(I received an advance copy from Netgalley).

The wife of a well-known comedian is suspected of his murder, but as her past is revealed, the truth comes to light.

The pacing of <u>Things We Do in the Dark</u> took off at lightning speed. I was immediately drawn in by Paris and her character and the accusations cast against her. But this all changed by Part 2, when Drew's perspective was introduced. Suddenly, this novel dragged and dragged. It devolved from a fast paced thriller to a tiresome romantic drama that was equally predictable and redundant. I will admit I went into this with high hopes, as I have heard lots of positive reviews about Hillier's other novels (specifically <u>Jar of Hearts</u>) but this did not satisfy me whatsoever.

Things We Do In The Dark-

Jennifer Hillier’s novels are compelling, addictive, and original, a powerful thriller trio. From the opening line of this novel I could tell I was going to love it.

I’ve been mulling it over trying to figure out what makes her books so great, and my consensus is that she writes the perfect amount of characterization and background detail to truly make the stories come to life. Sometimes thrillers can feel like a caricature of reality and that makes them lose some of the momentum.

Ever since reading The Night Swim (another great thriller,) I’ve always enjoyed novels that have a true crime podcast element, which this book did as well. It’s a great mix of family drama, celebrity life, and suspense all wrapped into one.

Synoposis: When Paris Peralta is arrested in her own bathroom—covered in blood, holding a straight razor, her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub behind her—she knows she'll be charged with murder. But as bad as this looks, it's not what worries her the most. With the unwanted media attention now surrounding her, it's only a matter of time before someone from her long hidden past recognizes her and destroys the new life she's worked so hard to build, along with any chance of a future.

Also the ARC they sent actually glowed in the dark, cannot let this A+ packaging go unnoticed, I love a good theme and the book kept glowing on my nightstand for several weeks haha. Put it on your summer reading list for when it releases on 7/19! Thanks @minotaurbooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All the stars from me!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Things We Do in the Dark!

If you plan to ready any thrillers this year, let it be this one. Jennifer did such an amazing job with this book. I was a big fan of "Little Secrets" and "Jar of Hearts" but this one has to be my absolute favorite out of the three.

This thriller was very exciting from beginning to end. It had my attention from the start....but once that first twice hit at about 50%, I was ALL IN for the remainder of the book. Everything was so perfectly placed and hit all the right places.

I cannot wait to get a physical copy to keep on my shelf.

5 Hearts Recommended Read
SJ, Romance Junkies

Jennifer Hillier writes psychological thrillers like no one else, and her latest novel, THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK, is exceptional! When Paris Peralta is accused of murdering her celebrity husband, a well of secrets and lies come to light as the surprise killer is slowly revealed.

The character development in THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK is so perfectly unveiled, with flashbacks to the past revealed slowly but not too slowly that they affect the quick pacing of this diabolically twisted story. There's murder, blackmail, suspicion, and more murder. But who has done it and why?

Paris's upbringing has its own issues, but the love she had for her now deceased husband feels real, and the complex relationships in the story build for a big reveal at the end that is both surprising, sad, yet satisfying.

With ties to a past love, Paris's mother being a convicted criminal, and Paris's attempt to live a normal life, the story spirals until it settles, then spirals again, keeping the reader in a state of suspense that demands you keep reading until the very end.

I can't suggest this book highly enough! For a fantastic psychological thriller that keeps you guessing as well as reading far into the night, pick up THING WE DO IN THE DARK.

This was a really interesting book and not what I expected, I feel like the cover is incredibly misleading but maybe that is the purpose. I really enjoyed the past and present & multiple narrators POV, and felt moved by Joey and Paris' stories. I would highly suggest a trigger warning as the core content is deeply disturbing and I read a lot of thrillers with similar messaging, perhaps Hillier's storytelling is just that good.

The dynamics of the novel and how secrets are revealed was really interesting and I appreciate that it wasn't held close to the chest the entire time and you felt like you had time to sit with the reveal.

The twist at the end and the full reveal of how Paris' husband died was insane and intense and not what I expected. It was a great novel and probably one of my favorite's so far this year.

Sadly I didn’t love this book as much as I loved jar of hearts by this author.
This one moved very slow and was very predictable. It did touch on very important topics such as abuse, rape, and much more but it just fell flat for me.

So let me start by saying thank you to Jennifer Hillier and publishers for letting me read this advanced copy!!

I’m a huge Jennifer Hillier fan but I had a hard time finishing this one.

Loved the title! The story started with being introduced to Paris who is being arrested for the murder of her husband who is a famous comedian. Her lawyer is also her husbands best friend. Then we get introduced to Joey whose mother is in jail for killing a man. For most of the story from here is a man who knew Joey trying to find her.

This story wrapped in a good way but the story together just didn’t flow for me. It took me a long time to finish this. Usually her books takes me 2 days at most.

Still a great read ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy. All opinions are my own.

Jennifer, I'm a fan. To be sure. My favorite Jennifer Hillier has been Jar of Hearts....Things We Do in the Dark...might be nudging that title into second place.

I really enjoyed it. The set up was well done. The characters. Very robust. Overall...the twists and turns were well done and to be honest....somewhat believable.

I really enjoyed this one. Grab it.

This was a raw twisty thriller which I truly enjoyed! I loved how the timelines shifted to keep the reader attention.. Jennifer Hillier's is so intense and I highly recommend this book! I cannot wait to read her backlist now.

This was my second Hillier and it did not disappoint. There were so many layers and complexities to this story that for the majority of this book, I truly didn’t know who to believe or how the storylines and characters would connect and play out. I thoroughly enjoyed the slow unraveling of the truth along the way, with an ending that definitely delivered.

As a reader you are brought on quite a journey. This well-crafted story will have you crying as you read about Joey’s tragic and gut wrenching childhood, filled with abuse and abandonment at the hands of her mother, Ruby and her string of toxic boyfriends. It will put you in the detective seat as you work alongside Drew to seek the truth about his long lost friend. It will have you piecing clues together as you uncover the truth about Paris’ murder accusations. And when it all comes together, you will be thoroughly glad you picked up this compelling thriller-mystery. I highly recommend this one!

I do want to note that the trigger warning themes, including sexual and physical abuse of a child, abandonment and neglect, mentions of suicide among others were difficult to reads, so proceed with caution when picking this one up.

Many thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur books for early access to this highly anticipated summer thriller! (4.5 star rating)

As usual, Jennifer Hillier has delivered another absolute banger! I couldn't put it down, and didn't see the ending coming! CW: child abuse, suicide.

Told in dual timelines, we see Toronto in the 1990s, following along with an abused younger woman and her horrible mother. When her mother is arrested following the death of her richer boyfriend, the courts find that she has also been abusing her daughter, turning a blind eye to the abuse her boyfriends are bestowing on her daughter. When Joey falls on hard times, she winds up at a strip club, and tangling with some dangerous men.

In present day America, Paris Peralta has found her older, celebrity husband dead in his bathtub. As his much younger wife, she is the first suspect. But while Paris knows she is innocent of this crime, she also knows the police looking into her past is a dangerous situation. While she works to figure out what happened to her husband, she deals with blackmail, suspicious press, and his friends accusing her as well. As the investigation continues, Paris begins to feel the pressure.

Holy non-stop action! I really enjoyed the dual timelines, and both our main characters were interesting to watch develop. It was tragic to read about Joey's upbringing with her mother and family, and Paris fighting for her innocence was intense. There was a main twist that was obvious throughout that really took the story along, but they very end was definitely a surprise!

Obviously I highly recommend everyone read this and literally everything else by this author because she writes the most amazing thrillers!

I loved Jar of Hearts and it’s probably like god tier for me which made me go into this book with super high expectations. It’s not that Things We Do in the Dark wasn’t good, because it was, but it just wasn’t my favorite. I still recommend it to everyone who loves the genre though. It was a solid 3.5 for me.

Can I give a book 6 stars?? This is an absolute masterpiece. I was so engrossed in the storyline and characters, and as always, Jennifer Hillier did an incredible job keeping me on the edge of my seat. I will be (and have been) recommending this book to everyone who likes to read.

I am so grateful to have received a ARC copy of this book from Netgalley, and would like to thank the author and publisher for this opportunity!

This was my second Jennifer Hillier Book, and it not disappoint me at all!! 4 stars for sure! We have Paris who is loner, yoga instructor in her 30s who married 68-year comedian Jimmy 3 years ago, and when she comes home from a yoga retreat in Canada she finds her Husband dead in the tub, and next thing she knows she's being hauled away to jail being accused of Murder. She knows she did not commit the Murder but it all feels a little close to home for her and with the help of Jimmys Friend Elise they work together to Prove her innocent. In this story we have Dual POV Drews, Joey and Paris. With Paris and Drew we are in present time and with Joey Story we go back to the 90s. Where we learn all about Joeys tragic Life growing up in Tronto with an abusive Mother and bad foster homes, and then dancing as a stripper when she was 20. In till, she tragically burned to death in a fire. Then we have Ruby who is an abusive Mother to Joey and is taken away for murdering one of her lovers, Ruby is really what's wrong in the world and is an awful person and really made my stomach turn when learning about what abuse Joey was actually put through. Then when ruby gets arrested for the murder Joey thinks life is going to get better for her or hopes it will but sadly that was not the case as her mother family where she was sent to live is just as bad as mother maybe even worse. This part of the story was hearting breaking for me, as we really see joey just wanting to be loved and never getting it. Then we have Drew, Drew was Joeys roommate before she died and actually the one to ID her body. He has a Podcast know and is going to interview Ruby as she is getting out jail now after 25 years and wants to get answers for how she treated joey. Which puts him on a hunt for the truth of what really happened to Joey that night, and what he finds out is shocking!! I loved the different time lines and POV and I loved how Jennifer made the story all tie together so beautifully. I also loved the Canadian setting in this novel sense Jennifer is Canadian herself and we really don't see that a lot in novels so that was awesome part of it for me! And Another thing I loved about this book was the different race reputation in it, our main character is Filipino! And the ending throws me for a loop I had a couple ideas of what happened but i was totally wrong! This book is out July 19 this year and would make the perfect Beach triller sense you won't want to put it down till you're finished (I didn’t!) Thank you netgally and St Martian Press for a copy of the Ebook for review!

This is my second book by this author and I really enjoyed it. Great character development, I loved the back and forth timeline. I was kept on my toes and didn’t want to put it down. I’ll definitely be recommending this thriller for other thriller lovers!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely LOVE Jennifer Hillier. She's one of my auto buy authors and I was thrilled to get approved for Things We Do in the Dark. This book has A LOT going on. It was a little challenging for me to keep up with it because every time I picked it up I would have to really work to remember where I was in the story. I felt like I was reading multiple books in this one, however, it was overall a great thriller with plenty of twists and turns. When Paris is arrested for murdering her famous husband, who's twice her age, a string of events occur. The book jumps between two different POV's and timelines. We slowly discover Paris is not who we think she is, she has a terrible past, and she loved her husband. There's a huge twist in the middle and one at the end that caught me by surprise. Jennifer Hillier always adds a bit of Filipino culture in her books but this one had a lot of it that I completely appreciated being Filipina myself. The language and the food were mentioned frequently and the relations in the family were familiar (not necessarily the way Paris' family functioned). I recommend Things We Do in the Dark if you like to be kept on your toes and need a lot of different attributes in a plot.

Thank you to Minotaur Book and Netgalley for our free copy of Things We Do In The Dark. This book is available on July 19th.

Rating: 5⭐️
Genre: Thriller

This was one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. Jennifer Hillier did an excellent job drawing you into these deep, at times twisted, characters. She told the story from both the past and present perspective which kept me wondering how it would all end.

Warning: There are heavy topics discussed in this book including child abuse (physical and sexual).

This book wasn't my favorite but it wasn't the worst. The storyline in the beginning was slow but kept me somewhat interested in the mother/daughter dynamic.
It was descriptive so I could picture the characters and the scene which I love about any book. However it almost felt like 2 different books to me. One was about this rich couple. The wife is being looked at as the murderer. The other is the mother/daughter scene. I appreciate how the author tried to tie them together and she did on some level but it seemed to me like alot of the story had nothing to do with the actual plot. I almost gave up on this book but I forced myself to finish.

Thanks NetGalley. This is a book that has been done before. Two people who look alike, one dies, the other gets on with life. In this one, Joelle, now Paris, is married to an older, famous comedian, Jimmy Peralta. Joey was a stripper after her mom was sent to prison. Paris now runs a yoga studio and lives a quiet life with Jimmy. Until Jimmy is making a comedy comeback and is found dead in the bathtub. The whodunit part isn’t very tricky. The stripper part isn’t very sleazy. This is an easy read but not one that will keep you up at night. It didn’t do a lot for me. I have read Jennifer Hillier in the past, and this isn’t her best. Skip if you have a lot of books to be read

hings We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier

Oh, boy! My mind is racing with all sorts of clichés! You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours – at least until you stab me in the back. Like mother, like daughter. Oh, that last one is true in many respects. Ruby Reyes is an abusive mother who goes to prison for killing her wealthy lover. Known as the Ice Queen, she is convicted, in part, because of Joelle “Joey”’ (her daughter’s) testimony.

Paris Peralta is a 36-year-old yoga instructor who returns from a convention in Canada to find her famous 66-year-old husband lying in the tub covered in blood. Before she can take in what has happened, she finds herself being led away in handcuffs and led away to a squad car. Stuck in a cell, being taunted for being rich, the only attorney Paris knows is Elsie Dixon. Elsie is a litigator who was once a former public defender. She is also Jimmy Peralta’s longest, dearest friend. Can she really provide the defense Paris needs?

Before we get back to Paris and her legal problems, the story goes back to Joey and her troubled upbringing. What does that have to do with Paris? With Ruby? The common link proves to be a journalist named Drew Malcolm. Drew hosts a podcast called Things We Do in the Dark, and his next project is going to be about the Ice Queen because she scheduled to be released on parole soon. Drew and Joey used to be friends. Little does he know that Ruby has an agenda. And Paris has a secret.

It took me a while to engage with this story, as the characters weren’t all that likeable. I did feel sorry for Joey, and I wondered if Paris was trustworthy or not. Drew was probably my favorite character, although he tended to be judgmental at times. It is hard not to judge these people. I loved Deborah, the social worker in her brief role in the book.

The plot takes several clever twists and turns – as I indicated, the tables are turned on some of those folks who are out to harm others, and it may very well be that he/she who laughs last laughs best. This proved to be an enjoyable read.

I received a digital copy of Things We Do in the Dark as an ARC. Thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and the author for providing this copy in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

3 stars