"While you can reinvent yourself, you can't outrun yourself." Paris Peralta has reinvented herself...but her past is catching up to her! As the story opens Paris is arrested for the murder of her husband's lover. Is she a killer... ? We learn that she has a past that she is trying to hide. Will the news coverage of the murder bring to light all that she has been trying to hide? The ending was excellent! 4 stars because some of the plot twists are a little far-fetched although not completely unbelievable. ( )

Paris is arrested. She is found next to her dead husband, covered in his blood, and holding a straight-edge razor. And then the book really gets interesting. This suspenseful thriller is told in present time, interspersed with several flashbacks to fill in the rest of the story. Paris is fearful of her present predicament, but more anxious about her secret past coming to light. So much goes on in this story that to say any more would spoil the surprises along the way. Filled with twists and turns, just when you think you’ve figured it out, the story takes a detour. Well written with a great cast of well-developed characters, this tale is certainly a walk through the darker side of life. I appreciated the note from the author before the story started, warning of the subject matter of the novel. This not a Hallmark tale - it’s about as far from that as you can get - but the author manages to deal with the underbelly of human nature in a thoughtful and caring way. ( )

My favorite thriller end-to-end in a long time. Some dark subject matter but a solid story and mystery, in-depth characters, and enough twists to keep your interest high. First time reading Jennifer Hillier and she did not disappoint. I'll be looking to go through her other works soon. 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. ( )

Things We Do in the Dark begins with a murder. Paris Peralta is covered with blood and holding the knife that killed her husband. Of course, she is presumed guilty, especially as she was a young nobody when she married him and he was an retired celebrity. Oddly, she is more worried about people recognizing her from her past than being convicted in the present. She fears if her secret comes out she will be facing two murder charges.

Meanwhile, Owen, a podcaster is researching Canada’s infamous Ice Queen who twenty-five years earlier murdered her married lover by stomping him with an ice skate. When he was young, he shared an apartment with the Ice Queen’s daughter Joey and has always felt responsible for Joey’s death in a fire.

How these stories come together is a compelling read. The resolution is not surprising at all, but it is satisfying.

I received an ARC of Things We Do in the Dark from the publisher through Shelf Awareness

Things We Do in the Dark at Minotaur Books | Macmillan
Jennifer Hillier
My review of Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2023/10/18/things-we-do-in-the-dark-... ( )

Paris Peralta is found by the police in the bathroom with her husband’s dead body in the tub. To complicate matters she's holding the murder weapon in her hands. Of course, it looks bad, but you have to think that it wouldn't be this easy to find the killer. It gets more complicated when we learn that her husband, Jimmy, is 30 years older than her... Jimmy is famous as he was part of a show that everyone remembers and recently, he has come back from retirement to do a couple of comedy specials. No one has to tell Paris that the situation is NOT in ANYWAY good. Believe it or not...it indeed can get worse, especially if the police learn who she really is. Someone already knows and they are blackmailing her. Now we learn about Ruby Reyes...known as the Ice Queen, who is in prison in Canada. She is about to be released back into society after serving a sentence for murdering a man. She knows exactly who Paris is and wants money in exchange for silence. Now we come to Drew who is an investigative reporter in Toronto. His next true-crime podcast is about Ruby Reyes and her daughter. He wants the world to know what an awful person Ruby actually is. Drew feels guilty. He made mistakes and he is relieving the time when he let his friend down. Joey Reyes is the daughter of Ruby Reyes. She suffered in the hands of Ruby's verbal and physical abuse. The story is told from these three characters POV....Paris, Drew and Ruby...and by the end the reader will probably have no more idea about the truth than we did from the start. The audiobook was perfect for this novel and Carla Vega did a fantastic presentation. The timelines were a big problem for me but the narrator managed to keep them straight for me. I enjoyed guessing the twists and turns I really liked the story overall. ( )