Dark Places

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

So I really enjoyed the book Gone Girl, and was interested in Flynn’s other works. I just hadn’t had a chance to read them.

Yeah, I have a giant to-read book list.

So the book is split into three parts: Libby Day in the present, and her mom and brother, Ben, in the past.

When Libby Day was seven, her mother and sisters were brutally murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice” of Kinnakee, Kansas. The murderer? Her Brother!?!!!

Libby managed to hide and escape the house, hiding in the snow. She lost part of her toes, but had her life-and gained PTSD.

People felt sorry for Libby and donated a lot of money to her, to help her. She has tried to work, but just can’t. Unfortunately, the money has started to run out and Libby is lost at what to do next.

She looks at her “fan mail” and sees an offer to true-crime group’s meeting. For a personal appearance they will give her a big chunk of money.

She calls the guy and sets up a meeting. They discuss it and Libby decides to come. It all turns out to be a big mistake. None of these people believe Ben did it. They all attack her and her testimony.

Jordan

Libby becomes so upset she leaves and doesn’t look back.

Afterwards, she starts thinking about it. There is no doubt in her mind that Ben did it, but maybe those guys will pay her to investigate it. To talk to people.

She goes back to the group and they are in. Soon Libby is asking questions, researching, and finding out things she had never realized or thought about. Could she have been wrong? Is Ben innocent?

Hmm…

In both the Mom’s and Ben’s chapters we travel back before the incident. Libby’s mom is trying to make ends meet. She married Michael Day and inherited the family farm. Michael turns out to be a jerk wad who does nothing. He leaves and things grow tighter and tighter in the household. She barely has enough to make pancakes. What will she do? How will they survive.

Ben hates his life. Ben hates being poor. He hates having nothing. He has a hot girlfriend but she and her “cousin” make fun of him when they are together. No way they are just “cousins”, they they are all on each other. He does like one thing, helping out in the elementary school and is crushing on an elementary age girl. Did he murder his family?

Thoughts After Reading

Gillian Flynn is a great author but this is a very dark, dark book-that name is on point.

Too dark for me, hold me

And I could not stand the parts where Ben is talking about the elementary girl’s body and breasts, I reached that part and I was done!

For more retrograde mysteries, go to I’ve Got You Under My Skin

For more not in a series books, go to Big Little Lies

The Italian Wife

The Italian Wife by Kate Furnivall

The year is 1922 and Isabella Berotti is a young, expectant mother living in Milan. She and her husband are visiting the outdoor markets when he is shot and killed. Isabella rushes over to help him, and is shot in the back, losing her baby and ability to walk.

Ten years later, Isabella has used all that frustration and grief to motivate her into walking, only suffering from a slight limp, and achieve her dream of becoming an architect. She is currently residing in Bellina, helping to achieve Mussolini’s dream of reclaiming the marshlands for Italy, and creating a modern state.

While life has been good, the day of the accident and death of her husband still haunts her. This anniversary she is spending her time reminiscing at a café, when a woman approaches her asking if she could watch her daughter Rosa. Before she can refuse, the woman whispers that “they” know who really killed Isabella’s husband and takes off. Intrigued as to what the woman may know, Isabella sits with Rosa, entertaining her. Everything is fine until Isabella sees the woman throw herself off a building Isabella created.

Now Isabella finds herself caught up in a web of political intrigue, as Rosa proves to be a powerful piece both the fascists and the rebels wish to use. She teams up with a photographer, Roberto Falco, to protect Rosa, remain out of prison, bring to light the dirty deals in government, and finally solve who murdered her husband.

Thoughts After Reading:

I absolutely loved this book.

I thought it was thrilling, interesting, and impossible to put down. The historical truths of Mussilini attempting to control and reshape the land, even going as far as building cities and farms in impossible places, was a fascinating backdrop and made me interested to learn even more.

The writing was extremely well done and the characters are multi-dimensional, lovable, and always exceeding my expectations as to what would happen next. In fact, I am not only looking forward to her next project, but planning on reading everything she has written prior to this novel.

I would give it five out of five stars.

For more stand alone mysteries, go to The Unsolvable Mystery: The Mystery of Edwin Drood

For more mysteries, go to The Silence of the Llamas

The Silence of the Llamas

The Silence of the Llamas (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery #5) by Anne Canadeo

The Black Sheep Knitting group has headed out to the countryside, doing some good farm stand shopping.

The crew is on their way to visit friend’s of Dana’s. Her old college friend Ellie; married Ben Kruegar, sold her successful business, bought a property in Plum Harbor, and created a Llama farm.

Aw, how cute.

This weekend is Ellie ad Ben’s big grand opening of their farm, the Laughing Llama. While the event is fun, full of food and farm animals; somebody isn’t interested in it. In fact, the llamas are attacked by someone with a paint gun, severely injuring them.

It turns out that, that isn’t the only bad thing that has been happening. There have been a series of “pranks” as the couple calls them, ranging from missing items, the animals being released, etc.

It turns out that the idyllic countryside is not that idyllic after all. There is a development company that wants to buy up all the farms, and a group of people are trying to protect the lands. They believe that the Kruegars bought the land, only to turn it over to developers, but Ellie and Ben claim they are here long term.

Their hired hand Dot, is a great help, but not really close to them.

Then one night they find the dead body of the man who was most interested in stopping them from “selling”, Jason Ridley. Now the police are looking at Ben for the murder, and the Black Sheep Knitting group are on the case.

Thoughts After Reading:

So there are two mysteries in this novel. One is the sabotager, and the other is the murderer. This mystery was half good, with the murder being done excellent.

while the sabotage part wasn’t that good. I mean I figured it out immediately.

It wasn’t as bad as A Stitch Before Dying , but not as good as Till Death Do Us Purl or While My Pretty One Knits.

***Spoiler Alert***

So as soon as I read this on page 43:

“Oh, Ellie, what’s the difference? We know who it is. Justin Ridley. He’s the only one who could have done this. The only one who has any reason to harass us. Who believes he has a reason,’ he [Ben] corrected himself.”

I knew it was Ben.

I knew Ben was like the husband in Gaslight and Dangerous Crossing, just after the money and behind the scheme to sabotage so he could get it.

For more Black Sheep Knitting Mysteries, go to Till Death Do Us Purl

For more cases of sabotage, go to A Taste for Murder

For more mystery reviews, go to Just Because You’re Paranoid, Doesn’t Mean a Demon’s Not After You: Storm Front