It's May 2019 and Dr Chloe Davis, a medical psychologist, is completing a session with a new patient. Lacey is suffering mentally but Chloe has hopes of getting her through the trauma. You see, Chloe knows what it's like to have a traumatic childhood. Her father is Richard Davis, the man who murdered six girls some twenty years ago. Their bodies have never been found but Chloe found some jewellery belonging to the girls - trophies taken from their bodies - tucked away in a cupboard at home and she and her mother handed it to the police. Dick Davis is in the Louisiana State Penitentiary and Chloie has had nothing to do with him for the last twenty years. Her mother is in a care home.

She and her brother Cooper had intended that they would look after their mother, who is immobile and mute after a failed suicide attempt, but somehow their busy lives meant that it somehow never happened. Chloe's hoping that she finally has her life sorted out - in July she's going to marry Daniel Briggs, who's in pharma sales. Unsurprisingly, she's always found it difficult to sustain a romantic relationship but Daniel almost won't let her fail. When we first meet him he's organised a surprise party at Chloe's home to celebrate their engagement. Even her brother Cooper's there. He's not entirely happy about the engagement: he doesn't feel that Chloe knows Daniel well enough to make the judgement as it's only a year since they started seeing each other. Cooper recognised the complexities of forming relationships for both of them.

Then the murders start again and somehow, they seem to be connected with Chloe. It's not Chloe's father - he's safely in prison - so who is the copycat? Who can Chloe trust? Then there's the New York Times journalist, Aaron Jansen, who's determined to publish a story about the Davis family for the twentieth anniversary of the death of the girls.

I had a misfortune with this book. A few pages in I thought about how it would work out - it's a habit I have and it's not always a good one This time, I was spot-on right. I read, hoping that I was wrong and, to be fair, there were numerous times when I was convinced that I'd got it wrong. The plot twists until you're dizzy and you need to be in the wide-awake club to keep up with all that's happening. The characterisation is brilliant: everyone is that believable mix of good, bad and indifferent. You have a lingering suspicion that they could be evil, fighting with a doubt that they really could be that bad. It keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Did guessing the outcome of the book spoil it for me? Surprisingly, it didn't: it simply left me delighted to be proved right. Stacy Willingham captured the effect of childhood trauma with its mix of complete withdrawal and ill-considered romantic relationships, which you hope will make you feel like everyone else, if only for a short time. The writing is good enough to compensate for the suspicion that you know how it's going to work out. The icing on the cake is that this is a debut and Willingham is definitely going to be an author to watch. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

I highlighted this debut in my “Looking Back Looking Forward post”, a Louisiana set thriller described by top crime writer Jeffery Deaver as “an unstoppable journey through the psychology of evil, and of courage (in many senses), all told in a pitch-perfect literary style.”
I don’t read many psychological thrillers nowadays, the market seems flooded with them and I find them a little samey but here we have a strong example.
Psychologist Chloe Davis is our damaged first-person narrator. Keeping herself well-dosed with prescription medication she is facing the twentieth anniversary of a case she helped to crack as a 12 year old when, horrifically, her father was imprisoned for the abduction and suspected murder of 6 teenage girls. All this happened in Breaux Bridge, “the Crawfish capital of the world”, a small-town environment Chloe had to escape from after the disintegration of her family.
Now in Baton Rouge and on the verge of marriage her world crumbles again when it looks like a copycat killer is murdering in her local area.
Chloe is implicated, needs to clear her name and takes too long to involve the police (which is so often the case in this sort of book). Three quarters of the way through the tension is ramped up by unforeseen (by me) twists which continues to impress to its conclusion. It was a resolution I saw coming early on, then didn’t, then forgot all about as Willingham skilfully misdirects with careful plotting. It reads well, the Louisiana setting effectively makes its presence known and I am not surprised that options for a TV adaptation have reputedly been picked up.
Flicker In The Dark is published on 3rd February 2022 by Harper Collins in the UK. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

Even though A Flicker in the Dark has an interesting premise, its reliance on the confused and drugged-up female narrator trope prevented this story from being as great as it could've been.

A gripping read with an interesting premise. A classy debut from a writer I think we’ll be hearing more from. Review will feature in my newspaper column.

Chloe Davis, the principal character in this book has been living a troubled life after her father was convicted as a serial killer having murdered 6 teenage girls when Chloe was 12. The 20th anniversary of the murders is approaching and Chloe is now living in Baton Rouge. There have been a further 2 murders of teenage girls in that area leading her to believe there is a "copycat killer" around.

The other characters in the book are, Chloe's Fiance Daniel, her brother Cooper and to some extent her mother. The latter who lives in a care home after a failed suicide attempt left her seriously disabled and largely uncommunicative.

The book is told in the first person from Chloe's perspective and whilst it is largely set present day it does go back to when she was 12 and the arrest of her father.

Chloe is taking prescription medication and drinks heavily which messes with her mind and also messes with the readers mind certainly my mind anyway. Her character confused me time and time again. Just as I thought I had figured it out there was a further twist at the end.

I enjoyed the book but I did not like Chloe as a person. She jumped to a lot of early conclusions which did not sit well with me. I understand this has been "optioned" for TV and I can see that it would make a good program with some additional development.

It was not strictly my cup of tea but I did enjoy it on the whole and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley UK and the publisher Harper Collins for an ARC copy of the book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Chloe Davis’ father is a serial killer and in jail. Chloe has made a new life for herself and is a respected psychologist in Baton Rouge. On the anniversary of the murders a girl she knows goes missing and then others start to disappear and found murdered.
This is a edge of your seat story with plot twists you’ll never see coming loved how you thought you knew who the killer is only to be wrong and another twist emerges.
Could not put this down would highly recommend.
Thanks to Net Galley.

This is a gripping tale of life after your father has been found guilty of the murders of several adolescent girls. He’s in prison so how can the murders have started again? The pace of the book kept me hooked from the start. There were several twists at the end that took me by surprise. A few unrealistic bits but nothing to detract from my overall enjoyment.

This book was SO good and I was shocked to see that it was a debut novel for this author.

A Flicker in the Dark tells the story of Chloe, a girl whose Father was convicted of kidnapping and killing 6 teenage girls. The book is set 20 years after these events and Chloe, a psychologist, is busy planning her wedding when girls start to go missing again. There are so many similarities to her Father's crimes and she ends up in the thick of the investigations again.

The book was so well written and kept me gripped, right from the first page. I found myself empathising with Chloe and trying to think about what I would do in her situation. I struggled to put this one down.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending this ARC in return for an honest review.

I am very grateful to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
I thought that Stacy Willingham made an impressive debut with this psychological thriller, full of twists and turns. However, while the story was well written, I felt it was a little too detailed, and it is possible to guess the whodunnit before the end.
That made me want to skip the detail for the essential parts, which slightly curtailed my enjoyment of the book.
It did, however, introduce me to a place in America I had not yet visited, and I found that insightful.
As a debut writer, I recommend trying this one on for size!

This is a real page turner, but it just didn’t feel right. I realised who had murdered the 6 girls within the first couple of chapters. Most of the characters seemed motiveless and there to pad out the book, except the main character, who seemed to come alive from the page. You could feel her fear and panic. The most recent murderer seemed to have a complete character change from a introverted and shy, unremarkable child into an assured and cocky adult. Not only did he have no motive for the killings, but the original killer appeared to have been able to stop himself killing again. The best bit about the book was the sense of place, the creepy small town with its claustrophobic atmosphere was so well formulated.

An excellent read – and for a debut novel extremely well crafted. The novel starts slowly but that allows the reader to examine the characters – all well drawn - and begin to work out their relationships to the main plot developments. The reader guesses all is not as it seems but it’s not clear what – surely the best kind of psychological thriller. I await her next book with anticipation.

From the first page it had me and kept me turning pages. I would certainly recommend this book as a good psychological thriller and it will keep you guessing to the end.
Thanks Harper Collins Uk and NetGalley for the early read.

What a well constructed tale this is where almost nothing is as it first appears. Dr Chloe Davis, the lady "in charge" is a psychologist with more psychological problems than a juggler has balls but juggle them she must. Not really surprising that she has personal challenges when the whole tale revolves around her dad being accused of and jailed for the murder of several young girls. Closure for something like this can never be easy but nigh on impossible when the bodies cannot be found.

Certainly a good book for a dark Winter's night as long as you are prepared for the possibility of a sleepless night or two! Treat yourself, Stacy Willingham's story telling is certainly worth your investment.

I didn't like this book at all and am struggling to write anything positive about it. I liked how the book focused on the trauma of being a serial killer's daughter. That's pretty much it.

Now to the things I didn't like:
/may contain spoilers below/

1. Predictable: I guessed the ending from the first chapter itself and I'm someone who rarely guesses anything correctly. It's so painfully obvious that it's annoying when the MC couldn't see what was right in front of her.

2. Stupid protagonist (MC): The MC is a 32 yo psychologist but acts like a toddler. We're told and shown in the beginning that she's very paranoid. But then she deliberately puts herself in dangerous situations by playing detective. Girl even if you collect all the evidences and catch the killer, the killer will walk free in court cause you're not police! You're not authorised to do any kind of sleuthing. If anyone behaves like that, they deserve to get killed, I'm sorry. I'm starting to think most contemporary mystery/thrillers authors don't know how to write a plot twist without forsaking all character development or making the characters as stupid as a bunch of baboons.

3. The end reveal: Without saying too much, I disliked it. Whatever we learnt about the characters till now is rendered useless for the sake of the plot twist (which is so predictable even a baby could see it coming). What was even the point of all that discussion on the trauma of being a serial killer's daughter!?

An excellent debut novel featuring Chloe who, when she was a child, saw her serial killer father imprisoned for the rest of his life. The story is told from a view-point 20 years later, with Chloe a respected psychologist, when the emotions of her childhood traumas are brought to the fore-front as killings that seem to have a very similar modus operandi start. The unreliable narrator that is Chloe leads you in all directions and manages to keep you guessing until the end. A well constructed story and highly recommended. Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for my early read.

Omg this is a fantastic debut novel! I was so captivated by the storyline and felt it was very well written. I definitely suspected everyone and trusted no one and I LOVE when a novel can make me feel that uneasy! Didn’t see the end twist coming so it was absolutely worth it! I will definitely be adding Stacy to the list of authors to keep an eye out for!!!!

I can safely say that this book will be on my Top Ten books of 2022. For a debut book Stacy Willingham certainly delivers.
Chloe Davis is a psychologist who lives in Baton Rouge. She suffered a major trauma over twenty years ago. To the outside world everything is going great. She has a good practice and a perfect fiancée. However, she is secretly nursing the fact she is addicted to medication and her father is in jail for a series of murders.
When copycat murders start happening her world as she knows it is turned upside down. Is someone close to her connected to the crimes. Is she as innocent as we are led to believe.
There are so many twists and turns in this book. You leap from one suspect to another. The story just flows and keeps young griped. Can’t wait to see this book transferred to the screen.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an arc.

Colour me impressed. That was a fantastic debut! Chloe Davis is 12 years old when her father is convicted of killing 6 young women over one summer. Twenty years later Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and is engaged to Daniel, a pharmaceutical sales rep. And then the killings start again!

Two young women are found dead within a week with the same MO as her father’s victims, the second of them was a patient of Chloe’s. Chloe was also drawn to the search for the first girl when she went missing and discovered her earring on the ground in a cemetery. How could this be happening again? A feature of the original killings was that her father collected an item of jewellery from each of his victims. But her father will never be released from prison so who is copying his crimes?

It was not that hard to guess what was going on here but that did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. There were however a few little inconsistencies, which of course I can’t tell you about because - spoilers. Chloe was a quite conflicted character. At times I totally related to her and at other times she seemed to do really dumb things, but then how would any of us act if we were in her shoes? In fact all of the characters, including her fiancé Daniel, her brother Cooper and journalist Aaron Jansen seemed a bit morally ambiguous but I think this did enhance the story.

What the author did really well was paint a claustrophobic atmosphere filled with creeping menace where you were never totally confident in the outcome. I will be very keen to,see what she comes up with next. Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stacy Willingham and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

The protagonist, Chloe, is a psychologist still plagued by her father and the young girls he murdered. After moving away to escape it all, murders begin happening again following the exact same pattern as her father did.

Without revealing anything Chloe begins to investigate after a body is found outside of her practice and she ends up finding out everything is not what it seems.

Chloe’s father, Dick Davis, is a convicted serial killer. As a distraught 12 year old, she watched him being arrested and led off to prison. After the spate of missing girls’ gruesome murders in Louisiana are finally solved, it affects her family so profoundly that life is never the same for them again. A dark shadow and awful memories exist that nothing can erase.

Fast forward 20 years and Chloe is now working as a clinical psychologist. But despite her desire and ability to help other broken, troubled souls, she remains wary, guarded and disturbed herself, resorting to self medicating with Diazepam and alcohol to try to appear normal.

On the surface, she appears successful, with a promising career and a wonderful fiancé who she is soon to marry. A flicker of light, perhaps, in an otherwise darkened life. However, when another young girl goes missing, and is discovered murdered, it brings dread to Chloe’s soul and worrying echoes of similar events from long ago.

In this slow burner thriller, fragile Chloe is an unsteady and unreliable narrator who fails to think logically and can barely bring herself to trust anybody, least of all herself. Though despite the potential danger she might be in, she is irresistibly drawn to finding out about the recent murders and ensuing investigation.

The pace hots up considerably as Chloe gets deeply tangled up in fear, anxiety, memories from the past, and dark psychological knots. And the reader becomes tripped up by several red herring threads that succeed in intensifying the plot. Will Chloe finally learn to trust the right person? Will she discover the identity of the seeming copycat murderer operating in the manner of her father?

After a series of misunderstandings and mistakes, it gradually dawns on her who this person actually is, and the implications it brings for her life, and that of other family members. This has a slow build start, but great writing and a gripping ending help elevate this debut novel. Grateful thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the eRAC.