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A review by horrorreaderweekend
All the Dark Places by Terri Parlato
3.0
This was a compelling mystery with a fantastic character in Detective Rita Meyers.
In an affluent suburb of Boston, Molly Bradley throws a dinner party for her husband Jay’s birthday. The Bradleys and three other couples enjoy drinking and conversation. As the party ends, Molly goes to bed drunk and Jay goes out to his garage/home office to work on his book on abnormal psychology.
Molly wakes alone the next day and finds Jay murdered.
There is a delicious unfolding of secrets and lies, affairs and suspicions, as Detective Rita investigates. Molly has childhood trauma, which she denies in her new life, and Jay’s research into serial killers brings more details to muddle the case. Rita is a tight and concise investigator, interesting and likable. Molly comes across as wounded yet real, though her mourning process was unwieldy and sporadic.
There are many possible killers and motives are revealed and either pursued or discarded. There are four men in the Bradley’s friend group and there were points in the story that I struggled to keep them all straight. When the final confrontation occurs it seems unlikely that the killer had managed to keep their extreme motives and malice so hidden, which felt unrealistic.
In general, a character-driven, fast-paced and engaging read.
In an affluent suburb of Boston, Molly Bradley throws a dinner party for her husband Jay’s birthday. The Bradleys and three other couples enjoy drinking and conversation. As the party ends, Molly goes to bed drunk and Jay goes out to his garage/home office to work on his book on abnormal psychology.
Molly wakes alone the next day and finds Jay murdered.
There is a delicious unfolding of secrets and lies, affairs and suspicions, as Detective Rita investigates. Molly has childhood trauma, which she denies in her new life, and Jay’s research into serial killers brings more details to muddle the case. Rita is a tight and concise investigator, interesting and likable. Molly comes across as wounded yet real, though her mourning process was unwieldy and sporadic.
There are many possible killers and motives are revealed and either pursued or discarded. There are four men in the Bradley’s friend group and there were points in the story that I struggled to keep them all straight. When the final confrontation occurs it seems unlikely that the killer had managed to keep their extreme motives and malice so hidden, which felt unrealistic.
In general, a character-driven, fast-paced and engaging read.