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.

Review of eBook

Heather Evans is at a loss to understand why her mother, Colleen, apparently committed suicide. Of course, they hadn’t been close, hadn’t seen much of each other since Heather had walked out the door at sixteen. Returning home, Heather uncovers a baffling secret: her mother kept up an ongoing correspondence with an incarcerated serial killer. And, if she knew the man dubbed the Red Wolf, did she know the copycat who has begun killing women in the same way as the convicted murderer?

Heather wonders how her mother could have anything to do with the monstrous Michael Reave and realizes there is much about her mother that she does not know. She sets out to find some answers, never realizing that the truth is twisted and complicated and what she discovers will change everything she ever knew.

There’s an ominous undercurrent of foreboding running beneath this creepy, atmospheric tale. A strong sense of place anchors the dark story as it creates a malevolent mystery. But the characters, especially Heather, are largely unlikeable [Detective Inspector Ben Parker being an exception] and, while it is easy for readers to understand why Heather wants answers, it is hard to defend many of the choices she makes.

Alternating between the past and the present, the unfolding story offers readers surprising plot twists and turns that slowly expose a tangled web of secrets and lies. Astute readers are likely to figure out one of the unexpected plot twists before its revelation near the end of the story; it takes the narrative in a new direction as it nullifies everything readers thought they understood.

There’s much to appreciate in this eerie tale: serial killers, creepy fairy tales, communes, and evil rituals all come into play at some point in the story. However, an unnecessary, overused, offensive expletive mars the telling of the tale and lowers the rating for this book.

Recommended for readers who like their mysteries grim and gruesome.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley
#ADarkandSecretPlace #NetGalley

Wow what did I just read. I got absolutely nothing accomplished today because I could not put this book down. A dark thriller that is downright spooky in places laced with a mystery. I really hope this one hits the screens.

Heather Evans returns home after her mother's baffling suicide. In her mother's belongings she finds some alarming letters- correspondence with the serial killer Michael Reave. Reave has been serving a life sentence for decades now after being convicted for several ritualistic murders of women, even though he continually pleaded his innocence. Finding these letters causes Heather to seek out the person her mother had been writing to and look more into this case. When a new body is discovered with the same MO as the previous murders, Heather tries to find out the truth about what happened and what her mother could have known.

Initially, this story is a gripping thriller. It gives you the creeps the same way the opening to a horror film does, very atmospheric which is great. I would advise anyone who can't handle animal cruelty in a book to skim that. I did find that once you reach a certain point in the book there is so much going on, so many different elements that are supposed to be mysterious, creepy, or haunting, that it does feel like a little too much.

The premise of this book was intriguing and the creep factor was definitely there for some of the book. I wasn't completely satisfied with it as I finished it up, but there are some great reviews for this book and I'm sure there will be even more by the publication date. I would definitely recommend you read it and form your own opinions because I have a feeling people are going to be very hit or miss with this one. It didn't personally fulfill me but it has potential to really mesh with those who want quick thrillers/murder mysteries to read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Jen Williams for the opportunity to read this review copy.

I LOVED this novel! I flew through it in a day and stayed up late to finish. It was terrifying in places, a fabulous mystery and the serial killer aspect always draws me in.

The title of this novel is perfect!
A dark, deep, psychological, gothic thriller is something you do not want to read in the dark, or by yourself!
Heather returns to her home reluctantly, to attend her mother's funeral. Although, they were distant since her father's death years ago, she cannot imagine that her mother's cause of death was actually suicide and will investigate and try to learn why she would do this.
What she uncovers is a bunch of old letters. These will begin to open a hair- raising tale that is horrid!

If you like thrillers, this is the story for you!!
Well done and just... WOW!
I now sleep with the light on at night!

Absolutely loved this original thriller combining Grimm's fairy tales with a copycat serial killer. Particularly enjoyed the character of Heather, the flawed heroine, reeling from her estranged mother's suicide and looking for answers from a long incarcerated serial killer. She gave me vibes of the rookie detective Clarice Starling and the wounded journalist Camille Preaker as she delved in to her mother's past association with an alternative living commune. The ending was unexpected and kept me reading into the early hours.

Heather is an estranged daughter who returns to her Mother’s house following her suicide. In cleaning up the house, she discovers a trove of letters written to her Mother by a man who had been incarcerated for many years as a serial killer. While Heather is looking into her Mother’s background, a new series of murders is taking place using the identical format. As Heather gets more involved, she draws closer to the new killer and learns more about her background. Is this easy reading...not a bit. It makes Thomas Harris’ novels look a bit warm and friendly. It is remarkably well written, many chapters are Heather’s and many Michael’s, all will capture the reader. Thanks to Net Galley, the author and publisher for an ARC for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. Such a strong sense of dread woven throughout the story, it feels like I was watching it all happen through a dark, dirty lens. It was just the right length, long enough to convey the story without being so long that it drags. I thought the main character felt very relatable. Overall, I would read this author again. So far, my favorite thriller of the year.

I loved this thriller story. This is my first book by this author and I will be looking for more from her. This is a well rounded story that brings suspense to a new level for me. The characters are connectable and engaging. They pulled me into the story right from the beginning. The author's attention to details made me feel as if I was there with the characters. This is a story about a daughter who has found out that her mother has been secretly corresponding with a serial killer. What happens next is up to you to read about. There are twists and turns that left me turning pages fast. This book is full of action and is fast paced. I highly recommend this book and this author.

Fans of twisty dark thrillers should take a closer look at A Dark and Secret Place, the latest novel by predominately fantasy author Jen Williams. This is a clever change of direction for Williams who has three very well received trilogies, of which The Ninth Rain (2018) won the prestigious British Fantasy Society Award for best novel. Occasionally authors do make successful genre jumps, a notable recent example being Saran Pinborough who spent years writing horror and fantasy before hitting the big time with her thriller Behind Her Eyes (2017) which also recently debuted on Netflix. Has Williams got the moves to be the next big thing? Quite possibly and this story has definite television potential.

Like all very good thrillers A Dark and Secret Place has a convincing hook which will have fans of page-turners purring with delight, which asks the million Dollar question; how well do we know our nearest and dearest? Everybody has secrets, even our parents, but given the opportunity would you really want to know what skeleton might lurk in a family closet, or is this a stone which is best left unturned? This novel runs with this idea and gives it a thorough rattle.

This is the predicament what faces Heather Mills after she returns to her family home following her mother’s baffling suicide. She and her mother were estranged and had barely spoken for twenty years since the death of her father and whilst going through her mother’s belongings uncovers a significant stack of carefully preserved letters. She soon realises that her mother was in correspondence with a notorious serial killer, Michael Reave, also known as the “Red Wolf” for the brutal manner in which he killed young women. Before long other murders begin, which are uncannily similar to those of the Red Wolf decades earlier and the police, who are struggling for clues, allow Heather to talk to Reave who has never previously spoken about his crimes, or admitted his guilt.

How you rate A Dark and Secret Place may well depend on how you take to Heather, she sometimes comes across as rather pushy, abrasive and unlikable. However, much of her frazzled state can be put down to the fact that she feels guilt towards her mother and whether their estrangement had anything to do with her suicide. She was dealing with serious personal issues and although she repeatedly ignored really weird and obvious signs that strange things were afoot, I found her to be believable and sufficiently complex to lead the novel. However, she was no Clarice Starling and readers are bound to make comparisons to Silence of the Lambs, both book and film.

Although there was a slight sag in the middle, the fact that Heather is an ex-journalist keeps the plot jogging along as she puts her skillset to good use investigating her mother’s murky past. Strangely, on a couple of occasions there was the suggestion that she was an unreliable narrator, this muddled things slightly, implying that there was something dodgy in her no longer working for a newspaper. Also, for a former journalist, on a few occasions, she was incredibly naïve, as there was a character who popped up a few times and it was so incredibly obvious to everybody she was dodgy except Heather!

A second major plot takes the reader back to the late sixties or early seventies where an abused boy is taken in by a local farmer who discovers him after a distressing family incident. Where this particular thread heads were relatively straight forward, but it was very interesting to see how in connected to Heather’s mother and it did feature a couple of twists I did not see coming. This led to some page time being devoted to a hippy commune and although the word cult was never used, it was implied by some of the dodgy stuff that went on. I enjoyed these glimpses of the commune and potentially more could have been made of this sequence.

Overall, A Dark and Secret Place was a convincing thriller which worked successfully both as combination of police procedural and Gothic fairy tale, which implies the legacy and cycle of childhood violence is very difficult to break and consign in the past. Also, if you dig too deep then perhaps you are going to uncover harrowing truths which you really will not like. Heather Mills was far from perfect and she was certainly no heroine, however, most reader will certainly be rooting for her as she unpieces a puzzle which leads to an explosive conclusion. In the UK, this novel will be released around the same time but is renamed Dog Rose Dirt.

WOW this book was a wild ride. While I wish we could’ve developed a deeper relationship with the main character, the plot was so strong that I didn’t mind as much as I normally might’ve. Definitely a plot-driven novel, and it had be hunting for clues on every page! I was reading and re-reading passages trying to find hidden meaning and solve the mystery before our main character did. The truth was beyond what I ever could’ve imagined (though I did predict parts) which is truly my favorite way to experience a thriller! And man, was this thriller thrilling! I was kept up multiple nights in a row because I was so creeped out. I’ve been fascinated by serial killers since high school so the topic of this book was of particular interest to me, but I truly think any thriller lover will devour this book. Be warned, this book is dark and twisty, but if you’re down with that, it’s sooo grim(m) in the bear say (you’ll get it if you read it 😉). Highly recommend. Thank you so much to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5/5 stars because character development could’ve been better, but rounded up to 5 because in the end I didn’t really care 😂.

When I see or hear something being described as “deliciously dark”, I often think of a werewolf; fangs long, sharp and dripping. This is definitely the right image for A Dark and Secret Place; (especially with the serial killer being named as “the Red Wolf”). This book grabbed me from the first page and I didn’t want to stop reading. This certainly is a deliciously dark book filled with mystery, murder, gore and dark folklore sprinkled throughout. Jen Williams did a great job at bringing everything together and leaving me wanting to know more and more. Each page unlocked another morsel of information and halfway through, I couldn’t read fast enough to get to the conclusion. Although the twist is one that I saw coming, there is another small, but devastating, twist after.

Heather is called home after she receives news that her mother has committed suicide. As she begins the painstaking process of cleaning the house and going through her mother’s belongings, she finds a small tin filled with correspondences between her mom and a notorious serial killer. Just how well does Heather actually know her mother? Soon, Heather finds herself down a deep rabbit hole. She has the feeling of being stalked, a feeling that only strengthens when weird things begin to happen and women are being murdered in the same fashion as they were decades ago. The Red Wolf is in prison and has been for a long time, but whoever is murdering these women now knows a lot more about the killer than they should. Heather is pulled into a world she never knew existed. She must figure everything out soon, or she may very well become the next victim.

A Dark and Secret Place is a dark thriller and I recommend giving this one a read, you won’t regret it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

What an amazing, terrifying thriller! I raced through it and stayed up late to finish, lost sleep but wow, what a read!

After years away, Heather Evans returns to her old home after her mother's suicide to take care of her family’s affairs. She feels stunned that her mother would end her life in that way, then finds a stack of letters to her mother from a notorious serial killer called the Red Wolf, who is in prison serving a life sentence for hideous murders of women. Heather’s mother apparently was corresponding for years with this man, whose real name is Michael. Intrigued, she gets in touch with police and after new murders that resemble those of the Red Wolf or a copycat, DI Ben Parker accepts Heather’s help to get some answers.

If you’re curious about the mind of serial killers, this multilayered thriller is for you. It goes back and forth in time to describe Michael’s horrific early years - but is he the actual new killer? And why does Heather feel she’s being stalked? The settings are very creepy, including the scary house, the woods, her mother's past that Heather seems to know little about, and the new murders. My only slight complaint is that in places the story was almost too gratuitously graphic, but people who don’t mind that will love this. The book took me prisoner, and I couldn’t put it down. Well done – whew!

Thanks so much to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for my advance review

I read the description of A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams and was intrigued. Overall, it was a fairly quick read and kept my attention. The main character’s description of grief after a sudden loss was poignant and explored some of the themes of how we react when someone near to us dies with the “why” unknown. Content warning for this novel, there are themes related to suicide, stalking, and other sensitive topics that might not be for everyone. Obviously, the novel’s description includes this heads up, but for some readers this could be difficult to read.

I was hooked by the mystery at first. As the novel progressed, there was a tone of eeriness and suspense. There were times I wanted to scream at Heather for some of the decisions she made. Without giving away plot points, there were twists and turns in the novel that on the surface would be startling, but some of the exposition made those points predictable. There were a few things that I did not see coming, but some of the events and revelations that were pivotal were not necessarily too unexpected based on the story up until that point. I really did like how the author wrote the story through the main character’s eyes and some of the other flashbacks were really great at advancing the story.

Please be advised that I received this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book that I Really enjoyed this read and I would recommend to others easily, I will be looking out for other titles by this author.

Well this story had me definitely creeped out. There was a lot of suspense and tension throughout the book. I really liked Heather and thought that she was a strong and complex character. I wasn’t prepared for that ending.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a creepy good book! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a thriller/mystery with some surprising twists and turns.

Did you ever have a pen pal as a child?

When Heather returns home after her mother dies from suicide, she is going through her belongings and find she's got a pen pal... but her mother's pen pale is actually a serial killer!

The book has alternating views, something I love because it gives a book greater depth. I really felt the tension building as we learn more about the serial killer and how that ties into the current string of murders/disappearances! I could see this playing out on the big screen.

There was always something going on - lots of elements but I did get frustrated when Heather acted like the blond chick running UP the stairs from the stalker rather than down... Instead, she wanted to get all the answers on her own *face plant*.

In the end, I enjoyed this fast paced thriller.