Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Mystery

Libby Day was the victim of a horrific crime when she was a child. Her brother killed her mom and two sisters but Libby managed to escape and run away, only to finger him to the police later. Now in her 30s, she has run out of the money the community pooled together for her and needs to find a new way to sustain herself. She is offered money to appear at a nearby club that is interested in true crime and despite no interest in doing this, the money wins out. Attending this event, she finds that everyone thinks her brother innocent and Libby's testimony spoon fed to her by the police. Libby starts to question that night.

Going back and forth between the events leading up to the crime and current day for Libby, we slowly learn how that night unfolded while Libby starts piecing things together by speaking to those close to her family during that time. Libby herself is a bit of a mess, but it surprisingly doesn't really impact how she conducts her investigation in to that night, which is surprising.

Having read a few Flynn books in the past, I found this one a bit slower than her others and the ending not as surprising as Gone Girl or Sharp Objects. Because the middle part of the book was a bit slow, I'd say this was an average mystery and the worst of the Flynn books I've read.

First Line: "I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Mystery/Thriller

Camille Preaker is returning to her small home town with many reservations. Having left years ago because her sister died and her mother never loved her, Camille finds herself back. Camille was recently released from a facility to help her stop cutting words into her body and now works at a Chicago newspaper. Her boss wants her to report on a recent kidnapping of a child in her home town, falling on the heels of a murder of a similarly aged child a few months ago.

Camille has a new half-sister, Amma, who gets all the doting attention of her mother. Nothing seems to have changed in the town. Her mother still acts the same way, her mom's friends still gossip as vigorously as they used to, and the police department is too small and inexperienced. Camille starts asking around and instead of getting information on who the possible murderer is, instead gets depressing stories about people that have remained in the town and horrible stories about her mom.

This is Flynn's first book, before Gone Girl became a hit. This is a fantastic book too though and carries its weight against Gone Girl. It had me incredibly angry at Camille's mother, sympathetic towards Camille, questioning Camille's love choices, and pretty much every other reaction I'm sure Flynn was going for.

I could not put this book down. I wanted to slap Camille's mom so many times and just kept hoping for her to get put in her place. This was almost as important to me as determining who the murderer was. I love psychological thrillers and this ranks right up there among the best of them.

First Line: "My sweater was new, stinging red and ugly."

Rating:
(4.5/5)