You Need to Know is a domestic noir by Australian author Nicole Moriarty, younger sister to Liane & Moriarty. The story begins with a car crash as the family head off for their Christmas holiday and we know that not everyone survives. What we don’t know is who is in the car accident, and snippets of the scene are threaded through the rest of the story as it builds up to that fateful Christmas Eve when all the family secrets are revealed with dire consequences.

Jill is the widowed mother of three author sons: Tony, Peter and Darren. Her world rocks disconcertingly when she receives an email titled “You Need to Know” which she is afraid to face up to and open.

Darren the youngest brother is battling writer's block and grieving the loss of his partner Charlotte who is now, as he says, batting for the other team. His life suddenly changes when the stray “Doggo” comes into his life and at the same time the intriguing Sage.

Mimi is married to Peter and resenting the arrival of her new twins which have catapulted her from a mother of two to a mother of four. She is also desperately trying to connect with Callie the eldest who has transformed suddenly from a sunny-natured girl to a sullen teenager.

Andrea is married to older brother account-come-writer Tony and starting to question their decision to remain childless. Andrea is soon over her head watching out for the vulnerable child Violet next door.

This was a gripping read that reels you into the family’s lives. The final reveal is disturbing and I’m not a fan of a sudden out-of-character action or plot twist in the final sentence of a book, but overall a good story. ( )

Nicola Moriarty’s newest title, You Need To Know, is a gripping domestic drama centred around the members of a single family, Jill, her three sons - Pete, Tony and Darren; her two daughter in-laws - Mimi and Andrea; and her grandchildren - 16yo Callie, 10yo Tara, and infant twins, Elliot and James.

There’s more than one smashing twist in this dramatic story of a family on a collision course with secrets that threaten to shatter their bonds forever. The main action takes place over a period of about a month in the lead up to Christmas, interspersed with flashes which hint at the tragedy to come. Moriarty builds the tension slowly, with various dramatic plot elements that are both self contained, and play into the larger crisis, several of which unfold in unexpected ways.

Told from the perspectives of Jill, Mimi, Andrea, and Darren, Moriarty slowly reveals the varied stressors the family are experiencing, and secrets they are keeping, some of which are fairly mundane, others more explosive. I thought the author captured the dynamics of both the individual family groupings, and between the extended family very well. Despite the large cast, each character is distinctive, and there is no confusion as the narrative moves between them. I quickly became invested in the family members, eager to learn their fate.

You Need to Know offers a tense, well-crafted storyline, interesting, multifaceted characters, and a sensational climax. I think Nicola Moriarty has found her niche in the Aussie domestic thriller genre. ( )