Review—Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine

From the author of How to Survive Your Murder comes a propulsive thriller about two teens who return to the site of the famous murder case that sealed their fates.

Most people’s births aren’t immortalized in a police report—but Olivia was born during the infamous Camp Lost Lake murders. Seventeen years later, Olivia’s life looks pretty perfect . . . until she discovers the man she calls dad is not her biological father. Now she wants answers about her bloodline, and the only place she knows to look is Camp Lost Lake.

Most people don’t spend their formative years on the run with an alleged murderer—but Reagan did. In the court of public opinion, her mom was found guilty of the deaths at Camp Lost Lake, and both of them have been in hiding ever since. But Reagan believes in her mother’s innocence and is determined to clear her name.

Luckily for Olivia and Reagan, Camp Lost Lake is finally reopening, providing the perfect opportunity to find answers. But someone else is dead set on keeping the past hidden, even if it means committing murder.

Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine is the perfect summer thriller! Think The Parent Trap but with murder and mystery! It was the perfectly chilling read I had hoped for!

What we know about the Camp Lost Lake murders is this: seventeen years ago the witch of Lost Lake murdered three people; a counselor, and two campers. Everyone says Lori Knight did it. That she had enough of her cheating husband and that the camper had the unfortunate mistake of being a witness. But the Lori disappeared, never to be seen again. 

Fast forward to present day, Olivia is the daughter of the Camp Lost Lake coordinator. She was born the night of the terrible tragedy and today she makes a chilling discovery; her father may not be her birth father. But before she has time to digest that, she’s off with her older sister to go back to the camp and help clean it up so her sister can reopen it. 

Then we have Reagan who is determined to go back to the camp and find evidence that her mom, Lori Knight, is actually innocent, tagging along with her is her best friend, Jack. How exactly they plan to find any evidence after so many years is the ultimate question, but needless to say they do and it’s enough to kill for!

This was a really fun read and I have to say I didn’t get this mystery right at all! I made my guess early on and I was 1000% wrong! I’ll admit it! Lol. But still it’s always kind of fun solving mysteries and not getting it right. I felt like I had it narrowed down perfectly but when the true evidence came about it did make a lot more sense!

I positively loved this The Parent Trap feel to the story! Mainly it’s that discovering you have a twin sister aspect, not the “let’s trade places and get our divorced parents back together” part. Lol. It was pretty nuts though, but I feel like Valentine handled it very well! There’s the shock and confusion but it’s pretty clear they have to be related, right?

The tension in this book was so well done! I mean they are teens trapped in the woods with a killer, so I think Friday the 13th might have been the other part of the mishmash. I’m not a horror movie buff, so don’t quote me on that! But the danger felt very real and was just the kind of horror I was expecting from Valentine.

I’ll just briefly mention that there are hints of romance. Not a whole lot, but crushes are had, looks are shared, there are moments and you can pretty much guess what will happen in that area! It did provide a nice break from the heart-racing danger! On another side note, I loved the inclusion of the podcast that I believe we saw in How to Survive Your Murder! It was just a fun little nod I felt like but I just love "cameo" appearances like that in books!

The ending was pretty amazing too! Just as things were wrapping up, I did wonder about the remaining mystery that was brought up and thankfully this gets answered in the most epic way ever! I totally did not see that coming either even after my initial theories were shot down! Valentine really knows how to keep you on your toes!

If you’re looking for a chilling and thrilling mystery read this summer, look no further than Two Sides to Every Murder! It’s a fun and twisty mystery that will keep you guessing and gasping until it’s very end…and yes that is the end, there were no other hidden pages as I checked! Lol.

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars