This book was good. What I couldn’t get over it the cover. For the want if a little yellow line the title could say something completely different.

A good twisty serial killer tale focusing around Chloe, who is now a clinical psychologist. Chloe herself has a traumatic background as when she was twelve years old her father was found guilty of being a serial killer of teenage girls in their small town.
Chloe rebuilt her life, despite having trust issues and dabbling with substance abuse. We therefore share her mistrust of everyone around her as we get to know her and her fiancé Daniel and wonder who to believe and rely on.
When more girls start to go missing and are found, murdered there is a worry there is a copy cat killer paying homage to her father, who is still safely incarcerated, but is it someone close to the original killer?
I enjoyed this and was trusting myself and blindly followed the red herrings and twists and turns, but, rather smugly, I guessed the ending suitably before the end which was both disappointing and strangely satisfying at the same time. Definitely one to read, I would recommend.

Wow,’well this debut novel has the “x factor”, whatever that magic ingredient is, that makes a book a completely addictive and enjoyable read! It’s the first book I’ve read this year and it’s great to be able to give it a 5 star rating!
Chloe is a psychologist living happily in Baton Rouge with her fiancé Daniel. But she has a disturbing past-her father is a serial killer of young girls whose bodies have never been recovered. In the lead up to her wedding, young girls start to go missing but they seem to have some sort of connection to Chloe. Why is this now happening again and is Chloe going to get involved in the investigation or leave it to the local police? Well ofcourse it wouldn’t be the book it is if Chloe just continues with her life instead of digging around in the past!! I liked her as a character! She was flawed, self destructive and reckless but she was also a strong minded and unflinching in her search for the truth. I was mentally cheering her on the whole way and I found the ending to be the perfect denouement!
I read this book from cover to cover in one day, it grabbed my attention from the very first page and I didn’t want it to end.
Highly recommended by me!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HarperCollins for the advance copy of #AFlickerInTheDark by #Stacy Willingham
Chloe has been trying for years to escape her past. To find a place where everyone’s first thought on meeting her isn’t oh you’re the daughter of Dick Davies the serial killer.
But now it is all happening again and Chloe is caught up in it, not knowing who to believe, who to trust.
An amazing story that grips and doesn’t let go.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am still shocked that this is Stacy Willingham's first book because what a debut it is. 5 Stars! This book is one you will not be able to put down until you have the answers. Chloe Davis works as a psychologist, but she is still unpacking her own trauma from her childhood. This in turn makes Chloe an unreliable narrator and you are never sure exactly what to believe. I enjoyed how the chapters went between the past and present, helping you fill in the blanks of Chloe’s past. This is one amazing crime thriller and the twists and turns were exceptional. If you love crime fiction and do not have this book on your TBR pile for 2022, I highly recommend you add it.

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Brilliant first book by Stacy.

Dr Chloe Davis has had to deal with a lot during her life, trying to rebuild her life after her father was sent to prison for being a serial killer twenty years ago. Following the disappearance and murder of six girls. Just as her life is getting on track, she has her our psychological practice and her wedding is booked, two young girls go missing it looks like a copycat killer is on the loose. Chloe thinks she knows who is responsible but then an unexpected twist happens.

Wow I have heard good things about this debut novel by Stacy Willingham and I am so grateful for the advanced copy.
Dr Chloe Davis has a successful practice as a psychologist. She meets people every day suffering from different traumas in their lives. But secretly she is suffering her own demons. Twenty years ago, her father was founded guilty as a serial killer murdering 6 young girls who went missing in their hometown in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For her to get through the day Chloe pops Anxiety pills to keep herself on track.
She is also due to marry Daniel in 2 months’ time, who she met and has a whirlwind romance with. Her brother Cooper is against the relationship and questions her. Does she really know Daniel that well?
When girls start go missing on the twentieth anniversary of her fathers’ killings and then a body is found. There is a copy kat killer on the loose and at first Chloe is asked for help from the Police to help find the killer. But things start to go wrong and Chloe ends up being paranoid and accusing everyone because they are at the wrong place at the right time. Who is the killer and what links do they have with her father?
Thank you, Harper Collins, for a copy of A flick in the dark. This is tense, dark, thriller that I really enjoyed and can’t believe that this is the first book from the author. She a very talented writer. This has a well-executed plot and relatable characters, with some red herrings on the way to keep you guessing throughout. I heard that it is be adapted into a tv series can’t wait for that. 5 stars from me.

A Flicker in the Dark is a psychological thriller that will keep you constantly guessing. The story is based around Chloe Davis who lives with her parents and brother in a small Louisiana town.
Chloe is now a successful psychologist - planning her wedding to pharmaceutical sales agent - Daniel. However, when Chloe was younger, her father was tried and imprisoned for the murder of six young girls.
Chloe has tried to keep her past a secret until girls begin to disappear - all of them somehow inexplicably tied to her. The story is slow to unfold - the scene is set over a few hundred pages until two-thirds of the way through where it seems that the story moves on quickly.
The ending has a great twist - one which I thought was unpredictable.
The writing is strong, easy to read but I did find myself persevering with the first part and I'm glad i did,

This is a great debut novel by Stacy Willingham with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.
In the summer of 1999, twelve year old Chloe finds the evidence that leads to her dad confessing to and being convicted of the murder of six young girls.
Now a qualified psychologist and about to get married, to everyone around her she seems to be getting on with her life, but she’s haunted by the past and keeps a secret supply of medication in her office, to help her cope with the bad days.
As the twentieth anniversary of the murders approaches, two young girls are found murdered and Chloe realises that she’s the connection between the past and the present.
This was a real page turner and the ending was a big surprise!
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A very engrossing read with plenty of twists and turn to keep you turning the pages. The characters are developed deftly throughout the novel and are well balanced with enough complexity to keep you guessing!
A very enjoyable read

Wow, this was such a great read!

A powerful and engaging story, with flawed characters with much to hide. I was genuinely surprised with Rain's self deception and her part to play in the murder of her tormentor.

A five out of five for me and I hope to read another Stacey Willingham book soon!

For a debut novel, I was surprisingly pleased with this.

I didn't find there anything particularly "new" or original about this but I kept turning the pages and read the book to the end, despite having a fairly good idea of how things were going to pan out.

Plenty of twists, turns and red herrings to keep you guessing and changing your mind again and again.

Twenty years ago a twelve year old Chloe discovered the evidence which led to her fathers arrest and then following his subsequent confession, to his conviction as a serial killer. Chloe is now a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and is the last person to have seen a troubled teenager who has become the second victim of an apparent copy-cat killer. To her mind these new murders seem to have a number of parallels to the events of the past or is she being paranoid? After many troubled years she had seemed to be getting her life together but now with all her old fears resurfacing Chloes life becomes increasingly unsettled.
Chloes self medicating and erratic decision-making always creates an element of doubt regarding her reliability so this first time novel has enough twists to keep you guessing right to the end. This is a suspense novel you will be telling your friends about and they will thank you for it.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley In exchange for an honest review.

THE BALLS OF THIS BOOK, being one of the last things I read this year & jumping onto my best of 2021 list!

Incase you can’t tell, I am SHOOK. I’m very very very excited about this book & it’s making me kinda giddy & ridiculous.

I picked this up yesterday morning & didn’t remove myself from the sofa until it was done. Needless to say, my step count was disturbingly low & I consumed an entire box of Bournville chocolate fingers in the process!

I LOVED IT! Everything about it really! The writing was absolutely fantastic, the plot was SO compelling, the twists were immaculate & every time I thought I had a grasp on the ending, the gears were switched again! The fact that’s this is a debut honestly blows my mind - what an achievement to create a narrative that is both desperately thrilling & heartbreakingly poignant. I honestly can’t gush about it more.

I think what I loved most about this book was the setting & the detail. The author really took the time to establish the characters backstories & the descriptions of Louisiana were so perfectly eerie. I felt so immersed in the muggy, sweaty heat - I could almost smell the Crawfish!

It all just felt so REAL and as a result I was invested in our protagonist from the get go. Nothing felt gratuitous or sensationalised & that gave it an almost true crime feel. I loved that we got such an in-depth insight into the impact of crime on a family as a whole.

Huge thanks to Netgalley & Harpercollinsuk for the e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

I wanted to love this book but it just did not work for me. The idea is promising: A psychologist deals with the childhood trauma of discovering her father is a serial killer after girls in their Louisiana town go missing. Now as an adult Chloe is self-medicating and still traumatised when a girl goes missing and the details are similar to her father's cases. The book throws out red herrings, but far too many, and it becomes annoying, especially as it's not hard to figure out and see through them. Chloe is also not likable or intriguing enough to carry the narration on her own. Sadly this was a miss for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

A great debut novel with the right amount of twists and turns. It had me changing my mind about the characters many times. The premise, while not unique, is intriguing enough to get you hooked and the clues are laid out like breadcrumbs…leading us on a wild goose chase right up until the final chapter.

The story alternates between the past and the present and is told entirely from Chloe’s perspective. It’s slow going for the first third of the book with a lot of thinking done by Chloe (this does get a bit tedious at times), so there’s not much thrilling happening at first. However, the last two thirds of the book see some action and a lot of revelations.

I enjoyed the progressive character development. This is what kept me changing my mind about who the killer was, and I think the author created enough tension and deflection to keep all the characters interesting. There wasn’t one I didn’t like, and I felt like I could sympathise with Chloe.

Overall an enjoyable read.

#netgalley #aflickerinthedark #stacywillingham #harpercollins #harperfiction

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham is a certainly a gripping, well written, page-turning thriller.

Having said that, it seemed to lack that something special that makes it stick out amongst the many other books in this genre. Although the writing was good, the plot was reasonably predictable. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe you need an unforgettable plot-twist to make a book enjoyable. Predictability is perfectly fine within the correct context, but this book seemed to aim for something shocking?

I also got a little hung up on minor details (why did Chloe take her duffel bag out the car only to take it back to the car? There may be a reason other than the obvious indicator to the receptionist and policeman, but I missed it).

Regardless, as I said, the writing itself makes for a great read. This is definitely a strong debut novel and suggests a great future for Stacy Willingham (and all us readers).

Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

I received a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins.

Wow, this is one helluva book! Especially for debut novel!

I was completely engrossed by this book. I thought I had it all figured out but I was wrong! And I loved the actual reveal so much more!

I hate it when it’s too predictable (I like being able to guess and not always being right) but this one was so well written that I thought it was going down that route but then it threw a whole new twist to the story!

A fantastic book, I highly recommend it to thriller lovers!

Wow, what can I say about this book. I was incredible, had me hooked for the first chapter. I decided who the killer was very quickly, then changed my mind, then changed it again a couple more times. This book was so well written. Definitely with reading

A solid four star read. Great premise. Well written. Good characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing Would definitely read her next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.