All her life Ellie Enderlin had been known as Lila's sister. Then one day, without warning, the shape of their family changed forever. Twenty years ago, Lila, a top math student at Stanford, was murdered in a crime that was never solved. In the aftermath of her sister's death, Ellie entrusted her most intimate feelings to a man who turned the story into a bestselling true crime book—a book that both devastated her family and identified one of Lila's professors as the killer.
Decades later, two Americans meet in a remote village in Nicaragua. Ellie is now a professional coffee buyer, an inveterate traveler incapable of trust. Peter is a ruined academic. Their meeting is not by chance. As rain beats down on the steaming rooftops of the village, Peter leaves Ellie with a gift—the notebook that Lila carried everywhere, a piece of evidence not found with her body. Stunned, Ellie returns home to San Francisco to explore the mysteries of Lila's notebook, filled with mathematical equations, and begin a search that has been waiting for her for two decades. It will lead her to a hundred-year-old mathematical puzzle, to a lover no one knew Lila had, to the motives and fate of the man who profited from their family's anguish—and to the deepest secrets even sisters keep from each other. As she connects with people whose lives unknowingly swirled around her own, Ellie will confront a series of startling revelations—from the eloquent truths of numbers to confessions of love, pain, and loss.
A novel about the stories and lies that strangers, lovers, and families tell—and the secrets we keep even from ourselves—Michelle Richmond's novel is a work of astonishing depth and beauty, at once heartbreaking, provocative, and impossible to put down.
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"Picked this book up off the "buy one/get one half off" table at Borders just before a plane trip thinking it was a puffy "sisters" novel that would kill some time on a cross country trip and was more than estatic to find it was an extremely well-written fully fleshed-out novel with well-rounded, interesting, deep (even flawed) characters and an (at the risk of being cliche) "gripping" *whodunit* mystery to boot -- the solution of which was more than satisfying. (<--Run on? Sorry.) As a former SF resident I probably enjoyed it more than most and as a former United Artists employee the mention of the original Coronet lighting fixtures thrilled me more than about 99% than most of the readers I'm guessing, lol."
— betsy (5 out of 5 stars)
“Michelle Richmond never strikes a false note in No One You Know…It’s an intelligent, emotionally convincing tale about a family tragedy and the process of storytelling.”
— Boston Globe“Richmond sets out to create not a straight-up thriller, but a novel that explores love, family, work, guilt, and the responsibility of the writer to his or her subject, all within the framework of a murder mystery.”
— San Francisco Chronicle“As complex and beautiful as a mathematical proof, this gripping, thought-provoking novel will keep you thinking long after the last page has been turned.”
— Family Circle“Carrington MacDuffie reflects the character of Ellie as she ages and matures…In her characterizations MacDuffie contrasts Ellie’s steady energy with the self-absorbed arrogance of Thorpe. Without overplaying the story’s strong emotions or sad events MacDuffie gives depth to Ellie’s narrative voice.”
— AudioFile" oh it's awesomeeee. I loved it all - and you're going to have to read it yourself to find out why. no hints =) "
— Hannah, 2/18/2014" Good twist and original idea. I kind of liked how this book was not what you would expect. Not a book that I'd rush out to share with others, but it was ok. If you run across it, then give it a go, but don't go out of your way to find it. "
— Linde, 2/14/2014" I wan't sure about this book when i started it but the story really sucked me in . I HAD to know what happened. I am glad she ended the book with some closure but not in the direction I thought it would go. Some of her writing was a little intense/academic at times and I never understood some of the math concepts. "
— Tamara, 2/9/2014" Quick read, kind of a beach read type. Family drama, mystery solving, I read it in one day. I'd read something else by her also! "
— Lisa, 1/25/2014" I really liked this one. The bits about maths and coffee were interesting. "
— Becca.s, 1/24/2014" Michelle Richmond read in the author series at Foothill, inspiring me to buy her book. Great murder mystery, and I like characters with interesting professions, in this case, a mathematician and a coffee taster. "
— Mary, 1/20/2014" I am so disappointed when a book jacket oversells the content of a book. The message in this story can be found on the last 2 pages. The writing is not very good and the plot cliche. "
— Sapna, 1/19/2014" Nat, this book made me think of you because the sister is obsessed with Math and proving proofs etc. You might find all that mathematical jargon fascinating ;) Overall, the book was about a sister trying to find her sister's killer. "
— Rebecca, 1/19/2014" Family flashbacks and two sisters who are so different. I was happy that the author lead us to a conclusion, and didn't leave us hanging. Still, a surprise... "
— Marta, 12/29/2013" Good story, interesting twists, liked the references to places I know in San Francisco "
— Tyra, 11/27/2013" I really liked this book and Michelle Richmond is quickly becoming a favorite author. I read this, as well, as "The Year of Fog." She has pretty interesting plot lines and much of the narrative gives you a real understanding of how the characters see the world. An easy, but complelling read. "
— Tonya, 11/14/2013" Extremely well-written. Though a definite page-turner I found myself in no hurry to finish the novel. Rather my reading pace matched Michelle Richmond's pace, allowing the story to slowly unfold, examining the expertly crafted nuances and characters. "
— Sarah, 11/13/2013" This story had an interesting plot, but never fully grabbed my attention. It was good, but wasn't one of those books that you can't put down. "
— Megan, 9/20/2013" This was a very hard book to like! If you can get past all the math-talk it's alright. "
— Emily, 8/3/2013" Another enjoyable read, hard to put down. "
— Kristi, 6/9/2013" I enjoyed this read. It was a little predictable and a little hard with all the math. All in all a good mystery. "
— Amy, 2/20/2013" Intriguing look at a sister's quest to discover her sister's murderer. "
— Sheila, 11/3/2012" This book was an interesting read but a little slow to get into, for me it focused a lot more on the math then i thought it would, and I found myself skipping over those parts... "
— Simi, 9/29/2012" Truly, a marvelous novel. Surprises, character development and a San Francisco setting. I recommend this one most highly. "
— Sgkagan, 6/6/2012" This was such a wonderful book. I read it in 2 days while traveling. I couldn't wait to get on each plane so I could finish reading! Each character helped tie together this unique "murder" mystery. And I always love a story that goes back in forth in time :) "
— Sarah, 5/1/2012" This was a pretty good mystery, but not as good as Mary Higgins Clark...this took longer to read and the characters were developed more than I needed. "
— Cynthia, 3/30/2012" I kept waiting for this one to get good. It had a great premise, but never really went anywhere with it. It just felt like it never got started. All in all, I'm sorry I actually took the time to read the whole thing. "
— Echo, 2/17/2012" Entertaining quick read. A mystery and relationship book wrapped up as one. Interesting exploration into how we percieve family members, friends and other and how those perspectives may cloud our judgement about them. "
— Erynn, 2/3/2012" stuck with it, but took a long time to get into it. did enjoy that it took place in San Francisco and it reminded me of living there "
— Stephanie, 12/8/2011" Well written - even the minor characters were well developed. "
— Linda, 11/2/2011" OK....sister looking into sisters death. "
— Beth, 7/18/2011" I liked the book. But it focused on math formulas alot which I found I was skipping over. "
— Jennifer, 5/3/2011" I'm not sure how I feel about this book. At times I was completely engrossed and couldn't put it down. There were others where I became bored and began skimming. It was an ok book but not one of my top favorites. "
— Heather, 4/7/2011" Never would have guessed 'who dunnit'. Thoughtful look at how our preceptions are built by how we interpret what we are told and what we believe. We all have a story that we only see part of and the line in never as simple as we would believe. "
— Elsie, 4/3/2011" Excellent! I am looking forward to reading her other books! "
— Laurie, 2/24/2011" After reading Michelle's The Year of Fog, I was excited to receive a copy of her latest work, No One You Know. This book did not disappoint! Michelle Richmond has become one of my favorite authors and I will definitely be looking forward to her next book. "
— Lynda, 2/7/2011" Not as good as the Year of the Fog, but still pretty good. A bit too many of the mathematical references but still pretty good. <br/> <br/> "
— Melissa, 2/2/2011" This book is about love, family, math, and coffee. Somehow, Richmond makes that combination work. "
— Josh, 1/25/2011" Really great writing, gripping story, memorable characters. I highly recommend it for a good mystery story. "
— Jerrica, 1/24/2011Michelle Richmond is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels and story collections, including The Marriage Pact, Golden State, The Year of Fog, and Hum. She received the Truman Capote Prize for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Short Story. Her books have been published in thirty languages.
Carrington MacDuffie is a voice actor and recording artist who has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has been a frequent finalist for the Audie Award, including for her original audiobook, Many Things Invisible. Alongside her narration work, she has released a new album of original songs, Only an Angel.