Yasmin Angoe

Yasmin Angoe is the author of the critically acclaimed Her Name Is Knight, first book in the Nena Knight trilogy. She is a first-generation Ghanaian American and the recipient of the 2020 Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color. Her Name Is Knight came in #1 on multiple Amazon Bestseller charts and is an Editor’s Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for the story, and is this a series?

Yasmin: Currently, I plan on this being a one-and-done stand-alone, although if my publisher wants, I can write more books. I really wanted to write a domestic thriller that is intimate and set in the same state I live in. The focus of the story is how people do not really know who others truly are. I hope readers saw this as a cat-and-mouse type of story.

Q: Was the story based on anything in particular?

Yasmin: A modernized version of “The Spider and The Fly.” It explores what happens when people are unmasked.

Q: Is the information about the heart pacemaker accurate?

Yasmin: I asked my cardiologist. I am one of the few younger people that have problems. I wanted to know what would happen if, and could it happen. I thought about having the granddad with a pacemaker. It is not easy, but if the laser is continually applied to that exact spot, it could make it malfunction.

Q: What role does the grandfather play in the story?

Yasmin: He was the catalyst for the heroine, Jac. Until he was harmed, she didn’t have a purpose or something to fight for. He was a way for her to work on her own issues by focusing on what happened to him. She wanted to make up for all those years of running away and not facing her own reality.

Q: Would you say the grandfather served as Jac’s mentor?

Yasmin: Yes. He called her Junior Dick, as in detective. He taught her things. He always held her together.

Q: How would you describe Jac as a character?

Yasmin: Jac is reckless and all over the place. She runs from her problems and does not face them. She acts before thinking, which gets her in a lot of trouble.

Q: Is Sawyer Jac’s opposite?

Yasmin: Probably. She is Jac’s good friend. She has a good family life. She is happy and self-assured. She is not coming from a place of loss and hurt like Jac is. Sawyer is more carefree and doesn’t have baggage.

Q: How would you describe the relationship between Sawyer and Jac?

Yasmin: Jac trusts Sawyer completely. She is Jac’s safe place. Jac knows Sawyer is not going to judge her.

Q: Can you explain the funny quote about USC in the book?

Yasmin: You mean the one, “USC, the University of South Carolina, the real USC, not the one in California.” I had to do it. Remember, the book is set in South Carolina. When I moved here, I now live about ten minutes from USC. Everyone is serious about supporting either USC or Clemson. If someone says USC, meaning the SoCal one, people will hate them for life. They feel they are the real USC because it comes first.

Q: What did you mean by the quote about people trying too hard to be liked?

Yasmin: A lot of people are like this these days. It seems they don’t have their own mind. People don’t have to go along to get along. This could apply to most of the characters in the book. For example, Jac’s mom tried to mold her two daughters into what she thought a Southern lady should be. Jac rebelled against this. She wants to be different, which is why she was known as the “wild Brodie girl.”

Q: How would you describe the character of Faye?

Yasmin: She doesn’t really want to go along to get along. But she does it when she needs it to further her goals. Then she goes back to what she really wants to be after convincing others. She pushes people, doesn’t like to leave loose ends, and fakes apologies. She has two faces: innocent and bubbly versus coy and unfriendly. The title comes into play because the story shows how most of the characters had two faces. Faye has it to the extreme.

Q: Does Jac have two faces as well?

Yasmin: No. This is problematic for her. The town is okay with people having two faces. People like to deal with others who are complacent, nice, and don’t create any worries. Jac wants to be accepted for who she is: not a girly girl. Jac can see through Faye and doesn’t take her at face value. As the story goes on, Jac realizes she is responsible, thoughtful, and perceptive.

Q: Was it intentional that readers are unsure about Jac at the beginning of the book?

Yasmin: Yes. Jac had a lot of issues with the town and herself. The readers don’t know what happened between Jac and her dad’s death. I wanted the reader to be on the ride with Jac. At first, Jac sees herself as a loser who can’t do anything right. This might make her unreliable in the beginning until her whole truth comes out.

Q: Can you share anything about your next book?

Yasmin: It is coming out in December 2025. I’m working on it currently. It will be a revenge story and will deal with complicated families

Not What She Seems by Yasmin Angoe is a very suspenseful domestic thriller that will keep readers on their toes.

The plot has the heroine, Jac Brodie, leaving home when she was twenty-two years old. She comes back after a family tragedy, where she must confront her tortured past―and a new danger in town that no one seems to understand but her.

After years of self-exile, Jacinda “Jac” Brodie is back in Brook Haven, South Carolina. But the small cliffside town no longer feels like home. Jac hasn’t been there since the beloved chief of police, her dad, fell to his death―and all the whispers said she was to blame.

Racked with guilt, Jac left town and had no plans to return. But when her granddad lands in the hospital, she rushes back to her family, bracing herself to confront the past.

Brook Haven feels different now. Wealthy newcomer Faye Arden has transformed the notorious Moor Manor into a quaint country inn. Jac’s convinced something sinister lurks beneath Faye’s perfect exterior, yet the whole town fawns over their charismatic new benefactor. And when Jac discovers one of her granddad’s prized possessions in Faye’s office, she knows she must be right.

But as Jac continues to dig, she stumbles upon dangerous truths that hit too close to home. With not only her life but also her family’s safety on the line, Jac discovers that confronting the truth is very dangerous.

This is an excellent read with fast-paced action, jaw-dropping plot twists, and flawed but likable characters.