> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 31 October 2023
  • ISBN: 9781784709433
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $22.99

What July Knew

Will you discover the truth in this summer’s most heart-breaking mystery?




A moving mystery about family secrets, grief and growing up, for fans of Joanna Cannon, Jo Browning Wroe, The Appeal and Elizabeth is Missing

Summer, 1995. July Hooper knows eighteen things about her mother.

Like number thirteen: she loved dancing on the kitchen table. And number eight: she was covered in freckles.

And then there's number two: she died after being hit by a car when July was small.

She keeps this list hidden in a drawer away from her father. Because they're not allowed to talk about her mother. Ever.

But an anonymous note slipped into July's bag on her tenth birthday is about to change everything she thinks she knows about her mum...

'If you liked Elizabeth is Missing, you'll love this' CARA HUNTER, author of Close to Home

'July is such a brilliant creation - smart, inquisitive and determined' T.M. LOGAN, author of The Catch

'A moving and heartfelt mystery. Funny, thrilling, nostalgic and deeply affecting' CHRIS WHITAKER, author of We Begin at the End

  • Published: 31 October 2023
  • ISBN: 9781784709433
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $22.99

About the author

Emily Koch

Emily Koch is an award-winning journalist and graduate of the Bath Spa Creative Writing programme. Her debut novel, If I Die Before I Wake, was shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award, longlisted for Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and selected as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. She lives in Bristol.

Also by Emily Koch

See all

Praise for What July Knew

If you liked Elizabeth is Missing, you'll love this

Cara Hunter

Big-hearted novel. By turns charming and shocking, it's both a deftly-woven mystery and a redemptive family drama - and I was cheering July on all the way

Emylia Hall

A heartstopping, heartbreaking, heartwarming drama. I was with brave and funny July down every alley, wrong turn and misstep until she finally found out the shocking truth. She'll live on in my imagination for a long time

Joanna Nadin

Tenderly told and utterly compelling, this coming-of-age mystery is as full of twists and surprises as it is of heart. July is an unforgettable lead - I loved following her back to the 90s!

Emma Stonex

Stick What July Knew by Emily Koch on your TBR pile - it's a beautiful coming of age story that will break you then make you as July navigates her quest to find out the truth about her mother. Outstanding. One for Joanna Cannon fans

Laura Kemp

What July Knew is a quirky, original, and immersive read. I was rooting for July on her quest to uncover what happened to her mother. A gloriously nostalgic and affecting read

Lucy Clarke

This book broke my heart. I adored July's voice throughout. Heart-wrenching, deeply moving and so compelling, July and Sylvie's story will stay with me for a long, long time

Sara Nisha Adams, author of The Reading List

Hugely enjoyed this story of a brave 10-year-old girl seeking the truth about her mother's death. Beautifully written and full of warmth, nostalgia and the complex, unsettling emotions of family life.

Sarah Hilary

A moving and heartfelt mystery. Funny, thrilling, nostalgic and deeply affecting. Emily Koch is such a wonderful storyteller.

Chris Whitaker

A compelling, dark tale ... an enthralling central character. What July Knew is a seamless canvas of how secrets affect a family dynamic and the powerful consequences when they are revealed. A coming-of-age story quite unlike any other. Brilliant!

Elaine Feeney

Intriguing, with an unravelling mystery that really kept me guessing. The story is a rollercoaster which increases in intensity as the pace ramps up towards the denouement, and I was bereft when I finished as I wanted to still be reading it!

Melanie Golding

What July Knew is a compelling story about growing up and grief told in the fresh and innocent voice of a child. I was gripped.

Jane Shemilt

Come for the 90s nostalgia and stay for the warm and unforgettable protagonist. I rooted so hard for July and will always remember her.

Laura Pearson

July Hooper is such a brilliant creation - smart, inquisitive and determined - that you'll be rooting for her every step of the way as she unravels the mystery of her own life in this captivating story.

T.M. Logan, author of The Holiday

What July Knew is a winning blend of sweet, nostalgic, compelling, shocking and heartbreaking. I defy readers not to root for July as she searches for the truth about her mother

Gilly Macmillan

What a wonderful story. Full of vivid characters, but mostly of course, July.

Amanda Reynolds

Heartbreaking, joyous and deeply compelling, What July Knew is a beautifully-told tale of great loss and great hope. I loved it.

Rosie Walsh

The plot is full of extremely satisfying twists and turns. Koch has written other thrillers, but this is destined to be her big breakout.

BookBrunch

[What July Knew is] touchingly effective in conveying the oppressiveness of a childhood lived in fear

Sunday Times

Touchingly effective in conveying a childhood lived in fear

Sunday Times

Compelling plot, this is an emotional read

Heat

Fans of Joanna Cannon's The Trouble with Goats and Sheep will devour this

Woman & Home

Totally heartbreaking, but also uplifting, this is a real gem of a read

The Sun