All her little secrets : a novel

"Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a "for fun" relationship with a rich, charming executive, who just happens to be her white boss. But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice arrives in the executive suite and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head. And then she walks away as nothing has happened. Why? Ellice has been keeping a cache of dark secrets, including a small-town past and a kid brother who's spent time on the other side of the law. She can't be thrust into the spotlight, again. But instead of grieving this tragedy, people are gossiping, the police are getting suspicious, and Ellice, the company's lone black attorney, is promoted to replace her boss. While the opportunity is a dream come true, Ellice just can't shake the feeling that something is off. When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma. Suddenly, Ellice's past and present lives collide as she launches into a pulse-pounding race to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined." --

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Bayport Public Library	FICTION MOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	FICTION MOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	FICTION MOR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	FICTION MOR	Searching... Unknown

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"All Her Little Secrets is a brilliantly nuanced but powerhouse exploration of race, the legal system, and the crushing pressure of keeping secrets. Morris brings a vibrant and welcome new voice to the thriller space." --Karin Slaughter, New York Times and international bestselling author

In this fast-paced thriller, Wanda M. Morris crafts a twisty mystery about a black lawyer who gets caught in a dangerous conspiracy after the sudden death of her boss . . . A debut perfect for fans of Attica Locke, Alyssa Cole, Harlan Coben, and Celeste Ng, with shades of How to Get Away with Murder and John Grisham's The Firm.

Everyone has something to hide...

Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a "for fun" relationship with a rich, charming executive, who just happens to be her white boss. But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice arrives in the executive suite and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head.

And then she walks away like nothing has happened. Why? Ellice has been keeping a cache of dark secrets, including a small-town past and a kid brother who's spent time on the other side of the law. She can't be thrust into the spotlight--again.

But instead of grieving this tragedy, people are gossiping, the police are getting suspicious, and Ellice, the company's lone black attorney, is promoted to replace her boss. While the opportunity is a dream-come-true, Ellice just can't shake the feeling that something is off.

When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma. Suddenly, Ellice's past and present lives collide as she launches into a pulse-pounding race to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined...

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Attorney Morris puts her experiences as a Black woman navigating the corridors of corporate power to good use in her strong debut, a legal thriller. Ellice Littlejohn, a 40-something Black woman, is relatively content as a senior member of the legal department at Atlanta's Houghton Transportation Company. But that all changes when she arrives for an early morning meeting with her white boss, Houghton's general counsel and her lover, Michael Sayles, and finds him dead from a gunshot to the head, apparently self-inflicted. Freaked out, Ellice doesn't report her grim discovery and acts surprised when the news reaches her. She's further stunned to be immediately promoted to fill Michael's role before she has a chance to decide whether she wants the position. She becomes increasingly anxious when she's interviewed by the police, who are treating the death as a homicide. Morris gives her flawed lead plenty to struggle with, including a secret, ex-con brother; workplace sexism and racism; and an awkward encounter with her lover's widow. The fast pacing doesn't overwhelm the deep dive into Ellice's inner life. John Grisham fans will be pleased. Agent: Lori Galvin, Aevitas Creative Management. (Nov.)

Kirkus Review

A seat on the executive board should be a professional peak for a corporate lawyer. Instead, it's a life-threatening trap. Success hasn't been easy for Ellice Littlejohn. As a Black woman, she's dealt with barriers other lawyers haven't, especially in Atlanta, a city that, despite its vibrant and diverse present, hasn't shed its racist history. To rise, Ellice has carefully shaped her image--and left out certain pieces of her past, like her childhood in a small, grindingly poor Georgia town where some very bad things happened before she escaped via a scholarship to an elite boarding school. She has secrets in the present, too, notably her long-term affair with Michael Sayles, who is married, White, and her boss in Houghton Transportation's legal department. When he summons her for an early-morning meeting and she arrives at his office to find him dead, an apparent suicide, she keeps that a secret, too, leaving his body to be discovered by someone else. Ellice had no delusions about being in love with Michael--it was a colleagues-with-benefits situation for a woman focused more on her career than her personal life--but his death blows up her entire life. Among its least expected effects: She's promoted to his job as head of legal, which puts her on the board of a family-owned, almost entirely White corporation. Houghton has been under pressure about its lack of employee diversity, and her hiring should improve their optics. But she feels distinctly unwelcome on the board despite the support of company CEO Nate Ashe, a somewhat dotty Southern gentleman. The harder she looks into what really happened to Michael, the more she uncovers in the company that alarms her. At the same time, her own secrets are being revealed. Morris builds an escalating thriller plot packed with convincing details about corporate politics and skulduggery. She also provides a knowledgeable portrait of Atlanta's complex social structure. One of Ellice's secrets is Vera Henderson, the woman who raised her and her brother, Sam. Vera, once a fierce defender of children and women, is now a dementia patient in a nursing home, and Morris skillfully paints the loving, painful relationship between her and Ellice. Corporate competition is not only racist and sexist, but deadly in this confident debut thriller. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Ellice Littlejohn grew up poor and Black in rural Chillicothe, Georgia, where she left a lot of secrets behind. Now a corporate lawyer with an Ivy League law degree in midtown Atlanta, she luxuriates in Italian sheets and a Prada coat. Sometimes she shares those sheets with her married white boss. That's a big lie to live, along with those she tells to keep her past hidden. "Every lie you tell, every secret you keep, is a fragile little thing that must be protected and accounted for," says Ellice. One frosty January morning, she arrives for an early morning meeting and finds her boss dead. What appears to be suicide is determined to be murder, and having been hastily promoted as his replacement, she becomes a prime suspect. The first-person narrative will hold the reader captive as Ellice struggles under a tremendous burden of moral and ethical issues, both personal and professional. Then comes danger, when she realizes something definitely illegal is going on within the company. Woven into the story is an eye-opening look at what it is to fight all the -isms of being Black and female in America. Ellice is a compelling and multidimensional hero in this must-have debut that will be embraced by all legal-thriller readers.

Library Journal Review

Lawyer Ellice Littlejohn is a long way from the red clay of her small Georgia town, her scholarship days in a Virginia boarding school, and her mother, who is addicted to alcohol. But Ellice's compartmentalizing of her life falls apart when her boss is murdered. She is quickly promoted into his position as chief legal counsel. And while Ellice has a litany of professional accomplishments, she can't shake the feeling that something about her promotion is suspect. Is it because she's the only Black executive? Is it the guilt she feels for having an affair with her late boss? Corporate corruption, greed, issues of race, and murder combine in this perfect listen for patrons who have finished the latest John Grisham or Michael Connelly. Recommend also to fans of The Gone Dead, by Chanelle Benz, and No One Is Coming To Save Us, by Stephanie Powell Watts. VERDICT Morris's convincing writing and Susan Dalian's compelling narration make this powerful debut a must-add to audiobook collections.--Lesley Mason

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Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

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