She Treads Softly: Keep Them Close

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Keep Them Close

Keep Them Close by David Ellis
6/30/26; 368 pages
G.P. Putnam's Sons

Keep Them Close by David Ellis is an exceptional, very highly recommended, twisty murder mystery and legal thriller. It is so surprising and twisty it's like a pretzel on steroids. This complex, clever thriller will surprise you multiple times while reading. Read this book. Oh, and trust no one.

When Finley Brice is found dead in a dumpster, his wife, Allison, is obviously a suspect. Allison is also a top lawyer in Chicago and has, incidentally, been keeping tack of her husband's affairs. During this same time Allison's brother, Luke, is facing legal problems of his own, but Allison and Luke always have each other's backs, or do they?

This is an extremely well written, complex, original, clever, and twisty thriller that moves at a fast-pace throughout and will hold your complete attention throughout. It will also blow your mind with some of the complex twisty-twists and the pages will fly by. Trust me, this one has it all and you will not be able to guess where it is going. Pay attention and follow the chapter timelines closely. They are all based on April Fools Day, the day Finley died, but can be following action before and after that day. The plot unfolds through the points-of-view of Allison, Luke, and Louise, the police detective on the case.

Allison is a complex, fully realized character. She's astute, cunning, intelligent, and never a pushover. Luke is also more than he seems. You wouldn't want to turn your back on either of these siblings as they are both very intelligent but also have secrets. None of the characters are trustworthy. The complications, duplicity, questions, suspicions, and lies abound throughout the plot. Again, trust no one and nothing is as it seems.

Keep Them Close is an exceptional mystery mystery/investigative thriller and should not be missed. Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.