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Promise Not to Tell
Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered—a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del—shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl"—was brutally slain. Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems . . . and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten.
More than just a murder mystery, Jennifer McMahon's extraordinary debut novel, Promise Not to Tell, is a story of friendship and family, devotion and betrayal—tautly written, deeply insightful, beautifully evocative, and utterly unforgettable.
More than just a murder mystery, Jennifer McMahon's extraordinary debut novel, Promise Not to Tell, is a story of friendship and family, devotion and betrayal—tautly written, deeply insightful, beautifully evocative, and utterly unforgettable.
250 pages, Paperback
First published April 10, 2007
501 people are currently reading
17586 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer McMahon
19 books11.1k followers I'm the author of nine suspense novels, including Promise Not to Telll, The Winter People, and my newest, The Drowning Kind. I live in central Vermont with my partner and daughter, in an old Victorian that some neighbors call The Addams Family house.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,068 reviews
October 20, 2010
There are two things I hate about how the Internet suggests things that I'd like based on what I've already purchased/read/watched: 1) It reminds me, by suggesting crappy stuff over and over again, that I'm a sucker for crap and 2) I'm almost powerless against suggestion, so, inevitably, I purchase/read/watch what it suggests, and the cycle of crap continues.
Okay, I admit that I sort of love that, actually. I am blessed to live in a time and place where I have access to a practially endless menu of schlock, and I don't take that responsibility lightly.
So I read two Jennifer McMahon books because the Internet told me to. They were okay in the way that Lifetime movies (the ones about kidnapping or stalkers or the ghosts of children who want to take revenge on their kidnappers or stalkers) are okay: the way the story was told was competent enough not to be distracting; the story itself was lurid enough to hold my interest, but I couldn't shake the nagging sense that I'd have to, like, spend the next week watching French New Wave movies and comparing translations of Beowulf to get my cultural karma back up; and, finally, everything fell very tidily into an obscenely sentimental ending. The ending of Promise Not to Tell, actually, went too far--I would have given it three stars, but then--well. I don't want to spoil anything, but the last scene was so saccharine that it bothered even my processed cheese-level sensibilities.
Like all good schlock, the characters in McMahon's books are rendered predictably, but thoroughly and lovingly; the plot stays true to all of its prescribed tropes but takes enough small twists and turns to maintain suspense; and all questions are answered in the end. No thread goes untied, people, and everything is very, very satisfying.
I also love Twinkies, "Mmm-bop," and TMZ. Don't mess with me.
Okay, I admit that I sort of love that, actually. I am blessed to live in a time and place where I have access to a practially endless menu of schlock, and I don't take that responsibility lightly.
So I read two Jennifer McMahon books because the Internet told me to. They were okay in the way that Lifetime movies (the ones about kidnapping or stalkers or the ghosts of children who want to take revenge on their kidnappers or stalkers) are okay: the way the story was told was competent enough not to be distracting; the story itself was lurid enough to hold my interest, but I couldn't shake the nagging sense that I'd have to, like, spend the next week watching French New Wave movies and comparing translations of Beowulf to get my cultural karma back up; and, finally, everything fell very tidily into an obscenely sentimental ending. The ending of Promise Not to Tell, actually, went too far--I would have given it three stars, but then--well. I don't want to spoil anything, but the last scene was so saccharine that it bothered even my processed cheese-level sensibilities.
Like all good schlock, the characters in McMahon's books are rendered predictably, but thoroughly and lovingly; the plot stays true to all of its prescribed tropes but takes enough small twists and turns to maintain suspense; and all questions are answered in the end. No thread goes untied, people, and everything is very, very satisfying.
I also love Twinkies, "Mmm-bop," and TMZ. Don't mess with me.
August 1, 2024
Eine ziemlich schaurige Geschichte, bei der es um zwei Morde an jungen Mädchen geht. Der erste Mordfall liegt mehr als 20 Jahre zurück. Nun wird wieder ein Mädchen auf ganz ähnliche Weise getötet.
Kate, deren Freundin damals das erste Mordopfer war, kehrt an den Ort des Geschehens zurück.
💚
Irgendwie mochte ich die Geschichte. Sie ist halt sehr undurchschaubar, rätselhaft und auch schaurig und gruselig.
Lange weiß der Leser nicht, was nun wirklich passiert ist. Es scheint viele Möglichkeiten zu geben, aber richtig plausibel erscheint alles nicht.
Mir hat das Unheimliche an dieser Geschichte gefallen und die vielen Rätsel.
Kate, deren Freundin damals das erste Mordopfer war, kehrt an den Ort des Geschehens zurück.
💚
Irgendwie mochte ich die Geschichte. Sie ist halt sehr undurchschaubar, rätselhaft und auch schaurig und gruselig.
Lange weiß der Leser nicht, was nun wirklich passiert ist. Es scheint viele Möglichkeiten zu geben, aber richtig plausibel erscheint alles nicht.
Mir hat das Unheimliche an dieser Geschichte gefallen und die vielen Rätsel.
April 11, 2015
This could have been a nicely written, kind of creepy ghost story, but everytime someone referenced 'the Potato Girl' in some menacing way, it made me laugh. There's nothing scary about potatoes or their ghostly girls, I'm sorry. The story has more plot holes than fishnet stockings (thanks Emily!!); ***SPOILER!!!*** And potatoes are just not scary!!
January 17, 2008
Meh. This story didn't quite hit the right note for a thriller, a ghost story, or a psychological drama for me. It started out with a thriller beginning, and then failed to follow up on it. Then there was a large chunk that was about growing up poor with an undesirable best friend, and also about moving home to care for your Alzheimer's-suffering mother. I didn't think it really hit home with either of those--I could never figure out why the main character was drawn to Del or Nick or any of the unpleasantly-described characters she falls for. Then there are elements of the supernatural, but it's unclear whether I'm supposed to believe them or not. Then there's the thriller/murder mystery, which is at least treated consistently throughout the book, but is wrapped up suddenly with a villain monologuing in an unlikely way when caught in the act of trying to murder another little girl.
So, meh.
So, meh.
June 30, 2022
As I am enamoured with Children on the Hill, I put all the former McMahon books as tbr and presto!
What I can say is this: the author has made a whole lot of progress over 9 books as this debut was decent but it couldn’t grab me. The ghost story aspect just didn’t work out.
The writing is ok and the characters are well crafted and I can spot the hint of greatness to come, it just isn’t there yet.
What I can say is this: the author has made a whole lot of progress over 9 books as this debut was decent but it couldn’t grab me. The ghost story aspect just didn’t work out.
The writing is ok and the characters are well crafted and I can spot the hint of greatness to come, it just isn’t there yet.
September 5, 2010
I don't mind gore. An author can describe in detail how they rip open someone's belly and dissect their large intestine and I'm just fine. You tell me a ghost story though... I'm out. I made the mistake of reading this silly book while my big, bad, keeps-the-mean-ghosts-away husband was out with friends. I had to stop reading it and lay there with my eyes wide open, not blinking, stiff and terrified waiting for him to get home. I, of course, fell asleep, thankfully - but ended up having a dream about some little girl with braided pigtails chasing after me throwing potatoes at me. I wish I were making this up. I'm in my mid-thirties. I mean, seriously. I'm adult. There is no boogie man. Just potato girls apparently.
Oh yeah, book review... so this book freaked me out in a few places. It's probably part of the reason I finished reading it in less than 24 hours, I wanted to get through it while my husband was around. Ya know, the ghost chaser. The story was very well written and well done. The author's character development was very well done, indeed. I felt like all the characters were able to "come alive" (sometimes in the afterlife apparently *shudder*) and jump (oy vey) right off the page at you.
I'm not going to give you the description, you can read that on your own... but I will say that I loved the dual timelines of the main characters life. I loved the setting, etc. I felt like the ending was a little bit of a cop out, totally out of left field, but too much so. I don't want to say much more and spoil it, but I did feel a little bit cheated. This is not something I might have picked up on my own, someone in my book club chose it. I'm certainly glad that they did.
Very recommended, just leave the lights on and keep the hubby handy.
Oh yeah, book review... so this book freaked me out in a few places. It's probably part of the reason I finished reading it in less than 24 hours, I wanted to get through it while my husband was around. Ya know, the ghost chaser. The story was very well written and well done. The author's character development was very well done, indeed. I felt like all the characters were able to "come alive" (sometimes in the afterlife apparently *shudder*) and jump (oy vey) right off the page at you.
I'm not going to give you the description, you can read that on your own... but I will say that I loved the dual timelines of the main characters life. I loved the setting, etc. I felt like the ending was a little bit of a cop out, totally out of left field, but too much so. I don't want to say much more and spoil it, but I did feel a little bit cheated. This is not something I might have picked up on my own, someone in my book club chose it. I'm certainly glad that they did.
Very recommended, just leave the lights on and keep the hubby handy.
January 1, 2009
I've read two of Jennifer McMahon's books so far, this one and Island of Lost Girls, and they were both so awesome. Out of those two, Promise Not to Tell was my favorite. This author makes it so easy for me to start reading and not stop until I'm finished it, and it's rare for me to find books that I like so much. I actually passed the book along to my mother, who is currently reading it. I definitely hope that Jennifer continues to write more, since she is so talented, and I will continue to tell all my friends about this book and Island of Lost Girls. I was recovering from surgery pretty much the entire month of December, and this author helped me so much by giving me something good to read.
March 2, 2023
6 out of 10
ревью на русском/review in russian
Yet again we're in Vermont. This time we have a paranormal thriller which is also a psychological drama and country horror, in which forests, fields, meadows, strangled girls, and creepy urban legends serve as the backdrop for the investigation of another murder.
Not bad, not mind-blowing, but engaging. We see how stupid decisions give birth to prejudices. How love turns into hatred. And how many secrets can keep family members. McMahon did it again. But it is sooooo clear that the book was written a long time ago, as there were unanswered questions and guns that never fired.
TW: children being cruel, animal death, rape. The first trigger is explicit, the following - less, the last is just mentioned, but still.
My Reviews for Other McMahon's Books:
Dismantled
The Invited
Burntown
The Winter People
The Night Sister
The One I Left Behind
Island of Lost Girls
Don't Breathe a Word
Dismantled
The Invited
Burntown
The Winter People
The Night Sister
The One I Left Behind
Island of Lost Girls
Don't Breathe a Word
February 10, 2021
3.5 rounded up
Good story. Characters are good except for the evil "potato girl"
Good story. Characters are good except for the evil "potato girl"
July 5, 2019
Ah kalbim. Bu yazarımızın diğer kitaplarını okudum. Genelde ortalama düzeyde yazıyor. Sonu şok eden bir kitabı olmadı beni.
İnanmayacaksınız ama katili yine tahmin ettim. Çünkü çok barizdi. Bu yazarda öyle bir olay var. Katil ihtimallerini çok kısıtlı tutuyor. Ha sürükleyici değil mi? Bayağı sürükleyici. Konuyu süründürüyor çünkü biraz. Başka ayrıntılar yazıyor araya. Ve siz o ayrıntıları okumak istemiyorsunuz. O olay bir sonraki bölümde olduğu için direkt onu okumak istiyorsunuz. İşte öyle bir şey 😀 Ortalama diyelim 🤙🏻
İnanmayacaksınız ama katili yine tahmin ettim. Çünkü çok barizdi. Bu yazarda öyle bir olay var. Katil ihtimallerini çok kısıtlı tutuyor. Ha sürükleyici değil mi? Bayağı sürükleyici. Konuyu süründürüyor çünkü biraz. Başka ayrıntılar yazıyor araya. Ve siz o ayrıntıları okumak istemiyorsunuz. O olay bir sonraki bölümde olduğu için direkt onu okumak istiyorsunuz. İşte öyle bir şey 😀 Ortalama diyelim 🤙🏻
March 20, 2009
Decent writing, interesting premise, some memorable characters. But there's a fine line between writing an ending that makes you say, "OMG that was so surprising! I would never have guessed that X was the perpetrator of such a horrible crime, but looking back I can see that it makes perfect sense! Oh, you clever author, you!" and an ending that makes you say, "OMG that was so surprising, I would never guessed that X was the perpetrator of such a horrible crime, because looking back I can see that at least half a dozen other characters were just as likely to have committed the crime as our chosen culprit. Silly author, did you put all the supporting characters' names in a hat, choose one at random, and then tack a weak motive on at the end to try and make your selection seem plausible?" Because I kind of got the feeling that's what happened here. Many parts of the book were quite moving, and packed an emotional punch. But the ultimate motivations behind the crime that caused these feelings were kind of "eh." Which kind of killed the book for me.
September 9, 2008
WOW!! I just blew through this book! My friend is buying the next two, so hopefully before I leave Florida I will be able to read those as well.
This is an odd story~told in both present time AND flashbacks. It does at times get tricky keeping up with what time period you are in.
Told by Kate, this is the story of a friendship that is unexpected and what happens when you deny that friendship and hurt the one true friend you have for being part of the popular crowd. And its the story of forgiveness and what you often have to go through to obtain it.
Add hippies, communes, child abuse, ghosts and several other "cheerful" things, and you have one great page turner. I really couldn't put it down. great read!!
~Strong language
This is an odd story~told in both present time AND flashbacks. It does at times get tricky keeping up with what time period you are in.
Told by Kate, this is the story of a friendship that is unexpected and what happens when you deny that friendship and hurt the one true friend you have for being part of the popular crowd. And its the story of forgiveness and what you often have to go through to obtain it.
Add hippies, communes, child abuse, ghosts and several other "cheerful" things, and you have one great page turner. I really couldn't put it down. great read!!
~Strong language
January 26, 2015
This is the first book in quite some time that I finished and discovered that I had not put in a single note on my kindle.
Alas, I just don't have a lot to say about it. I have heard good things about McMahon's newest book (and in fact, have it checked out to read) and I remember seeing this on my public library's "too good to miss" shelf last summer. And so I grabbed it.
It is a decent story, moves rather quickly and is compelling enough. And that's about it. Nothing profound and nothing very special. Just a relaxing easy ghost-story read.
Alas, I just don't have a lot to say about it. I have heard good things about McMahon's newest book (and in fact, have it checked out to read) and I remember seeing this on my public library's "too good to miss" shelf last summer. And so I grabbed it.
It is a decent story, moves rather quickly and is compelling enough. And that's about it. Nothing profound and nothing very special. Just a relaxing easy ghost-story read.
October 27, 2023
Early Jennifer McMahon novel, short and less developed, but showing the promise of her later works. Kate is the main character, and she is a bit frustrating, thinking one thing but doing another, not tackling any confrontation or blunt conversation that would enlighten her progress in the story, lying by omission since childhood, but of course, why else would we have a story?
I have 3 more early works, plus a couple recent ones, and I know I'll enjoy the journey.
I have 3 more early works, plus a couple recent ones, and I know I'll enjoy the journey.
January 6, 2008
I enoyed reading this book very much! I got hooked almost immediately because it's got so many elements I love about reading: strong, realistic characters, a bit of mystery, a bit of horror, and themes I can relate to. There are actually two stories: Kate Cypher then and now, 1971 and 2002. In 1971, she was a lonely little 10 year old, new in school and wanting to be friends with people but an outcast from the start because she was "different"--she lived on a commune with her mother and a group of hippies. On a farm nearby, there was another outcast named Del Griswold--cruelly nicknamed "The Potato Girl". I remember how it was in school to want a friend and feel so lonely about it that even being friends with the class goat was preferable to no one at all. Being connected to people your own age...that's a real need, no doubt about it. Yet, when push comes to shove, Kate can't admit that she is best friends with "The Potato Girl". She wants to be friends with the kids who bully Del. And then... Del is brutally murdered and the crime is never solved. In 2002, Kate returns to the commune to care for her mother who seems to be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. On the night Kate returns, another little girl is murdered in much the same way Del was. Who dunnit? Was it Kate? Or the ghost of Del? Or ... ?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2023
This was a really quick and fun read. I’ve enjoyed Jennifer McMahon before and this one did not disappoint me. I will admit it was a little silly for “the potato girl” to be a menacing figure but I tried to imagine a more menacing name. I loved the dual timeline and found the mystery to be intriguing. I love when there is a touch of the supernatural in a mystery or thriller. When a girl is murdered in the same way as the potato girl had been murdered years before it makes the community nervous because of course that murder had not been solved. It’s worse for Kate, she had been friends with Del, the potato girl, and she’s also connected to a girl who had been with the second murdered child so police are suspicious of her.
January 2, 2020
2.5 Stars
I think McMahon is such an author with real potential. I previously read and loved her later novel, The Winter People. She has a talent for writing twisted mysteries that add a dash of creepy and surrealism. Unfortunately, this debut novel felt like a debut novel, in a bad way. I found the multiple timelines choppy and difficult to follow. The story started strong, but failed to come together. I would watch for McMahon's future novels, but may not read all her previous work.
I think McMahon is such an author with real potential. I previously read and loved her later novel, The Winter People. She has a talent for writing twisted mysteries that add a dash of creepy and surrealism. Unfortunately, this debut novel felt like a debut novel, in a bad way. I found the multiple timelines choppy and difficult to follow. The story started strong, but failed to come together. I would watch for McMahon's future novels, but may not read all her previous work.
January 20, 2017
Nicely handled and a clear balance between past and present, but I didn't care for the metaphysical element and the part Del's ghost played in solving the crime. I like my crime fiction to be solidly grounded in this world with a nice touch of psychology.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2024
I could not get fully into this. Honestly, it was disappointing! Ugh!
July 26, 2007
Although I’m not a big fan of mysteries, I am a die-hard horror fan, and when I saw the book Promise Not To Tell by first time novelist Jennifer McMahon come across my desk, I had to read it. Part murder mystery, part ghost story, it tells the story of two similar murders that take place thirty years apart in small town Vermont.
Kate Cypher is a Seattle school nurse returning to her hometown to check into nursing homes for her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. On the night of her arrival, a young girl is killed in the woods near her mother’s home in the same brutal manner as was her childhood friend, Del Griswold aka The Potato Girl, thirty years earlier. Kate introduces the story with a shocking confession: I killed someone tonight.
The Potato Girl has grown in legend, as popular among New Canaan’s citizens as The Hook and the Ghostly Hitchhiker. It is said that she rose from the dead on the same spot where her heart was cut out, and that she roams the woods seeking victims and revenge.
Truth be known, when alive Del Griswold was just a motherless 11-year-old who lived on a dilapidated farm with an abusive father and her seven brothers. She was a pariah at school, bullied and teased unmercilessly, practically friendless until a young Kate arrived in town to live with her mother on a hippie commune.
Like all good murder mysteries, there is plenty here to keep one guessing. The list of suspects is long. Was it the bus driver? Del’s mute friend?A member of the hippie commune? Kate’s mother? Kate herself? And objects linked to both murders keep appearing and disappearing at inopportune times: a rusty sheriff’s badge; a necklace; a plastic-handled knife; a Swiss Army knife.
Promise Not to Tell is an intriguing story of people who harbor secrets or threaten the secrets of others, sometimes at their own peril. It is a psychological study about bullying and peer pressure, and the shame and guilt wrought by them . And, most importantly, it is about new beginnings realized by letting go of the past.
Kate Cypher is a Seattle school nurse returning to her hometown to check into nursing homes for her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. On the night of her arrival, a young girl is killed in the woods near her mother’s home in the same brutal manner as was her childhood friend, Del Griswold aka The Potato Girl, thirty years earlier. Kate introduces the story with a shocking confession: I killed someone tonight.
The Potato Girl has grown in legend, as popular among New Canaan’s citizens as The Hook and the Ghostly Hitchhiker. It is said that she rose from the dead on the same spot where her heart was cut out, and that she roams the woods seeking victims and revenge.
Truth be known, when alive Del Griswold was just a motherless 11-year-old who lived on a dilapidated farm with an abusive father and her seven brothers. She was a pariah at school, bullied and teased unmercilessly, practically friendless until a young Kate arrived in town to live with her mother on a hippie commune.
Like all good murder mysteries, there is plenty here to keep one guessing. The list of suspects is long. Was it the bus driver? Del’s mute friend?A member of the hippie commune? Kate’s mother? Kate herself? And objects linked to both murders keep appearing and disappearing at inopportune times: a rusty sheriff’s badge; a necklace; a plastic-handled knife; a Swiss Army knife.
Promise Not to Tell is an intriguing story of people who harbor secrets or threaten the secrets of others, sometimes at their own peril. It is a psychological study about bullying and peer pressure, and the shame and guilt wrought by them . And, most importantly, it is about new beginnings realized by letting go of the past.
February 6, 2017
Release Date: April 10, 2007
Genre: Murder Mystery. Hint of paranormal.
I love Jennifer McMahon's novels and whenever she releases them I try and devour them fast because I always know I am going to be taken on a thrilling journey. This particular book is good. I didn't love it as much as I love some of her other novels, but I certainly didn't hate it either. I just felt that it was a lot slower than I would have liked. Normally, a slow pace doesn't bother me so much but the fact that this one is only about 25o pages and much of it dragged made me feel unconnected to the story. Now, if you read the blurb it sounds pretty creepy and I will agree that it is. But it was missing something that I can't quite put my finger on which is why this is a 3 star read for me.
Genre: Murder Mystery. Hint of paranormal.
I love Jennifer McMahon's novels and whenever she releases them I try and devour them fast because I always know I am going to be taken on a thrilling journey. This particular book is good. I didn't love it as much as I love some of her other novels, but I certainly didn't hate it either. I just felt that it was a lot slower than I would have liked. Normally, a slow pace doesn't bother me so much but the fact that this one is only about 25o pages and much of it dragged made me feel unconnected to the story. Now, if you read the blurb it sounds pretty creepy and I will agree that it is. But it was missing something that I can't quite put my finger on which is why this is a 3 star read for me.
November 17, 2017
I loved this book!! Definitely will read again.
And I did. I kind of forgot the story so it was like reading it again for the first time.
Third time's a charm. Still loving this book...
And I did. I kind of forgot the story so it was like reading it again for the first time.
Third time's a charm. Still loving this book...
August 20, 2023
Meet the Potato Girl - victim and killer? Promise Not to Tell is an interesting, bizarre mystery. The story brought to mind connections to a later work by the author, The Winter People, with folklore/community legends, murder and the mentioning of doe/fawns.
I read Promise Not to Tell as part of the Dare to Dream Winter Challenge (2020), showcasing a character who returns home after many years away. Re-read as part of the Dare to Dream Summer Challenge (2023) for a title with R-O-S-E in the title.
Favorite Passages:
Dedication
For my mother, who taught me to believe in ghosts
And my father, ever skeptical
Prologue
"When the Potato Girl was murdered, the killer cut out her heart. He buried it, but the next day, she rose again - from that exact same spot." Ryan poked the campfire with a stick for emphasis, sending a shower of sparks up into the night
. . . .
"Yeah, back from the dead like a zombie. It's like a potato: you cut it up into pieces, bury any one of those pieces - even a little bit of peel if it has eyes - and another plant grows." Ryan snapped a stick as if he were breaking a bone and tossed it into the fire.
_______
"Right," said Opal. "The door was latched from the outside, brainiac. How do you figure she pulled that one off?"
"All I'm saying is, shit can be explained."
"And all I'm saying is, there's some shit that can't," Opal said.
_______
Opal knew her borrowing annoyed people, and that one day she might get in real trouble for it, but she couldn't seem to make herself stop. Half the time, she wasn't even aware she was doing it.
. . . .
Some people smoked. Some chewed their nails. Opal borrowed. It wasn't stealing exactly. She took things only from people she knew, people she liked and felt close to. And she did her best to return the things unharmed before anyone even noticed they were missing. It gave her a thrill. A sense that she was so much more than her twelve-year-old self when she carried pieces of other people around with her. They were like good luck charms - talismans - imbued somehow with little bits of other people's souls.
_______
I have always believed myself to be a person incapable of murder. Suicide has crossed my mind once or twice, but murder? Never. Not this white-winged dove. I've marched for peace and give money on a regular basis to Amnesty International. I'm a school nurse who draws happy faces on Band-Aids, for Christ's sake.
_______
There isn't a soul in town who hasn't heard of the Potato Girl, though. She is, by all accounts, the most famous resident of New Canaan - which is funny because, back when she was alive, she was just a skinny kid with scabby knees who, you could tell just by looking, would never amount to much.
How wrong we all were.
Now and Then
One potato, two potato, three potato, four
She used to live here long ago,
she doesn't anymore.
_______
My mother sprinkled quicklime through the cracks in the porch floor, letting it fall down onto the bloated corpse like Christmas snow. For weeks the smell permeated the porch, worked its way into windows and open doors, hung on our clothes, skin, and hair. There's nothing like the smell of death. There's no mistaking it.
_______
So away we went, free-spirited, in his orange VW bus, expecting to find paradise. What we found instead was a few run-down buildings, a well that drew water with a rusty hand pump, a herd of goats hell-bent on destruction, and large canvas tepee that would serve as our home for years to come.
________
It was an old dairy farm, but they'd sold the cows off some years before. You could still smell the cow shit when it rained, though. That, like the smell of death, was not an odor that faded easily.
_______
In just an hour, Del had shown me a whole distant universe with tis own set of dangers and rules. I couldn't wait to return.
_______
The invisible woman who called once a week to say how tough college was, then nursing school, married life, one all-consuming job after another - always some excuse for not coming home. But that hardly mattered because Raven was there, standing beside my mother in her neatly tied shoes.
_______
. . . he jogged down an overgrown path I'd never noticed off to the left. The path went on a ways, the vegetation thick and junglelike, before it opened into a clearing. In the center of this grassy area stood a tiny, leaning cabin, like something from a fairy tale. A witch's house, a gathering place for trolls.
_______
Okay, if I show you my secret, you gotta promise not to tell. You gotta swear. Cross your heart and hope to die.
"I promise," I said.
_______
"See that mama pig right there," Del said, pointing to the sow I'd just been watching. "She ate three of her babies just last week. Pigs're savages."
. . . .
"Teeth like razors," she said. "When she was done, there wasn't nothing left but three little tails."
_______
"It wasn't the first time I've seen her. It's been a while though - almost two years. I used to see her all the time when I was a little kid. Sometimes, I'd just catch little glimpses out of the corner of my eye, nothing I could be sure of. But once in a while, I'd be riding my bike or walking in the the woods, and there she'd be, right out in the open, just watching me with this real creepy smile on her face. Like she knew something I didn't."
_______
Tiny had shot first her husband, and then herself, in the head. He died instantly, but she survived, remarkably intact aside from some ugly scars and the total loss of her short-term memory.
. . . .
But no new memories could be made. Even though I saw her every night for two years, she would introduce herself repeatedly - sometimes several times a night. And nine times out of ten, after the introductions, she would ask me the same question.
"Tell me, what's the worst thing you've ever done?"
_______
They set me up to be the bad guy, the villainous prodigal daughter, and I fell right into it, as if it were a role I was born to play.
_______
"The dead can blame."
I stared at this enormous woman. Her eyes, nose, and mouth were too small for her moon face.
"The dead can blame," she repeated.
_______
I hadn't been close to my mother in years, but I knew her to be a bright, resourceful, dignified woman. This person who had replaced her was a complete stranger. My mother, it seemed, had vanished completely without my even noticing she was taking her leave. Ah, I realized, she'd pulled the same trick on me that I'd pulled on her. Touche.
_______
I suddenly wished I were the one with the Swiss cheese memory. It would be nice if you could have some control over it, deciding which memories would stay, which would be banished to the netherworld. Poof. Just like that.
My mother stared at me, smiled.
"I know you," she said. I began taping the gauze in place.
"Tell me, Ma, how did you burn your hands?"
_______
Another victim of the Big Bad Wolf of time.
_______
Kleptomania with a touch of amnesia thrown in for fun. Add death threats from ghosts to that and some psychiatrist was going to have a field day with this kid.
_______
"There were no potatoes in the house. Not a single one. Artie hated them. Wouldn't let his wife buy 'em. But when the coroner did the autopsy, he found a chunk of raw potato lodged in Artie's windpipe."
_______
Three decades of kids had grown up not being able to say when New Canaan had been incorporated, or the name of the tribe of Native Americans who called the whole valley home first, but they all knew the Potato Girl stories. The jump rope rhymes. The jokes. Kids at slumber parties would sit in front of a mirror in a darkened room, chanting Potato Girl, Potato Girl until she appeared, sending them screaming for the light of day.
_______
"Where's Magpie?" She whipped her head around, abruptly desperate. "What have you done with my Magpie?"
_______
A plan that came together in my mind fast and hard. "I could spy on them. You know, pretend to be their friend and get them to trust me. Then I could learn some bad secret about them. Something we could hang over their heads."
_______
The morning after Nicky returned my runaway mother and her dead cat, the phones were back up.
_______
Then I noticed that above the wheel itself was a horrible face with fangs and furious eyes.
"And who's this fellow?" I asked, pointing.
"The God of Death. He turns the wheel."
_______
". . . when I think about it now, it feels like some far-off dream. Like it was a movie I was watching."
_______
"Looking back, I think it was the danger, the wrongness of it, that made it so powerful."
The Last Days
One potato, two potato, three potato, four
She's coming after you now,
better lock the door
_______
"Well, it's true what they say. You can't stop at just one. There's just somethin' about it. You can't get enough. An addiction, I guess." She held her arms out for my inspection. They were encircled with dozens of red roses. Woven into the flowers were several hearts, a black panther, and a few brightly colored butterflies.
_______
When we came into the clearing on the bank of the river, I saw that about a dozen kids were gathered there, standing in a rough semi-circle, looking down and singing Potato Girl rhymes.
. . .
One potato, two potato, three potato, four!
We don't want this rotten potato 'round us anymore!
The kids were chanting, shouting each word down at Del. A few boys spat on her, and Fat Tommy kicked Del in the ribs.
One potato, two potato, three potato, four!
Del Griswold is a trashy, potato-eating bore!
________
I looked at the sheet and swore I saw it move, rippling slightly in some breeze I didn't feel.
It's only a painting. Only a painting.
I reached forward, grabbed the sheet, and threw it back.
The flames were almost three-dimensional, hypnotic in shades of red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple. The shadowy figure in the corner was now a fully fleshed-out person who seemed at home in the flames. Like she was born of them.
________
It seemed to be coming from everywhere. It was the laugh of a trickster. An I'm gonna get you laugh.
I read Promise Not to Tell as part of the Dare to Dream Winter Challenge (2020), showcasing a character who returns home after many years away. Re-read as part of the Dare to Dream Summer Challenge (2023) for a title with R-O-S-E in the title.
Favorite Passages:
Dedication
For my mother, who taught me to believe in ghosts
And my father, ever skeptical
Prologue
"When the Potato Girl was murdered, the killer cut out her heart. He buried it, but the next day, she rose again - from that exact same spot." Ryan poked the campfire with a stick for emphasis, sending a shower of sparks up into the night
. . . .
"Yeah, back from the dead like a zombie. It's like a potato: you cut it up into pieces, bury any one of those pieces - even a little bit of peel if it has eyes - and another plant grows." Ryan snapped a stick as if he were breaking a bone and tossed it into the fire.
_______
"Right," said Opal. "The door was latched from the outside, brainiac. How do you figure she pulled that one off?"
"All I'm saying is, shit can be explained."
"And all I'm saying is, there's some shit that can't," Opal said.
_______
Opal knew her borrowing annoyed people, and that one day she might get in real trouble for it, but she couldn't seem to make herself stop. Half the time, she wasn't even aware she was doing it.
. . . .
Some people smoked. Some chewed their nails. Opal borrowed. It wasn't stealing exactly. She took things only from people she knew, people she liked and felt close to. And she did her best to return the things unharmed before anyone even noticed they were missing. It gave her a thrill. A sense that she was so much more than her twelve-year-old self when she carried pieces of other people around with her. They were like good luck charms - talismans - imbued somehow with little bits of other people's souls.
_______
I have always believed myself to be a person incapable of murder. Suicide has crossed my mind once or twice, but murder? Never. Not this white-winged dove. I've marched for peace and give money on a regular basis to Amnesty International. I'm a school nurse who draws happy faces on Band-Aids, for Christ's sake.
_______
There isn't a soul in town who hasn't heard of the Potato Girl, though. She is, by all accounts, the most famous resident of New Canaan - which is funny because, back when she was alive, she was just a skinny kid with scabby knees who, you could tell just by looking, would never amount to much.
How wrong we all were.
Now and Then
One potato, two potato, three potato, four
She used to live here long ago,
she doesn't anymore.
_______
My mother sprinkled quicklime through the cracks in the porch floor, letting it fall down onto the bloated corpse like Christmas snow. For weeks the smell permeated the porch, worked its way into windows and open doors, hung on our clothes, skin, and hair. There's nothing like the smell of death. There's no mistaking it.
_______
So away we went, free-spirited, in his orange VW bus, expecting to find paradise. What we found instead was a few run-down buildings, a well that drew water with a rusty hand pump, a herd of goats hell-bent on destruction, and large canvas tepee that would serve as our home for years to come.
________
It was an old dairy farm, but they'd sold the cows off some years before. You could still smell the cow shit when it rained, though. That, like the smell of death, was not an odor that faded easily.
_______
In just an hour, Del had shown me a whole distant universe with tis own set of dangers and rules. I couldn't wait to return.
_______
The invisible woman who called once a week to say how tough college was, then nursing school, married life, one all-consuming job after another - always some excuse for not coming home. But that hardly mattered because Raven was there, standing beside my mother in her neatly tied shoes.
_______
. . . he jogged down an overgrown path I'd never noticed off to the left. The path went on a ways, the vegetation thick and junglelike, before it opened into a clearing. In the center of this grassy area stood a tiny, leaning cabin, like something from a fairy tale. A witch's house, a gathering place for trolls.
_______
Okay, if I show you my secret, you gotta promise not to tell. You gotta swear. Cross your heart and hope to die.
"I promise," I said.
_______
"See that mama pig right there," Del said, pointing to the sow I'd just been watching. "She ate three of her babies just last week. Pigs're savages."
. . . .
"Teeth like razors," she said. "When she was done, there wasn't nothing left but three little tails."
_______
"It wasn't the first time I've seen her. It's been a while though - almost two years. I used to see her all the time when I was a little kid. Sometimes, I'd just catch little glimpses out of the corner of my eye, nothing I could be sure of. But once in a while, I'd be riding my bike or walking in the the woods, and there she'd be, right out in the open, just watching me with this real creepy smile on her face. Like she knew something I didn't."
_______
Tiny had shot first her husband, and then herself, in the head. He died instantly, but she survived, remarkably intact aside from some ugly scars and the total loss of her short-term memory.
. . . .
But no new memories could be made. Even though I saw her every night for two years, she would introduce herself repeatedly - sometimes several times a night. And nine times out of ten, after the introductions, she would ask me the same question.
"Tell me, what's the worst thing you've ever done?"
_______
They set me up to be the bad guy, the villainous prodigal daughter, and I fell right into it, as if it were a role I was born to play.
_______
"The dead can blame."
I stared at this enormous woman. Her eyes, nose, and mouth were too small for her moon face.
"The dead can blame," she repeated.
_______
I hadn't been close to my mother in years, but I knew her to be a bright, resourceful, dignified woman. This person who had replaced her was a complete stranger. My mother, it seemed, had vanished completely without my even noticing she was taking her leave. Ah, I realized, she'd pulled the same trick on me that I'd pulled on her. Touche.
_______
I suddenly wished I were the one with the Swiss cheese memory. It would be nice if you could have some control over it, deciding which memories would stay, which would be banished to the netherworld. Poof. Just like that.
My mother stared at me, smiled.
"I know you," she said. I began taping the gauze in place.
"Tell me, Ma, how did you burn your hands?"
_______
Another victim of the Big Bad Wolf of time.
_______
Kleptomania with a touch of amnesia thrown in for fun. Add death threats from ghosts to that and some psychiatrist was going to have a field day with this kid.
_______
"There were no potatoes in the house. Not a single one. Artie hated them. Wouldn't let his wife buy 'em. But when the coroner did the autopsy, he found a chunk of raw potato lodged in Artie's windpipe."
_______
Three decades of kids had grown up not being able to say when New Canaan had been incorporated, or the name of the tribe of Native Americans who called the whole valley home first, but they all knew the Potato Girl stories. The jump rope rhymes. The jokes. Kids at slumber parties would sit in front of a mirror in a darkened room, chanting Potato Girl, Potato Girl until she appeared, sending them screaming for the light of day.
_______
"Where's Magpie?" She whipped her head around, abruptly desperate. "What have you done with my Magpie?"
_______
A plan that came together in my mind fast and hard. "I could spy on them. You know, pretend to be their friend and get them to trust me. Then I could learn some bad secret about them. Something we could hang over their heads."
_______
The morning after Nicky returned my runaway mother and her dead cat, the phones were back up.
_______
Then I noticed that above the wheel itself was a horrible face with fangs and furious eyes.
"And who's this fellow?" I asked, pointing.
"The God of Death. He turns the wheel."
_______
". . . when I think about it now, it feels like some far-off dream. Like it was a movie I was watching."
_______
"Looking back, I think it was the danger, the wrongness of it, that made it so powerful."
The Last Days
One potato, two potato, three potato, four
She's coming after you now,
better lock the door
_______
"Well, it's true what they say. You can't stop at just one. There's just somethin' about it. You can't get enough. An addiction, I guess." She held her arms out for my inspection. They were encircled with dozens of red roses. Woven into the flowers were several hearts, a black panther, and a few brightly colored butterflies.
_______
When we came into the clearing on the bank of the river, I saw that about a dozen kids were gathered there, standing in a rough semi-circle, looking down and singing Potato Girl rhymes.
. . .
One potato, two potato, three potato, four!
We don't want this rotten potato 'round us anymore!
The kids were chanting, shouting each word down at Del. A few boys spat on her, and Fat Tommy kicked Del in the ribs.
One potato, two potato, three potato, four!
Del Griswold is a trashy, potato-eating bore!
________
I looked at the sheet and swore I saw it move, rippling slightly in some breeze I didn't feel.
It's only a painting. Only a painting.
I reached forward, grabbed the sheet, and threw it back.
The flames were almost three-dimensional, hypnotic in shades of red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple. The shadowy figure in the corner was now a fully fleshed-out person who seemed at home in the flames. Like she was born of them.
________
It seemed to be coming from everywhere. It was the laugh of a trickster. An I'm gonna get you laugh.
June 21, 2021
Not quite the creepy vibes I usually get with a Jennifer McMahon book but still a good mystery.
May 4, 2023
I dip into ‘horror’ for the paranormal, which emerged at the end. I am keen on “The Winter People” and found “Promise Not To Tell”. I like reading older novels first so that anything I disliked might improve. This farm novel was not for me, which gradually sank to 1 star. If you kill an animal, especially a dear cat, the usual bright spot in anyone’s life: authors lose marks!
I always deem animal murder needless but a reviewer made an observant point. Explaining this spoils nothing because this reference is too general to decipher, except people who have read this novel. I appreciate readers warning me where to avoid stories with animal deaths. It was a horrible twist with no use at all, when we know the spirit was trying to be helpful. It does not fit for the human killer to murder a feline either. That person was only disposing of people who might understand pivotal clues. Did this author murder a precious animal to keep her content horrible, or did she mess up her motive’s logic?
Jennifer McMahon chose a relatable 1970s timeline in which characters could revisit their small town in 2007. She conceived an interesting juxtaposition of a backcountry girl to befriend a lonely commune student nearby. Both of their old-fashioned worlds struggled to fit into their school, where kids were appallingly treacherous instead of merely teasing.
My initial criticism derived from lack of loyalty between them. A spirit might emphasize her only friend but she was close to her Brother. She did hardly know her peer. It also stretched my credibility for a visiting relative to be a suspect, who had a life elsewhere.
Acquainting a mute student and Alzheimer’s disease were sensitive, compassionate choices from Jennifer. I look forward to her 2014 mystery.
I always deem animal murder needless but a reviewer made an observant point. Explaining this spoils nothing because this reference is too general to decipher, except people who have read this novel. I appreciate readers warning me where to avoid stories with animal deaths. It was a horrible twist with no use at all, when we know the spirit was trying to be helpful. It does not fit for the human killer to murder a feline either. That person was only disposing of people who might understand pivotal clues. Did this author murder a precious animal to keep her content horrible, or did she mess up her motive’s logic?
Jennifer McMahon chose a relatable 1970s timeline in which characters could revisit their small town in 2007. She conceived an interesting juxtaposition of a backcountry girl to befriend a lonely commune student nearby. Both of their old-fashioned worlds struggled to fit into their school, where kids were appallingly treacherous instead of merely teasing.
My initial criticism derived from lack of loyalty between them. A spirit might emphasize her only friend but she was close to her Brother. She did hardly know her peer. It also stretched my credibility for a visiting relative to be a suspect, who had a life elsewhere.
Acquainting a mute student and Alzheimer’s disease were sensitive, compassionate choices from Jennifer. I look forward to her 2014 mystery.
October 15, 2022
3.5 Stars
Nice, spooky and creepy book for the Halloween season. I listened to this one and the narrator did a great job with the different voices. Kate's back and forth with past and present kept me interested. I had to know how it was going to end even if I did guess it a little. I read somewhere that this was a debut novel for this author and I think she did a great job with it and it would've made me read more of her stuff (I clearly have now and enjoy them all!).
Nice, spooky and creepy book for the Halloween season. I listened to this one and the narrator did a great job with the different voices. Kate's back and forth with past and present kept me interested. I had to know how it was going to end even if I did guess it a little. I read somewhere that this was a debut novel for this author and I think she did a great job with it and it would've made me read more of her stuff (I clearly have now and enjoy them all!).
January 14, 2013
This book gets a 5 star rating from me.I got given this book & i have to say it's not normally the kind of book i would pick up & read it's more my friends style but i'm so glad it did read it. Full of mystery & who i thought was the culprit really wasn't.Towards the end maybe i shouldn't have read it before i went to sleep as i found myself hearing things that were'nt there.
February 21, 2016
Started September 10th...
Finished September 10th..
Finished September 10th..
November 16, 2018
Tamamen konusu hoşuma gittiği ve en kötü çıtır çerez çıkar diyerek aldığım bir kitaptan en son ne zaman bu kadar keyif aldım hatırlamıyorum.Söylemeyeceğine söz ver,okulda ve özel hayatında her türlü zorbalığa maruz kalmış sekizinci sınıf öğrencisi Del’in cesedinin bulunması ve yıllar sonra en yakın arkadaşının eve dönmesiyle tetiklenen olaylar zincirini konu ediyor.Karakterimiz hem geçmişi ile yüzleşip Del ile ilgili hatalarının günahlarını çıkarırken,yeni cinayetlerden kendini ve sevdiklerini korumaya çalışıyor.Hafif mistik,gerilim dolu bu romanda katilin kim olduğunu anlayamayacaksınız.Jennifer Mcmahon, diğer kitapları da alınarak koleksiyona katılması gereken bir yazar.
December 27, 2019
Not a bad “Christmas” read. It moved fairly quickly and didn’t take too long to get used to the past and present chapters. I didn’t figure out whodunit but I didn’t fall for the red herrings either. I wasn’t convince of who was the killer or who wasn’t. I basically just went with the flow and let the tale lead me to the culprit. I have to admit though, I wasn’t a fan of Del’s. She was a little to hard core trash for my liking but when they explained her upbringing I got it.
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