So much harm can be done by rumors, as we learn when Joanna moves back to her hometown so she and her six year old son can have a new start. Little Alfie had been bullied at his old school in the city and now Joanna and Alfie are living near her mom, where Joanna can work fewer hours and devote more time to helping Alfie adjust to his new school life. Joanna needs to adjust to, realizing she won't fit in the the mothers of Alfie's schoolmates unless she spends more time socializing with them but she has started out on the wrong foot, rushing away from the school after dropping Alfie off and avoiding contact with the mothers, when possible. To break the ice, Joanna mentions a rumor she heard about a child murderer living anonymously, in their little town. The rumor grows, with Joanna's name attached to the rumor, as the one who started it, and we get to see the harm that rumors do to innocent people.

Joanna starts getting threatening texts from the person who may be the child murderer. The murder was of a five year old boy by a ten year old girl, long ago. The girl served her sentence and was released as an eighteen year old, to live her life under a new name. But many people aren't prepared to let this child murderer live in peace, if they can figure out who she is and how to get her out of their town. And now the murderer is targeting Joanna for starting the rumors, even threatening Alfie with a photo of him stabbed in the heart. Joanna's scared but can't turn back time, can't shut the rumor down, the harm has been done and things are escalating.

The book contains so many characters, moms, kids, and older women who could fit the description of the child murderer. I had four older women pegged as likely candidates. There is also Michael, Alfie's dad and Joanna's partner, who is a journalist and wants to interview the murderer, if he can find her. Lots going on, with Joanna overthinking and then not acting on things she knows she should do, such as discuss a myriad of important issues with Michael, from the status of their relationship to how she is the one who started the rumors. Joanna frustrated me with all her thinking, overthinking, and then failing to do things she should have done and later regretting her inaction. The big climax seemed clunky to me, with lots of talking and thud of a resolution. The plot and story say a lot about how people handle things that make them uncomfortable, how people can't forget past offences despite the debt being paid, and how rumors can destroy so many lives. I just wish the telling of the story could have come together a bit more smoothly.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Goodreads Giveaway, for this ARC.