Things We Do In the Dark by Jennifer Hiller

First Sentence: There’s a time and place for erect nipples, but the back of a Seattle police car definitely isn’t it.

Paris Peralta’s husband has been murdered. Covered in blood, and holding a straight razor, she is immediately arrested. Her greatest fear is that the media attention will result in Paris’ true identity and past being exposed by her mother, Ruby Reyes, who is in prison for a similar crime. Ruby will claim Paris was guilty of that murder, too.

The first line of this book sets the tone, and it goes straight downhill from there. The biggest problem with this book is that it was filled, absolutely filled, with unlikable characters. There really isn’t one with whom one can identify or empathize.

Back story can be a good thing. Drowning the reader in back story is not. And a backstory that often makes one’s skin crawl is even worse. Yes, it was understandable and explained why the character was as she was, but one would need something to make one care about the character. Instead, she made some horrendously stupid decisions both in the past and in the present.

Although this wasn’t meant to be a police procedural, the lack of any normal procedure was almost comical. Any author who writes books involving the police should at least know the basics.

There was no real suspense; no breath-catching twists. The perpetrator was obvious very early on in the book, and the outcome was predictable.

THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK was an overlong, convoluted story with characters about whom one may not care less. Apparently, Hillier has written other highly-rated books, but one couldn’t tell that by this one.


THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK
PsyThriller-Paris Peralta-Canada-Contemp
Jennifer Hillier - Standalone
Minotaur Books – Jul 2022  – 352 pp
RATING: Poor / D