This book was woven with folklore, a fraught mother-daughter relationship and a serial killer. The premise was really good. A daughter finds out her recently deceased mother has writing to a serial killer.
It was well executed and quite satisfying.
Recommended!

Thanks NetGalley and Jen Williams and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of A Dark and Secret Place
This story was ok, story line was good but it missed grabbing my attention
Heather has returned to her mother's house. Her mom has recently passed away and Heather has to deal with her affairs. Luckily she has her best friend for support. Heather stumbles across some letters in her mom's house and realizes she's been writing to a man in prison for years. Now she needs to start digging, how well did she really know her mother. And what she uncovers is not at all what she expected
Good story line, I recommend the book, but just didn't grab me from the start.

Some family secrets are buried deep within shadows and looking into these dark corners can lead to disturbing discoveries. For Heather Evans, such secrets change everything she thought to be true. Growing up, her relationship with her controlling mother was strained at best, resulting in Heather leaving home as a teenager. Then, her mother commits suicide, an act that seemed completely out of character. Heather returns home to a community she no longer knows and to a cavernous house rich with creepy shadows and sounds. While going through her mother's belongings, she discovers a cache of letters that reveal that her mother has for many decades carried on a correspondence with the brutal serial killer Michael Reave, also known as “The Red Wolf.” Why? What is their seemingly affectionate connection? This begins a journey in which Heather digs into her mother's past while aiding DI Ben Parker as he tracks a newly-minted "Red Wolf” who mimics the actions of the incarcerated original. The story, which has many Gothic overtones, is well-plotted and packed with intriguing characters. Highly recommended.


DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Jake Longly and Cain/Harper thriller series

I really enjoyed this story. I choose it for its cover and was not disappointed in the writing. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.

Bone-chilling! I figured out some things but there were others that were so crazy!
Heather is a former journalist returned home after the suicide of her mother. She begins the process of going through her mother’s belongings and happens upon a hidden tin of letters from a serial killer in prison Michael Reave, dubbed “The Red Wolf”. This is an absolute shock to her. Though her and her mother were not close, she could never have imagined this. When a body is found staged the same as the red wolf had done cut up with flowers inside, Heather knows she must do something. After encouragement from a detective, she meets with Michael to try and gain some insight into who this copycat is.
She travels to the woods where they met and researches the history of the place but the more she finds out, the more she needs to know. Someone is scaring her and taunting her but she is determined to find out the truth about her mother and Michael.
The deeper Heather ventures into the woods, the darker the secrets are that she uncovers!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 Stars

This was a great thriller with a few twists and turns. Heather's estranged mother commits suicide and when Heather goes home for her funeral, she discovers that he mother has been pen pals with a serial killer for longer than she's been alive.

I liked the characters. I liked the setting. The writing is wonderful. The gore factor is amazing! I think the predictability is there, so I deducted 1.5 stars for that and for not explaining why Heather left home when she was 16. I think it would have made sense to go back in time to Heather growing up with her mother and showing the strain in their relationship. I feel like it was an overarching theme, but you don't really get the sense of how bad their relationship was.

I look forward to checking out more of what Jen Williams has to offer.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Jen Williams for providing me with an ARC.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this novel because there is so many bad people. I’ve read about serial killers often being abused as children, but in this book, SO many people are raised to be deranged. I don’t mean the kind of damage that can happen when a kid is raised in a cult or with bad parents; I mean the folks in this tale are lunatics. The Grimm fairytales are mentioned more than once in the story, and it does have that incredibly dark feel to it that the Disney-fied fairytales most of us grew up with don’t have. So I guess if you’re in the mood for that you might like this, but mostly I just wanted it to be over.

I am a big horror movie buff and greatly enjoy mystery/thriller novels. That being said, I absolutely love this book!! The opening with Michael as a young child drew me into the story. It made me pity his character and I wanted to know what would become of him.

Heather is a strong female character and a likable leading lady. I did not see any of the twists and turns coming. This book was not predictable in the least. So many surprises-the commune, her mom having an affair with Michael, she has a twin! Her dad is the red wolf! This book not only draws you into the story but with the amazing detail and imagery-you feel like you are actually there inside the book.

Heather Evans has returned to her family home following her mother's suicide. Heather struggles with feelings of guilt and regret, having left home when she was 16. She and her mother had a deteriorating relationship, but now her mother is gone, having taken her own life and Heather has to return home filled with grief, to organize her mother's belongings. She starts to find odd things such as bird feathers and flower petals and the ominous signs are just beginning. She finds her mother had been having correspondence with notorious serial killer "Red Wolf" who brutally killed women and carved out their hearts. It appears that they're relationship was a close one.
She calls the police and DI Ben Harper is on the case with Heather, while it seems a copy cat killer is also on the loose. Heather must face her past demons to find the truth in this clever and eerie psychological thriller!
4 stars.

Upon her mother's suicide, Heather returns to the small blinkered town from which she fled at at 16, never planning to return. She did not even have a key to her mother's house, something which was immediate fodder for the locals. She was not at all at ease staying in this house that held the fear, sorrow and anger of her childhood. Confused as to why her mother would jump from the cliffs to the her death on the rocks below, Heather went about the business of going through the house to sort through all the belongings left behind. TO her shock, she found letters, many years worth, which were written to her mother from a serial killer. Letters which gave every indication that she was close to this man and that he knew of a time her mothers life that Heather had no knowledge of. Did this notorious killer know why her mother killed herself? Could he tell her more about her mother's secret past? Heather, an unemployed journalist, had to find out. At the same time, more women are being killed in identical ways. Copycat killer? If so, who?
A Dark and Secret Place is a psychological thriller which brings heather through both her mother's past and her own present. It is well written and drives you through the course of the story. In tone and mood (only), it reminds me a bit of His/Hers by Alice Feeney, which I also enjoyed. Readers will enjoy A Dark and Secret Place.
My thanks to Crooked Lane Books, Jen Williams, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was “thrilled” at the prospect of reading this book. It sounded like an exciting fast paced mystery. The story was gripping at the start but then it went down a weird rabbit hole and I couldn’t fully enjoy it. Some of the characters were so underdeveloped they were basically stereotypical caricatures. Also there were some very dark, triggering moments in the book like animal torture scenes, etc. that made me not like the book as much. I just thought it was overkill and I would have preferred to not have to read that. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to do an honest review.

Your mother has committed suicide and left a cryptic suicide note. While in your childhood home preparing for the funeral and trying to figure out what to do with your mother's belongings, you come across a bundle of letters hidden in the attic. Your mother had been corresponding with someone for twenty-five years, which means the correspondence was occurring when you were a child and when your father was still alive. The correspondent is Michael Reave, aka the Red Wolf, a notorious serial killer. Not only does it make no sense for your mother to have been corresponding with a serial killer, but there is an active copycat who is murdering women at a much faster pace than the original Red Wolf. That is the situation facing Heather Evans in "A Dark and Secret Place."

When Heather informs the police about the correspondence, the lead detective asks her if she would be willing to talk to Michael, in the hopes that he will inadvertently reveal some clues to the identity of the current killer. Heather agrees to this request, wanting to meet Michael in the hopes of learning more about her mother's past, as her mother apparently has a history that is starkly at odds with the person she knew.
A Dark and Secret Place", which is a thoroughly creepy story, follows Heather's efforts to uncover her mother's past and the connection to Michael. Interspersed throughout the book are chapters about Michael's childhood. The author does a wonderful job of portraying the creation and evolution of a serial killer. The plot draws you in and keeps you entangled, wanting to keep reading to find out what will happen next. There are a number of good plot twists -- some of which I figured out or suspected before they were revealed and others which came as a surprise. If you like creepy thrillers, this book is for you.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Unfortunately, did not get along with this story or the characters.
Heather returns to her mother’s house following her death, and she discover letters between her and a serial killer, the “Red Wolf”. Now she is trying to uncover her mother secrets.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Oof, this was creepy! I *love* thrillers, but I almost couldn't finish this one-- the first half was so supremely unsettling that I couldn't read it before bed (which has never happened before!). The second half, despite being more climactic, didn't scare me as much, and I was able to push through-- and I'm glad I did! Lots of twists.

This book started a little slow for me but I did end up enjoying it immensely. The story was beautifully written and flowed seamlessly between chapters and different view points.

Plot twists, serial killers, suicide, family secrets. What mysteries will Heather uncover after the sudden death of her mother?

I am sad to say that I unfortunately, did not enjoy A Dark and Secret Place.

This book is about a woman named Heather who returns to her mother’s house following her death, only to discover a stack of letters which reveal that her mother has been secretly corresponding with a serial killer for years. The “Red Wolf”, as he was dubbed by the press has been in prison for twenty years and is serving a life sentence for the ritualistic murders of several women throughout the country. While he has constantly proclaimed his innocence, no one believes him. However, women have once more begun to be murdered in a similar fashion to the victims of the Red Wolf. Heather must now uncover her mother’s secrets, as well as delve into the mystery of who is responsible for the recent murders of these women.

I was instantly drawn by this plot and thought it sounding very promising. However, the execution was a bit poor. The mystery wasn’t as interesting as I hoped it would be and the novel also didn’t delve into the mother-daughter relationship as much as I would have liked.

The characters were a little one dimensional. I liked our protagonist, Heather, but I feel as though we didn’t get to know her very well, so I struggled to really connect with her. The minor characters such as Nikki, Heather’s best friend, and Detective Parker, read like props whose only purpose was to further Heather’s plot or give her someone to talk to. Heather’s relationships with both of these characters lacked depth. The villains in this story were caricatures, and while I could understand what the author was going for in some instances, it just fell flat.

The writing was decent and something that I do appreciate is how quickly I was able to finish this book. The writing flowed smoothly and was easy to read. There also were a few twists that I did not see coming.

Overall though, I did not enjoy this thriller very much.

I wanted to read this book so badly, it was on my list for months! The book has an awesome premise, I found it hard to follow. It jumped all over the place, the characters were hard to follow.

The story starts out with a girl who is called to come back to her childhood home as her Mother has been killed, the story unfolds and the daughter finds out that her Mother has been keeping a secret, she's been conversing with one of the most notorious serial killers , she's been chatting with this man for over 25 years.

The story jumped all over the place, it was a " Busy storyline " to follow. This book was just not for me.

I wanted to love it, but sadly didn't

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams.
This novel centers on a young woman, Heather, struggling with the suicide of her mother. This book is not for the light hearted - it is gruesome in some parts and quite creepy at times.
I found this book a bit slow in the beginning, but it picks up quickly and i read it in one sitting.
Some parts were a bit predicable, but overall, this is a solid novel that will have you thinking even after you finish the last page.
3.5 stars.

I will confess that I did not finish this book. The writing was compelling, and the story told was so fascinating and so well teased out, but I have a hard limit on animal abuse, and there are several depictions of it in the first third of the book. For someone who has different lines drawn, however, this will be a marvelous read--again the characters were interesting, the story unfolding around the relationship between daughter and mother tense and realistic. A good book that just happened to step on my personal limits.

The copycat serial killer on the loose is a common plot point, but this horror/thriller takes things a step further. Some of the steps I can't reveal without spoilers but let's just say this novel has some very strange stuff going on and it plumbs the depths of psychosis of several of its characters. The POV is from the daughter who has found out her mother killed herself, and she tries to figure out what happened. The two were never very close, and the death brings out many life moments that were swept under the rug and placed into dark reaches of her memories. While I am not a big horror genre reader this book worked for me as a pure thriller and mystery. The characters ring true and of course the bodies begin to pile up as the copycat killer continues to strike. Highly recommended.