What We Hide by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker

What We Hide
by Colleen Coble
and Rick Acker

ISBN-13: 9780840711984
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: July 2, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Savannah Webster is trying to find her way forward. She and her husband, Hez, have been separated since tragedy tore them apart and he began numbing his grief and guilt with alcohol. She returned to Tupelo Grove University, which her family helped found over a century ago, to teach history.

When Hez turns up in her classroom asking for a second chance, she rejects the idea immediately. But twenty-four hours later she’s under suspicion for murder, and since Hez is the best attorney she knows, she asks him for help. They suspect the murder is tied to someone selling off the university’s pre-Columbia artifacts, but the secrets go much deeper than they realize. They’re going to have to put their past behind them if they’re going to stay alive long enough to uncover all that’s hidden.


My Review:
What We Hide is a Christian mystery/suspense novel. Hez is a very good attorney who's used to doing some of the investigative work himself. However, he's always gotten so focused on his work that he doesn't pay enough attention to his wife and child. When his child died due to his inattention, his guilt drove him to alcohol, which destroyed his marriage. He's spent two years getting free of his alcoholism and hopes to win Savannah back. She still loves him, but she doesn't believe he's truly changed and so is determined to reject him. When they work together to prove whodunit, she's more comfortable wallowing in her doubts than asking him questions that would clear things up about the past and their present relationship.

Frankly, I'm not sure either of them changed that much by the end: he's still a workaholic and she resisted telling him how she feels even when God prompted her to do so. But at least they started toward trying to make things work.

The main characters didn't always make sensible choices, but a real person might act that way. Hez was likable. He made mistakes, but he took responsibility for his actions and truly wanted to change for the better. There were some courtroom scenes and some suspense from a killer taking out anyone who might expose the extent of the crime going on. We get some scenes from the boss criminal's viewpoint, so the reader can guess some of who and what's involved before Hez and Savannah. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting suspense even if Savannah's behavior frustrated me.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.