Review: "We'll Never Tell" by Wendy Heard

We'll Never Tell by Wendy Heart
Published May 2023 via Little, Brown
★★★

Decades ago, a double murder shook Hollywood. It was never solved, but Casey and her friends think they've scored a coup for their YouTube channel—they'll break into the mansion in which it happened, do some filming, leave; it'll send their channel out with a bang before they split ways for college.

Things...do not go to plan.

I love a good abandoned-mansion book—I'm still waiting for a cozy series in which the heroine inherits a crumbling, rambling mansion or castle and spends a good ten books exploring its nooks and crannies (plus of course solves some mysteries on the side). Never mind cottage core; I want some castle core! Unfortunately We'll Never Tell doesn't quite do it for me in that regard. The group's break-in comes early on in the book, and after things go down there's very little more time spent on the premises, thus dashing my (unfounded) hopes and dreams. I can't hold the book accountable, but...it would have been nice.

Casey is not always the brightest bulb in the box—she's quick to trust—but she has reasons to be invested in, and also to be wary of, this particular case. I didn't need the infighting (I think in this case it would have been more alarming, and more interesting, if they'd been solidly banding together and afraid that something external was out to get them), and I won't be returning to the book, but it was a quick and fun read.