Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
William Morrow Paperbacks (2008), 258 pages
Description
Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother, who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered-a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del-shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl"-was brutally slain. Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems... and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten. More than just a murder mystery, Jennifer McMahon's extraordinary debut novel, Promise Not to Tell, is a story of friendship and family, devotion and betrayal-tautly written, deeply insightful, beautifully evocative, and utterly unforgettable.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member calexis
I had actually read Island of Lost Girls first because I didn't realize Jennifer McMahon had this debut novel already. Although it doesn't really matter which book I read first since it's not a sequel or anything, I would have probably enjoyed reading her first book first just so I can see how her
I had actually picked it up two weeks ago, and was reading those little reviews that came with it. I was haunted by the fact that Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants wrote that "[it].. will have you looking over your shoulder for the Potato Girl long after you've turned the last page." And I wasn't in much of a mood to be scared. But I finally picked it up yesterday morning and decided that I'll just read it during the daylight hours, so as to not to creep myself out during the night. What happens is that I read into the night, and finish it around 2 in the morning. And I was so afraid to get up from bed, turn off the lights, and to run back to my bed. haha.
I haven't been properly scared for a long time. And this book was the perfect book for that. It wasn't too scary, but the details and the writing in it just completely takes you in. It's an amazing feeling. For those of you who haven't read any of McMahon's book, definitely read Promise Not to Tell and then Island of Lost Girls. Both books are amazing. I'll be getting my hands on My Tiki Girl as soon as it comes out in paperback. haha.
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writing as changed. If it's possible, she's shown to be really consistent in her writing, and once again, completely blew me away. This novel was suspensful and compelling and just so hard to put down.I had actually picked it up two weeks ago, and was reading those little reviews that came with it. I was haunted by the fact that Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants wrote that "[it].. will have you looking over your shoulder for the Potato Girl long after you've turned the last page." And I wasn't in much of a mood to be scared. But I finally picked it up yesterday morning and decided that I'll just read it during the daylight hours, so as to not to creep myself out during the night. What happens is that I read into the night, and finish it around 2 in the morning. And I was so afraid to get up from bed, turn off the lights, and to run back to my bed. haha.
I haven't been properly scared for a long time. And this book was the perfect book for that. It wasn't too scary, but the details and the writing in it just completely takes you in. It's an amazing feeling. For those of you who haven't read any of McMahon's book, definitely read Promise Not to Tell and then Island of Lost Girls. Both books are amazing. I'll be getting my hands on My Tiki Girl as soon as it comes out in paperback. haha.
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LibraryThing member eenerd
Quick read but interesting, engaging story. Enough twists and turns to keep you hypothesizing until the culprit is revealed to you. McMahon is not afraid to go the supernatural route, and she does it in a style that is not silly or over the top.
LibraryThing member lrobe190
Returning to her home town in Vermont to care for her Alzheimer's patient mother, forty-one-year-old nurse Kate finds herself drawn into the murder investigation of a young girl, a case that reminds her of the death of a childhood friend years earlier. Moving back and forth between 1971 and 2002,
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this story of two seemingly connected murders of young girls 30 years apart is fast-paced and suspenseful. Most of the characters are introduced in 1971 and are featured again in 2002. Clues point to almost everyone at some point, but it's not until the last chapter that the actual killer is revealed. This one is hard to put down. Show Less
LibraryThing member Djupstrom
I wanted this to be a good, scary book. It fell way short on all accounts.
LibraryThing member ladydzura
Kate Cypher narrates this ghost story set in two whens: in 1971, Kate's best friend in fifth grade is murdered, and in 2002 -- on the night Kate returns to her hometown after years away -- another young girl is killed in much the same manner. Suspicion swirls around Kate, and she must revisit her
While a few of the characters felt pretty flat, this story had a couple of pretty good twists to it -- enough to keep me guessing up until the last chapter or two, when all is revealed. The dual timeline device worked surprisingly well, and the story was involving enough to keep me occupied for an evening. I was impressed by how well McMahon was able to capture Kate, her best friend Del, and their classmates in this book. While the children were incredibly cruel at times, it's a fairly good look at that awkward trying-to-fit-in phase that a lot of kids go through. Overall, Promise Not To Tell isn't one of the best mystery / suspense novels out there, but it's far from the worst.
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past and the role she played in her friend's death in order to untangle the more recent events and help catch the killer.While a few of the characters felt pretty flat, this story had a couple of pretty good twists to it -- enough to keep me guessing up until the last chapter or two, when all is revealed. The dual timeline device worked surprisingly well, and the story was involving enough to keep me occupied for an evening. I was impressed by how well McMahon was able to capture Kate, her best friend Del, and their classmates in this book. While the children were incredibly cruel at times, it's a fairly good look at that awkward trying-to-fit-in phase that a lot of kids go through. Overall, Promise Not To Tell isn't one of the best mystery / suspense novels out there, but it's far from the worst.
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LibraryThing member maryintexas39
Wow!!! I am so impressed with this book. Kept me turning pages until the wee hours of the morning.
LibraryThing member ATechwreck
Excellent ghost story. This book quickly grabs you as it moves from past to present time, between the story of a young girl, Kate, raised on a Vermont commune who befriends an outcast neighbor girl to the present day. The murder of the outcast girl, the "potato girl" is apparantly repeated just as
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Kate returns to the commune to care for her failing mother. Show Less
LibraryThing member Alera
This novel is a ghost story, a thriller, a mystery, and a tale of reuniting with family/reconciling with your past, rolled up all together in one small unable to put down package. I recommend it to anyone.
LibraryThing member bellmorejer
I agree with CarmenOhio. I was disappointed in this book. It read to me like a book more appropriate for teenage readers. It did not keep me engaged.
LibraryThing member charlieanna
This book started out with a bang. It was haunting, disturbing and scary. But, by the end it seems like the author gets almost lazy and it takes a cheesy turn.
LibraryThing member itsJUSTme
I liked this book! Was sitting on the edge of my seat, a real page turner. A little predictable but I didn't care! I liked the characters too.
LibraryThing member bookappeal
Kate returns to rural Vermont to make decisions about her mother whose Alzheimer's has reached a dangerous stage. On the day she arrives, a girl is murdered in a manner eerily similar to the way a friend of Kate's was killed 30 years ago. Del, nicknamed the Potato Girl because of her poor farming
The author maintains a creepy feeling throughout, delving into the character of Del through Kate's flashbacks and dropping hints about Del's murder. The touches of horror and the paranormal may put off some mystery readers. A cleanly-written story with interesting characters and a quick pace.
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family upbringing, seems to have a hold on Kate's mother and Opal, a friend of the murdered girl. Is she coming back for revenge? The author maintains a creepy feeling throughout, delving into the character of Del through Kate's flashbacks and dropping hints about Del's murder. The touches of horror and the paranormal may put off some mystery readers. A cleanly-written story with interesting characters and a quick pace.
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LibraryThing member BellaFoxx
I liked this book, I read it in one night. It is a combination of mystery, suspense and ghost story. The ghost is not to heavy handed, and related by Kate, who doesn't believe in ghosts. It has some dark aspects, neither glossed over or dwelt on, just related in the matter-of-fact way of someone
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who doesn't expect things to change. It covers peer pressure and bullying in a realistic manner. The novel is written in the first person and switches between Kate's childhood, when the first murder occurs and when she is an adult and a second murder like the first takes place. Show Less
LibraryThing member MsGemini
This was an interesting story involving a murder of a young girl. The author kept me guessing all the way to the end.
LibraryThing member coolmama
I don't usually enjoy mysteries, but as this book has such excellent reviews, decided to give it a try.
Kate has returned to the small Vermont town where she grew up to deal with her mother's worsening Alzheimer's. While there, a killing chillingly similar to the one that happened when she was 12
The book pulled me in right away. I really loved the "alternate" chapter format with the past and the present.
That said, the book sort of lost me around 3/4 of it. I was surprised that I figured it out, and found it didn't continue its wonderful pull and promise that it showed in the beginning.
It was well written, however, and I found her descriptions and character development to be excellent. Was amazed that this was a debut novel. Great promise from Ms Mcmahon.
Kate has returned to the small Vermont town where she grew up to deal with her mother's worsening Alzheimer's. While there, a killing chillingly similar to the one that happened when she was 12
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yrs old occurs. And then other odd things begin to happen as well. Spooky!The book pulled me in right away. I really loved the "alternate" chapter format with the past and the present.
That said, the book sort of lost me around 3/4 of it. I was surprised that I figured it out, and found it didn't continue its wonderful pull and promise that it showed in the beginning.
It was well written, however, and I found her descriptions and character development to be excellent. Was amazed that this was a debut novel. Great promise from Ms Mcmahon.
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LibraryThing member Sukisue7
No matter how much I tried to enjoy this book, I just couldn't! I found the storyline and the characters completely unengaging. The flashback aspect of the novel, although it is an approach that I enjoy in many novels, did not work for me here. By the end of the novel, I had started to figure out
I read many reviews of this book before I read it, and I thought it would appeal to me, but that wasn't to be. A disappointment.
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what the mystery was, and while the unveiling wasn't handled terribly, I found myself feeling letdown and disinterested. Also, the stories of Kate's upbringing and communal living were downright boring. I read many reviews of this book before I read it, and I thought it would appeal to me, but that wasn't to be. A disappointment.
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LibraryThing member TFS93
I must admit the potato girl was creepy. This story was a good mix, suspense, mystery, drama, ghosts. There were so many possible answers to "who did it", that I didn't have it all figured out. I enjoyed the way that the two stories were tied together. A new favorite author of mine!
LibraryThing member KellyBlackwell
Promise not to tell really pulled me in from the beginning. I have a love for stories that involve some coming-of-age aspects. The reader is taken back and forth in time with Kate Cypher as an adult returning home to make some difficult decisions regarding her mother and whose arrival has also
I particularly enjoyed reading the story from young Kate's point of view. I still find myself magically drawn in when a story involves children. The friendship between outcast Del and new-girl Kate is odd at times as Del is seriously a bit of a character. Kate desperately wants to belong in her new school, but really she is a bit of an outcast herself as she lives on a commune and is pretty far off from living a normal life like the other students at their school. Del and Kate are away-from-school friends who live an adventure when they play together.
Kate as an adult her own set of challenges from the past, and has chosen to live a life-time away from the commune she spent the latter part of her childhood. She has a flood of memories as she tries to piece together what happened to her friend Del and if it is related to the murder of the young girl in the present.
I enjoyed the book a great deal and read it over a weekend. I was intrigued as the story unfolded. It also left me really wanting to know what would become of Kate in the future. There was definitely quite a bit of adult subject matter, but it was factual rather than explicit, but the facts though fictional are still disturbing.
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coincided with a murder that is eerily similar to the murder of her childhood friend, Del.I particularly enjoyed reading the story from young Kate's point of view. I still find myself magically drawn in when a story involves children. The friendship between outcast Del and new-girl Kate is odd at times as Del is seriously a bit of a character. Kate desperately wants to belong in her new school, but really she is a bit of an outcast herself as she lives on a commune and is pretty far off from living a normal life like the other students at their school. Del and Kate are away-from-school friends who live an adventure when they play together.
Kate as an adult her own set of challenges from the past, and has chosen to live a life-time away from the commune she spent the latter part of her childhood. She has a flood of memories as she tries to piece together what happened to her friend Del and if it is related to the murder of the young girl in the present.
I enjoyed the book a great deal and read it over a weekend. I was intrigued as the story unfolded. It also left me really wanting to know what would become of Kate in the future. There was definitely quite a bit of adult subject matter, but it was factual rather than explicit, but the facts though fictional are still disturbing.
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LibraryThing member dragonimp
A compelling mystery that keeps you guessing right until the end.
LibraryThing member LisaMa321
A murder mystery that surprised me by turning into a ghost story. I was looking for a scary, creepy book to read, and I definitely found it with this novel. I'm sad to admit I had to finish this book in the morning because I got too creeped out reading it at night!
LibraryThing member CatieN
Kate Cypher, 41, is an elementary-school nurse living in Seattle. As the books opens, Kate has gone back to the small town she grew up in to take care of her Alzheimer's-inflicted mother, Jean. The day Kate returns, a 13-year-old girl is murdered in the woods near the run-down commune where Kate
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grew up and where her mother still lives. This is a copycat murder to one 30 years earlier when Kate's friend Del was killed. The book has a good start with a lot of back story about Kate and Del but then turns fairly ordinary with a too-quick ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member SomeGuyInVirginia
A compulsively readable campfire tale that transitions from a mystery to a ghost story. I wish the last 1/3 of the last page were cut; just a little too 'Women who run with the wolves'.
LibraryThing member LynnB
I bought this book because the title intrigued me...and the haunting picture of the little girl on the front. Why is it that children, especially girls, can look so scary?
I'm not a ghost story fan, nor a murder mystery fan, so the title must have REALLY grabbed me! It's a good story about a 41 year
The plot is kind of like an episode of "Murder, She Wrote", but the theme of bullying in school and how we participate in it, or are victims of it, held my interest. It's well written and fast-paced.
I'm not a ghost story fan, nor a murder mystery fan, so the title must have REALLY grabbed me! It's a good story about a 41 year
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old woman who returns to her home to look after her mother who has altzheimers. While there, a child is murdered and it brings back memories of an earlier murder. The plot is kind of like an episode of "Murder, She Wrote", but the theme of bullying in school and how we participate in it, or are victims of it, held my interest. It's well written and fast-paced.
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LibraryThing member OilFieldWife
This is a story about a woman whose friend was murdered when they were very young. The killer was never caught. When she returns home to help with her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, another girl is murdered in the same way. It seems as though it is the first victim, the Potato Girl, who
I found this book to be very engrossing. I just could not seem to put the book down. It is such a great read, and I would highly recommend this book to mystery and thriller lovers.
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has grown to local urban legend status. And it seems that the Potato Girl is trying to set up Kate, the woman who just returned home.I found this book to be very engrossing. I just could not seem to put the book down. It is such a great read, and I would highly recommend this book to mystery and thriller lovers.
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LibraryThing member mckait
No matter how bad it is I tend to grind on and wait to see the story will get better.
I am sometimes rewarded for this persistence, and when I am it encourages me to do it next time.
This was a horror story. I expected horror. I didn't expect down and dirty ugly. I have trouble with that in a book.
There are brutal deaths, and unkind people, and in my opinion no redeeming value to this story.
I am sometimes rewarded for this persistence, and when I am it encourages me to do it next time.
This was a horror story. I expected horror. I didn't expect down and dirty ugly. I have trouble with that in a book.
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Chilling is good in a horror story. Compelling helps, or intriguing. None of those things here. . I disliked the characters and found them annoying. I thought the story was dull. I stopped about 80 pages in, so I may well have missed the best part, but somehow, I don't think so. There are brutal deaths, and unkind people, and in my opinion no redeeming value to this story.
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Language
Original publication date
2007-04-10