Review of A Flicker in the Dark

Did you read all the serial killer books back in the 80s and are looking for a book with that feel? Check out my review of A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham and get a link to my SUPER SECRET SPOILER POST on the book where we can talk theories and suspects

Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review! This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small percentage of qualifying purchases.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

To be published by Minotaur Books on January 11, 2022.

Synopsis: When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath. Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren’t really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

Review of A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

Serial killer books are always a thing, but just as domestic thrillers have exploded in the 2010s and 2020s, I feel like serial killer fiction was much more prevalent back in the 80s. Serial killers like The Zodiac Killer in the 60s and Son of Sam and Ted Bundy in the 70s spawned a whole bunch of serial killer thrillers by authors like Patricia Cornwell, Dean Koontz, and Thomas Harris.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham uses a classic serial killer premise … the copycat. If a known serial killer is locked up, and then crimes with his signature start happening again … what’s going on? Either a) the wrong person is in prison or b) you have a copycat on your hands.

When Chloe Davis was a tween, her father was arrested for the murder of six young women in their small Louisiana community. Now in her thirties, living in Baton Rouge and planning a wedding, Chloe is horrified when similar murders start happening again.

I liked A Flicker in the Dark and thought it had a lot going for it. An interesting main character, an evocative setting, and a plot with a fair number of twists and turns. I did guess a major part of the ending (and you might too if you are a regular reader of serial killer or thriller fiction) but that happens sometimes. To me, the clue was HUGE but I have missed huge clues myself.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: if you have read this (or just want spoilers) please come over to my secret spoiler post and discussion for A Flicker in the Dark and we can talk about suspects, theories and the ending!

Click on the link above or the image below to get to the SPOILER POST!