Susan Leon
A DEBUT NOVEL BY
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★★★★★
Just finished If They’d Only Known. Wow, well done. I'm no critic, though having lived through the era depicted in the book, and having similar experiences, I went from teary eyes to chuckles and from long hidden memories to the hard facts of life.
Jim Giffy
Vietnam Vet
★★★★★
It’s one of those damn books that you want to get to the justice part but don’t want the book to end.
Lynn Peterson
Former Mayor of Thunder Bay
★★★★★
I got so invested in the characters that at times I was heartbroken and crying, enraged and yelling at the page … This was everything I look for in a great read - intriguing, emotional, and with an epic storyline.
Sarah Bingham
Early Reviewer
𝑰𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒅 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅, 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, 𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓-𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑲𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒚'𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕. Helen Kennedy - Market Harborough Literary Festival
A child vanished. The case goes cold. A family destroyed. Nineteen years later, the past refuses to stay buried.
TJ “Jack” Kelly is a teenager when eight-year-old Marla Ferguson—the sister of his high school girlfriend—is kidnapped, her twin brother injured, and her family shattered.
When the case goes cold, guilt, anger, and hopelessness drive everyone apart, including Jack, whose dream of becoming a police officer was forged in the aftermath of Marla’s disappearance.
When another young girl, a dead ringer for Marla, is found raped and murdered, Jack, now a homicide detective, returns to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
As the killer begins to taunt the police and the Ferguson family, Jack must confront long-buried secrets, resurfacing resentments, and a past that refuses to stay silent.
With the possibility that the crimes are connected, Jack races to uncover the truth before more girls are killed—perhaps even the woman he’s never stopped loving.
It explores the aftermath of disappearance – not the moment of loss, but the decades that follow. A family fractured by grief. An investigator haunted by the unsolved case. And a community forever changed.
If They'd Only Known is a work of fiction set in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the city of Port Arthur, now known as Thunder Bay. Atmospheric, emotionally intelligent, and intricately layered, the novel will demonstrate the rippling effects of violence and the courage it takes to rebuild.