This book is great. It's told from 3 points of view - Wyatt, Odette and Angel. Angel's part of the story is told 5 years after the first two. The story is based around Wyatt's sister going missing years prior and he is blamed for her murder.

There's a lot to like here, and I liked all the characters which made the story more enjoyable, which is important as I felt like the story was fairly slow at times. Some of the actions of the character did feel questionable at times. I liked the concept of being the same in the dark and how the main characters weren't "whole".

I didn't see the ending coming. Overall a really good book.

I loved this book. It is full of suspense and twists with some great characters. It is a really good page turner. I requested this book because I really like the author and I was not disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

We Are All The Same In The Dark is another brilliant read from Julia Heaberlin. With a strong plot, strong characters and the twists and turns given in all of the right places, I found this book hard to put down and read it in 2 sittings.

Thankyou to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and Netgalley for my proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

I downloaded this book because I couldn't resist the gorgeous cover and Julia Heaberlin is one of my favourite authors.

Ten years ago the town's sweetheart Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving only a bloody hand-print behind. The townsfolk always believed her brother Wyatt had something to do with it and he's now become a recluse. Odette was once Wyatt's best friend and even she isn't entirely sure of his innocence. So when she discovers that he has a young girl at his house, that he says he 'found' at the side of the road, it's hard for Odette not to assume the worst.

The story is told from three points of view: Wyatt's, when he finds a young girl lying asleep in a field surrounded by a ring of dandelions; Odette's, as she tries to discover the girl's identity but finds herself becoming obsessed with the murder of Trumanell instead; and the teenage Angie, who arrives in the small Texas town determined to discover the truth behind the mystery.

I love Julia Heaberlin's novels because they never go in quite the way you think. We Are All the Same in the Dark has a huge twist in the middle (which I hated) but it does give the story a unique edge. It's not a fast-paced thriller, more of a slow-burn mystery, with each clue revealed in a careful 'blink and you'll miss it' kind of way. The author takes the time to build up a deliciously creepy atmosphere, until you're convinced every character is the murderer! Halfway through I was so worried I admit I took a peek at the end. (Don't do this!!!) I'm not sure if I would have guessed the outcome if I hadn't known it in advance.

We Are All the Same in the Dark has an almost gothic feel with some super-scary scenes (the very claustrophobic stuck-in-a-barn-during-a-tornado scene), particularly towards the nail-biting finish. As with the author's earlier novels, I loved the quirky characters, especially Wyatt and Odette. I even warmed towards Rusty towards the end.

I'd recommend We Are All the Same in the Dark to anyone who loves slow-burn psychological suspense populated with eccentric characters. I can also see it appealing to fans of Lisa Jewell and Ruth Ware. This was a five-star read for me.


Thank you to Julia Heaberlin and Michael Joseph (Penguin UK) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

We Are All the Same in the Dark is Julia Heaberlin’s latest standalone thriller which takes place in a small town in West Texas that is haunted by the disappearance of one of its own. This story follows a young cop's journey to solve the mystery that defines her past, and the new mystery of a young girl dumped in a field of dandelions. When it soon becomes clear that the past and present are connected, she'll find herself exposing the open wound that's been plaguing the town since cheerleader and homecoming queen Trumanell Branson disappeared 10 years earlier.

Suspected murdered, 19-year-old Trumanell and her violent father vanished off the face of the earth one evening with the only witness being her younger brother, Wyatt. Strangely, Wyatt’s girlfriend at the time, Odette Tucker, who happened to be the police chief’s daughter, also had an unfortunate incident occur on the same evening in the form of a car accident. Now Odette has the policing power to investigate a case she's been obsessed with for years. Everyone in town thinks Wyatt killed his sister and got away with it, especially with the recent release of a documentary implicating him, so when he finds mute teenager Angel in trouble one day and brings her home, Odette has to work as a friend, not a cop, to figure out what really happened to both this girl and Trumanell before the town turns on Wyatt again.

This is a dark and creepy, slow-burning mystery and one of the standout aspects of it was the intense atmosphere which felt distinctly gothic and chilling from the get-go. It starts slow and builds up layer upon layer of fascination and intrigue. This is the type of thriller that is packed full of emotion rather than action and deals with some important topics such as trauma, philosophical questions and the idea that once townsfolk have it into their head that Wyatt was the perpetrator, despite him having been cleared of the crime in a court of law, there was no changing many of their minds. This makes him even more reclusive than he was previously. Heaberlin also sensitively addresses issues of survival and vulnerability in this heart-wrenching tale. After a pretty devastating twist halfway through, the suspenseful plot builds to an emotional finale. Many thanks to Michael Joseph for an ARC.

I felt this was a slow burner, it did take me a while to get into the story, but as I got further into it, I really began to lose myself in this dark thriller that was reminiscent of No Country for Old Man, with its slow pace, and moments of high tension.

A ten year old mystery involving the disappearance of a young woman, Trumanell and her father, Frank. The finger of suspicion has fallen on Wyatt, the brother and son, but Odette has never truly believed he was responsible. She's a cop now, and cannot give up until she finds out the truth. It's complicated by the fact that she was once Wyatt's childhood sweetheart, and they still have deep feelings for one another. When Wyatt sees a young girl abandoned on the side of a road, and brings her home, Odette is wondering if her loyalty is misplaced. But little is she to know that this young girl, nicknamed Angel, is herself running - from a psychopathic father. Sensing a broken soul, Odette gets her to safety, and a bond is formed between the two - they have both suffered devastating losses.

When Odette gets too close to the truth, she too disappears. It's now Angel who is determined to solve this case once and for all, and Angel is a badass heroine for sure. Unrelenting in her doggedness she shows unbelievable courage, and when the mystery is finally solved, the moment just before is a nail-biter.

A wonderfully written and wonderfully paced book.

Sorry, I just couldn't connect with this book. I didn't like the style of writing and found the plot too slow moving. Judging from other reviews it's a great book but not for me.

Really good thriller, I enjoyed my time a lot. I like the writing and the plot is well constructed.

I'd read other books from the author.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book, one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. Wyatt, Odette and Angel were perfect narrators of their sections of this story and their parts were written perfectly. It galloped along at a great pace and I really did not want to put it down and actually sought to read it in the day which is very unlike me when I'm not on holiday. I was shocked by the twist / turn of the book half way through and I felt every bit of it. I still feel emotional and sad regarding the outcome now, a few days after finishing the book which I feel is always a really good marker of an excellent book. I will definitely be recommending this one.

I don't know what to say about this story other than wow. The shocking event in the middle I really didn't see coming and really couldn't have predicted who the actual perpetrator was. This book made me want to race through and not finish it at the same time. It's one of those books that you just don't want to finish because you don't want to know what happened and at the same time you have to know what happened.

‘It takes about eight to ten hours to hand-dig a grave, more if you have a helper...’

10 years ago, a girl went missing from a rural Texas town, leaving a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. No one has moved on, least of all Odette, local policewoman and best friend of the missing girl. She’s dedicated the last decade of her life to solving this crime, but the discovery of a one eyed girl with a dark past sets into motion a chain of events that may finally reveal what happened that fateful night 10 years ago...

Wow. What a book! I was immediately gripped, and could not stop thinking about the mystery of Trumanell and her disappearance! The writing in this one was absolutely incredible, and I loved the unusual narrative structure - the book is split into three sections, each told by a different narrator. You begin with Wyatt, Trumanell’s brother and the townspeople’s prime suspect. Then, it shifts to Odette, and her attempts to discover the truth of the past. Finally, you skip to Angel, and discover the truth about the one eyed mystery girl. While this did leave some cliffhangers, it worked incredibly well to ratchet up the tension!

Now, admittedly this is a bit of a slow burn in terms of pacing, and there were sections that were a lot slower than others. For me, that was irrelevant, as I felt completely in love with this book as soon as I started it, and to me the variable pacing and tone just made everything more interesting. But if you’re reading it and struggling a bit, just know that you should definitely stick with it.

Overall, I loved it. I’ve never read this authors work before, but she’s definitely guaranteed herself a place on my TBR shelf for life! The characterisation was amazing, the plot was so clever, and the tension and emotion in the story was palpable. Simply incredible writing, and definitely a strong contender for book of the year!


A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘We are all the same in the dark’ by Julia Heaberlin in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

A mystery thriller that sweeps the reader along.
Trumanell is missing. Odette is investigating. Angel has a missing eye.
Interesting and unusual characters, all with their fascinating flaws. A tale with a surprising twist in the middle and an unpredictable outcome.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This is my unbiased review.

On 7 June 2005, nineteen year old Trumanell Branson and her father, Frank, went missing from a small town in West Texas. Trumanell’s sixteen year old brother, Wyatt, was found by a lake out of his mind. Wyatt spent some time in a mental unit but moved back into the family house where he still lives. He leads a fairly isolated life as many in the community believe that he was responsible for the disappearances.

Odette’s father, Marshall Tucker, was the Chief of Police on that night in 2005. Odette was also only sixteen and friends with Wyatt and Trumanell. The same fateful night Odette had seen Wyatt who had sent her away from the house. In her haste to leave she had a road accident and lost a leg. A few years later, Odette moved away and married Finn, a Chicago lawyer. Five years after the disappearances she returned to to bury her father’s ashes alongside those of her mother. She also become a rookie cop and persuades her brand new husband to move there and give her hometown a five-year try.

A decade after Trumanell and Frank’s disappearances Odette is still trying to prove Wyatt’s innocence despite her police partner, Rusty, being convinced of his guilt.

At this point ‘Angel’ - a young mute girl with a missing eye - is found in a field surrounded by dandelions by Wyatt who calls Odette for help. Odette relates to ‘Angel’ because of their mutual loss of body parts and strives to help her.

We hear the past and present stories of Wyatt, Odette and Angel as the story progresses towards a great conclusion. Julia Heaberlin writes well with a slight poetic style. She uses quotes, phrases and words which aren’t familiar to me and I like looking them up and learning a bit more about local culture of the setting. It’s sort of a slow burn plot but I liked the way the story was wrapped up and it was a really good read.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I love Julia Heaberlin’s ability to tell a cracking story. She writes beautifully, giving weight to her characters and crafting them so that they feel authentic and when they hurt, the reader hurts right along with them. She has the ability to at once create tough but vulnerable women, to give them personality, depth and flaws so that they stand out in the mind. All of this in a setting that is rich, vivid and deeply atmospheric.

Rural Texas is the location and this story will be told from three perspectives. Odette Tucker is a cop in a small Texas town. Her father Marshall Tucker was a cop too. Odette is a little unusual in that she is an amputee and has a range of legs that she can put on as she goes about her daily business, including one that allows her to understand what Oscar Pistorius had to go through to get out of bed on any given day.

She has history with the town recluse, Wyatt whose sister, Trumanelle and father disappeared ten years ago and were never seen again. Most people think Wyatt was responsible and give him a wide berth, but nothing has ever been proved.

Odette and Wyatt were close once and there’s still something of a spark between them, and Odette mostly doesn’t believe Wyatt is guilty of anything. Odette’s partner Rusty is less sure of that, but then he’s the kind of cop that Odette’s daddy would have liked. The kind that’s prepared to deliver justice first and ask questions later.

The book opens with Wyatt finding a young girl lying on a patch of deserted ground by the road, injured and not speaking. He takes her home to look after her, but he’s hardly on the road before a concerned citizen calls it in to the police and so Odette is once more at Wyatt’s door wanting to know what’s going on.

Haeaberlin takes Angel’s (the girl’s) story and the disappearance of Wyatt’s father and sister as Odette and Wyatt together seek to find out just what Angel’s story is and as they do we see how it impacts on Wyatt’s history.

Heaberlin creates a deep Southern mystery here, slowly peeling back layers of secrecy, contempt for the law and shocking betrayals to reveal a picture of lies and secrets. Heritage and history play their part in hiding all the secrets and lies that are buried in a shallow grave covered by a thin veneer of dust.

The novel takes place over a course of years but it never feels long or slow, just rich and redolent like a slow cooked casserole where every morsel is rich and tender. Though disappearances and a murder are the mainstay of the story, it is the characters and relationships that make this a symphony rather than a good tune and we can hear the timbre of the music change as the time passes.

There are some genuinely surprising moments and times when you wonder what’s going on but this just adds to the dark, unsettling feeling that being immersed in this book is already giving you.

Verdict: Beautifully written, emotionally charged, full of richness and depth, this is a fabulous, evocative read and one I highly recommend.

In this small town, we expect there will be secrets. So many people want to know what happened to young Trumanell Branson when she disappeared ten years ago. There are many who believe her brother, Wyatt, was responsible and they are watching, waiting to see if he will ever be found guilty of the crime they think he’s committed.
When he discovers a young girl lying in a field off the highway, it’s hard to know what to think. At this point we’re introduced to his ex-girlfriend, Odette, who happens to work for the police. She is convinced he’s innocent, but on the night Trumanell disappeared Odette had to flee the Branson home and was then in a car crash where she lost her leg. Determined to think good of the man she clearly still has feelings for, Odette helps him out.
As she helps the young girl, known initially as Angel, we uncover more about Odette, Wyatt and the town in which they live. We can see Odette is carrying out her own investigation, one which ultimately has serious repercussions.
Spanning years, this story is one that takes its time to resolve. It shifted and never settled until the closing stages, hinting at possible outcomes and ultimately showing us a pretty bleak stage.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this in advance of publication in exchange for my review.

This one sadly fell flat for me and I couldn't bring myself to finishing it. The writing was good, but frustratingly slow, so I skimmed to the end to find out what's happened, and I am glad I did.

Odette Tucker, now in the Police, returns to her local town to try and find answers to the mystery of how Trumanelle Branson disappeared years earlier leaving behind a single, bloody handprint. Her brother, Wyatt has long been the assumed killer but no evidence has ever come to light. Wyatt, then finds a young girl in a remote field. She is injured, mute and has just one eye. He wants to help her but also hide her. He feels if she is found, people will decide he is responsible for her poor state. He asks Odette, a former girlfriend for help. Is she helping a killer?
Julia Heaberlin has once again produced a superb book, packed full of brilliant descriptions that has the reader conjuring up a perfect scene. The complex, central characters are original with flaws that could make or break them and the involved storyline has many shocks, twists and heartbreak. Set in rural Texas, where locals are God fearing with a pack like mentality, where rumours and superstition rule their beliefs and people are tried by popular opinion. Another brilliantly, captivating story from this exceptional author.

We Are All the Same in the Dark is told in two parts from the perspective of both Odette and Angel and focuses on the investigation over the disappearance of Trumanell.

The book was an interesting read, I liked the writing style which built up tension really well around the different characters, their backstories and their relation to Trumanell and her disappearance. I liked the two narrators in the book although I did prefer the second half which moved quicker with more action then the first half had.

Although the book is a mystery, there are hardly any reveals in the book, not much is given away and the focus is more on the suspicions the narrator has of people. I also found that the reveal at the end was predictable and slightly disappointing.

3/5

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The story centres around two mysteries. A missing girl from a decade ago and then a girl found at the side of the road.
This story is narrated by three very different and flawed characters. Wyatt, Odette, and Angel. I enjoyed the depth the author gave her characters, which in turn made me feel sympathy towards them, and their back stories.

The story was very slow, and I felt there was a lot of wordiness in there that wasn’t quite necessary. There were also parts of the story where I became slightly confused, and had to rewind back pages to reread and become sure of where I am in the story.

The story was good, but it was an extremely slow plot. Not as enjoyable as previous books by this author.

3.5/5

I dropped it a half star in my mind because I guessed who the killer was in the first half.

We Are All the Same in the Dark is a mystery/thriller set in small town Texas where the stories of two missing girls ten years apart weave and wind together as local cops try to solve these cases.

The PoV switches quite dramatically midway through so we primarily see things through the eyes of two different women. This keeps the story fresh and sets it apart from some the usual police-hunt-badguys thriller staples out there.

Heaberlin builds up two solid, well built main characters who we can sympathise with and understand their motivations. Some of the supplementary characters are a little more obtuse but that's necessity of the mystery genre.

Overall it's a well-structured, -paced and -finished novel that delivers a good storyline with believable characters.