In Brandywine Hunt, a wealthy housing development in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the children of the local elite keep dark secrets. But nothing --- not strained marriages, mental illness or shady business dealings --- can rival the secret that four teens share for decades after a fateful night in the woods. In SOMEONE KNOWS, Lisa Scottoline explores the impact of this huge secret on her four diverse young characters and the troubled adults they grow up to be.

Fifteen-year-old Allie Garvey has gone running to lose weight and to leave behind the sorrow and anger that has been with her since the death of her sister and closest friend, Jill, the summer before. After twisting her ankle on a pre-season run through the woods with the school team, she is helped up by the beautiful and popular team captain, Sasha Barrow. They walk together along the trail and come across two boys digging under a tree. One is Julian Browne, who lives across the street from Sasha, and the other is “dreamy” David Hybrinski, who attends the same school as Sasha and Allie. The stress of Jill’s death has fractured Allie’s family, and her mother will never completely recover. Sasha’s family also lacks comfort and cohesion.

"[The teens'] guilt and one character’s redemption make for a solid and interesting story. SOMEONE KNOWS has all the requisite turmoil, surprises, action and introspection of an enjoyable page turner..."

Both Julian and David are under enormous pressure from fathers who are unable to support them emotionally, and, in the case of David, let him be who he truly is. What Julian has found under the tree, an unloaded gun, will become the symbol of dangerous possibility for each of them, a revulsion for David and Allie, and a compulsion for Sasha and Julian, until it finally, inevitably, becomes an agent of death. Kyle Gallagher arrives at the edge of Brandywine Hunt with a huge secret of his own. Kyle and his mother are trying to start a new life after his father was convicted of horrific crimes. Sasha sets her sights on Kyle; although in many ways he is more confident than the other four teens, he is drawn into their circle and into their dangerous game.

One night, something happens that unites them with a deep secret --- one that will haunt each in various ways in the decades to come. Their complicity reaches a pivotal point when they reunite for a funeral. Allie, unable to bear her terrible burden any longer, challenges the others to confront the truth, but her insistence only leads to more danger. The tension builds as Scottoline moves away from the past and into the present, with short chapters and multiple perspectives, all leading to a dramatic climax, an unexpected twist and some emotional resolution.

Scottoline hits a few bumps with her depiction of a gay character, and her Jewish lawyer comes close to a stereotype. Her teens --- coming of age, dealing with familial issues and socioeconomic pressures --- are not always likable. But their guilt and one character’s redemption make for a solid and interesting story.

SOMEONE KNOWS has all the requisite turmoil, surprises, action and introspection of an enjoyable page turner, though the execution is not always smooth.