What Lies in the Woods

What Lies in the Woods is YA author Kate Alice Marshall’s first adult novel, published in 2022. The novel is a mystery thriller, focusing on a woman trying to understand traumatic events that befell her and her two best friends during their childhood in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Marshall explores themes of Maturity and the Loss of Innocence, Jealousy and Tension Within Friendships amid gendered expectations, and the Destructive Consequences of Secrets and Lies in the context of the voyeuristic fascination with violent events.

This guide references the 2022 edition published by Flatiron Books.

Content Warning: The novel and the guide reference suicide, domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor, and alcohol use disorder.

Plot Summary

Naomi Shaw Cunningham grew up in the small town of Chester and had two close childhood friends: Cass Green and Liv Barnes. One summer, when the girls were 11 years old, they played regularly in the woods near the town, inventing an elaborate game where they embodied Greek goddesses. The girls also found a skeleton that had been hidden in a small cave, which they nicknamed Persephone since a bracelet with this name was found nearby. The girls did not initially tell anyone about the skeleton; one day, when they were playing nearby, Naomi was violently attacked and stabbed. Liv and Cass hid, witnessing the assault, and eventually got help. In the aftermath, all three girls confirmed the identity of their attacker based on photos they were shown as a man named Alan Michael Stahl, who was suspected of having killed numerous other women. Based on the girls’ testimony, Stahl was convicted and imprisoned. Given this context, Naomi felt strong pressure to confirm that it was Stahl who attacked her. However, Naomi never actually saw her stabber. Naomi, Cass, and Liv also never mentioned the skeleton since they feared having their credibility cast into doubt.

More than 20 years after the attack, Naomi is living in Seattle and working as a photographer. After Stahl dies in prison, Liv summons Naomi back to Chester, where Cass and Liv still live. Liv excitedly tells her friends that she has tracked down the identity of the skeleton and that she wants to come forward with this information. Naomi and Cass are hesitant and convince Liv to wait. Meanwhile, Naomi receives a letter from Stahl’s adult son accusing her of having lied and facilitating his father’s wrongful conviction. The next morning, Naomi receives a worrying message from Liv, who has a history of mental health problems. Naomi finds Liv in a pond near the woods, dead from a gunshot wound. Most people assume that Liv died by suicide, but Naomi is unconvinced. She decides to try to find out the identity of the skeleton (Liv didn’t disclose what she’d learned).

To help with her investigation, Naomi reluctantly begins to work with a man named Ethan Schreiber, who has come to Chester for a true crime podcast that he is producing. Ethan is interested in learning more about Naomi’s attack; he is doubtful that Stahl is responsible since Naomi’s assault didn’t fit Stahl’s typical pattern. Naomi and Ethan determine that the skeleton likely belongs to a young woman named Jessi Walker, who briefly lived in Chester and vanished two years before Naomi’s stabbing. After quickly ruling out that Stahl killed Jessi, Ethan and Naomi begin to believe that whoever killed Jessi might also be the one responsible for attacking Naomi, especially if the murderer knew or suspected that the girls had located the skeleton. They begin to dig deeper into Jessi’s past.

During the time that Jessi lived in Chester, she spent time with Cass’s older brother Oscar Green and Cody Benham, who was close friends with Oscar for some time. Oscar has a history of being aggressive; he tried to sexually assault Naomi when she was 11 years old. Naomi also finds out that Jessi was having an affair with Jim Green, Cass and Oscar’s father. Naomi suspects that either Oscar or Jim murdered Jessi and that one of them might have also attacked her; if so, Cass could have been complicit in protecting her father or brother. However, when Naomi finds the knife used to attack her, she realizes that Liv was the one who hurt her.

Naomi confronts Liv’s parents, who tell her the story they have been covering up for decades: Already experiencing mental illness, and lost in the fantasy of the game, Liv stabbed Naomi in the woods. When Liv and Cass (who witnessed these events) revealed what happened to their parents, the Barnes and Green families decided to encourage the girls to blame Stahl. Naomi was pressured to go along with this story, and her family was also given money to discourage them from asking more questions.

Meanwhile, Naomi also learns the shocking truth that Ethan is Stahl’s son; he has been hiding his identity, but he doesn’t blame Naomi for getting his father put in prison since Stahl definitely killed other women, even if he didn’t attack Naomi.

Naomi still wants to see Jim Green brought to justice, so she asks Cody (whom she views as a trusted confidante) to help her as she prepares to go to the police. Instead, Cody lures Naomi into the woods, where she realizes that he was largely responsible for Jessi’s death: Jessi and Cody were arguing about her relationship with Jim when she fell and hit her head. Cody was so angry that he left her in the woods. When he went back, he couldn’t find her: Disoriented from her injuries, Jessi made her way to the cave and died there. Cody also reveals that when he realized Liv had figured out that the skeleton belonged to Jessi, he killed Liv to make sure she never shared this information.

Cass joins Cody and Naomi in the woods; she worked with Cody to pass Liv’s death off as a suicide. Cass has known since the girls first found the skeleton that it was Jessi’s body and that Cody was likely responsible for her death (she saw Cody come to her home covered in blood one night). Cass has never told anyone this information, but she has used it to blackmail Cody. Cass also reveals that she goaded Liv into stabbing Naomi because she did not want a rival for Liv’s friendship. Now that Naomi knows all of this information, Cass and Cody conclude that they must kill her. However, at the last minute, Cody kills Cass because he does not want her to continue to blackmail him. Cody then tries to kill Naomi; he shoots and injures her, but she runs through the woods and take refuge in the cave where the skeleton is located. Although she believes she is dying, Naomi manages to phone Ethan to tell him that Liv should not be held responsible for stabbing her: It was really Cass who masterminded the plan.

Fortunately, Liv’s parents have alerted the police that Naomi may be in distress, so the police have gone to the woods to look for her. The police find Naomi in the cave and rush to get her medical attention. Naomi recovers from her injuries, and Cody is arrested for killing both Liv and Cass. Jessi’s skeleton is finally retrieved and her fate finally known. Months after the incident, Naomi and Ethan reunite and take tentative steps toward rebuilding trust with one another.