Aubrey’s return, sparking blackmail and escalating the danger for the women who were present the night the Tanners vanished.
The book's second half accelerates, revealing the true fate of the Tanner family. Major twists include a shocking discovery, and readers will be glued to the pages.
The story focuses on themes of manipulation, hidden pasts, and small-town secrets, dark family dynamics, as Aubrey seeks to uncover what truly happened to her family and force the other women to confess their roles.
The title's significance is woven through several thematic layers:
~Manipulative Intelligence:
Aubrey is described by other characters as "manipulative" and potentially "psychopathic". The title reflects her "clever" and often cruel ability to stir up the past and force three women—Marni, Hanna, and Stella—to confront secrets they have buried for 15 years.
~The "Battle of Wits":
The story centers on a complex web of blackmail and hidden agendas. Aubrey uses her silence and calculated actions as weapons, making her the "clever girl" who stays several steps ahead of those who thought she was dead or gone for good.
In the 15 years since the Tanner family vanished, the town has turned the mystery into folklore. Aubrey’s return as a "hardened thirty-year-old" subverts the image of the teenage girl who went missing, proving she has become far more dangerous and "clever" than the community remembers.
Kane is a pro at building suspense by using unreliable narrators and a multi-perspective structure where every narrator is morally ambiguous and intentionally deceptive. By alternating between four women who all have "shadowy motivations," the author ensures that the truth remains fragmented until the final act.
The novel employs two layers of deception—secrets the characters keep from each other and secrets the author intentionally withholds from the reader through selective narrative reveals. This ensures that even when one character's secret is exposed, the overarching mystery remains unsolved until the very end.
Takeaway message...
The central takeaway of SUCH A CLEVER GIRL is a dark exploration of the corrosive power of buried secrets and the impossibility of escaping one's past. The novel suggests that while secrets may stay hidden for years, they inevitably resurface, often with destructive consequences for everyone involved.
The "cleverness" referred to in the title is often a tool for manipulation or survival. The story suggests that in a world of "despicable" characters, everyone is capable of betrayal when pushed by fear or a desire for revenge.
As a devoted admirer of the author, having explored every one of her works, I can confidently say that this is a whodunit you absolutely cannot afford to miss!
Recs...
Readers who enjoyed SUCH A CLEVER GIRL will likely want to explore other psychological thrillers and domestic suspense novels that feature multiple perspectives, dark small-town secrets, and characters with hidden pasts.
From the Same Author
~Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane
~The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane
Other Psychological Thrillers with Shared Themes
~The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan
~Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
~Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
~We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
~On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass
Special thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for sharing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Jan 20, 2026
Praise
"As always, Darby Kane takes us on a dark ride through tangled memories, wild danger, and a deranged web of lies I wasn’t sure I’d find my way out of. Such a Clever Girl is a moody and intricately paced whodunit set against the backdrop of a Sleepy Hollow mansion haunted by deadly memories and maybe a few ghosts. I kept reading way past my bedtime to solve the mystery, and I did not see that ending coming!"
— Victoria Helen Stone, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of Bald-Faced Liar
