Definitely a slow starter for me. I almost gave up on it. I ended up enjoying the second half much more. We have Heather who is estranged from her mom, until her mom commits suicide. When Heather gets home to make arrangements she discovers letters written to her mom from a serial killer in prison. At the same time, new murders that resemble the serial killers' murders begin again. This leads to a solid "who dun it". I never really grew to like Heather, and maybe that's part of what held me back in this one. It was solid and somewhat enjoyable, but not a favorite this year so far.

3/5 stars.

This was a super intriguing read! It had a great air of mystery and was incredibly haunting and creepy. It was a bit too much gore for my taste which was somewhat distracting from the plot, and not necessary in my opinion, but I enjoyed Heather's chapters a lot as she tried to unravel the mystery behind her mother's death. I was as curious about it as she was, so she was an easy protagonist to root for. While a bit to Silence of the Lambs for me, it was still an enjoyable read.

Firstly a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley. Fun fact my daughter used to go to school with jens niece… small world! I was excited to see she had made the move into the dark land of the thriller.I loved it and i reckon this will fly off the shelves! I connected with Heather immediately and was gripped into the plot .

Cleverly written and thought provoking. This is a compelling case of who done it but also a question of who am i as questions are raised after Heather’s mums death.

Excitting and gripping this had me hooked from start to finish . It is dark and eerie as the writing whisks you away to the location.

I wish Jen every success with this book and cant wait to read more from her.

Published June 8th

I was totally drawn in by the cover of this one. I was completely hooked from the start, the first chapter completely drew me into the story; compelling, dark and twisted. The perfect ‘just one more chapter’ read!

When Heather returns to her family home after her mother’s suicide, she makes a discovery that will change her life forever. Her mother had been receiving letters from notorious serial killer Michael Reave for years, whilst he serves a life sentence for multiple murders. Heather shares this information with the police, agreeing to meet this man to try and uncover the secrets her mother took with her to the grave.

There are a lot of multiple characters, but it was still easy to follow what was happening. I worked out a few of the plot twists along the way, but only the smaller ones!

A fast paced, gripping psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns - a real page turner. A Dark and Secret Place is haunting, bleak, dark and disturbing. I absolutely recommend this book. A new to me author and a fantastic, compelling read.

If you like Lisa Jewell, you’ll love this!

(I gave it four stars - as I thought the ending was quite abrupt. I would have liked a bit more from it!)

In A Dark and Secret Place, Heather is a woman who was recently fired from her job as a reporter, shares a messy apartment with roommates and has returned home to bury her mother. Who died from suicide. So yes, life is not amazing for Heather. But as she begins the horrible task of cleaning out her mom’s house, she comes across something interesting. Apparently, her mom had a very special pen pal – a serial killer. That she has been writing to for years.

It’s a shock to say the least. Heather saw her mom as the average mom, flaws and all. And to find out she had this secret relationship? Mind blowing. Heather tries to make sense of it and is suddenly thrown into the world of the Red Wolf, her mom’s friend, or lover, or what? She doesn’t know. And as she looks into the relationship, it appears there is also a copycat killer on the loose.

I don’t want to give much more away, but can you see how it starts in one depressing place and moves through that place to a deeply terrifying and strange place. But it’s good. It’s a book that will be satisfying to every true crime podcast enthusiast, Dateline addict, or Hannibal fan.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for a free e-galley of A Dark and Secret Place in exchange for my honest review. This one is out June 8. My review will be posted to my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog, on May 12, 2021.

A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams was a dark and creepy gothic thriller. Heather has come home because her mom committed suicide. She was an only child and is responsible for taking care of her mothers’s affairs. Heather’s dad died many years ago and it caused a rift in their relationship. She really hasn’t spoken much to her mother since then. While cleaning up her mother’s house she finds a stack of letters, letters written to her mother from a man. It turns out that man is a serial killer known as the Red Wolf. Heather contacts the police and turns the letters over. The police are very interested in these letters. The Red Wolf, Michael Reave, is in prison. The detectives ask Heather to go speak to him to see if he will give her any details of his former crimes, especially since it seems he had such a close bond with her mother. Also, more women are turning up murdered the same way the Red Wolf killed his victims. Are they connected? What did her mom have to do with a serial killer? How did they even know each other? Heather will have to dig deep into her mother’s past to figure out what is going on. In the meantime Heather is in danger and doesn’t even know it. I very much enjoyed this book. The chapters alternate between Heather’s point of view in the present and Michael’s point of view in the past. There are some fairytale and Gothic elements in the story that I really enjoyed. The way Michael’s past was revealed slowly added to the suspense of the story. The ending was shocking and the last several chapters had such a scary and disturbing feeling I could not read them fast enough. I will definitely read more books by this author. I highly recommend this book especially if you like dark and disturbing tales. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Creepy, haunting, gripping!! A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams is a great thriller with many twists along the way. It captured me from page one where Heather returns home after her mother’s death by suicide. She soon learns her mother had many buried secrets of which the biggest her regular communication with a convicted serial killer, Michael Reace. Heather starts on a journey she never anticipated taking and will never forget. Highly recommend for readers who enjoy thrillers!

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

I didn’t enjoy this one. Not sure if it was the slow delivery or it was because I didn’t think that the characters were interesting enough. I think that you will enjoy this if you don't mind getting head first into the action, setting, characters, and multiple perspectives. For me, this was just a bit much. With so much stress going on in my life and the world, I just don't have time to read a book that makes me more confused and doesn't interest me.

In my opinion, something was lacking with the premise.

Although I enjoyed this one and read rather quickly, my thoughts are conflicted...

Excellent concept and creepy storyline, conversations with killer were well written, very Silence of the lambs vibes during those moments! Fairytale and lore references added an eerie edge!!

I did feel that there was a lot going on making it somewhat difficult to keep track of everything. Pace towards the end seemed rushed and jam packed with twists ending in « wait what ? » moments that I wish had had more depth to them.

Overall an enjoyable fast paced thriller!

An excellent addition to the crowded thriller genre. A recommended purchase for collections where similar titles are popular.

Creepy vibes? ✓
Mysterious? ✓
Haunting? ✓
Suspenseful? ✓
Page-turning? ✓

I'm always leery when I pick up thrillers or horror books from new authors or new-to-me authors. Sometimes they turn out to be gems. Sometimes they turn out to be duds. This one is definitely a gem I was glad I took a chance on.

This book is equally parts creepy, suspenseful, dark, haunting, and mysterious. I had no clue what was coming next. I was turning pages with trepidation on what would come next.

I was left feeling a sense of dread and unease in many parts of this book. If you know me, that's not easy for a book to do. I will admit, there were some scenes that were a little off. I felt like the author was trying to force certain things with the main character. However, these instances were so little, they didn't totally distract from the rest of the book.

Overall, this book was a winner for me. I can see where some might not like it. It's different from the "norm" and sometimes people just aren't into change or different. And that's okay. If you're looking for a book with a haunting vibe to read in the fall, this is going to be one to add to your list.

🌿BOOK REVIEW🌿

A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams

🌼🌼🌼/5

TW// death, suicide, animal death, stalking

Heather Evan’s is heartbroken and confused about her mother’s sudden suicide. When she returns to her childhood hone she finds a stack of letters from the serial killer Michael Reave hidden away. Reave has been in prison for 20 years after being convicted of gruesome, ritualistic murders of several women. He has always maintained that he was innocent and has always been ignored, until a copy cat murderer is on the loose.

Heather works with the police to try and find out what Reave knows about her mother’s past and also his connection to these new murders. Through this journey Heather uncovers horrifying truths all connecting back to one historical commune.

I was so hooked and there were some very creepy bits created by talented writing! Throughout the book the atmosphere is palpable and it was difficult to put down. What I did struggle with was how much was being covered all in one go and it did feel it was a lot to follow. I feel this was especially apparent with the ending as it was very confusing and unfortunately I had my suspicions about what the ending would be. I feel as soon as you guess the ending to a thriller it looses its edge but that’s just me!

All in all I did enjoy this book (for me a 3 star is still a book I would recommend!).

I was kindly provided with an eARC from Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly was not expecting to like this book. It started off a little slowly and it took some time to realize exactly what was going on. Heather is trying to sort out the details of her late mother's life and her tragic suicide when she discovers that her mom had a relationship with a notorious serial killer.

As an accomplished journalist, eventually, Heather puts the pieces together and discovers that her mother was hiding secrets that she never could've guessed. It ends with a twist I wasn't expecting and overall it's a pretty good book!

As a lover of thrillers and true crime, A Dark and Secret Place was a perfect read for me. While this not true crime, Jen Williams does such a successful job of building a new reality that it felt like it.

I read it in just a few days which is unusual for me as it's an easy read with a quick pace, it draws the reader in with so many unanswered questions and a building tension as our protagonist attempts to unravel the mystery of her mother's past.

It contains some very unique twists that I haven't encountered in others in the genre, which has many a good trope, but I really enjoyed this unusual story.

This book really spoke to me, as a fan of true crime and true-crime podcasts. Heather Evans hasn’t been home in a long time. She finally returns after her mother takes her own life and Heather has to pick up the pieces and figure out what happened. Here’s where the true-crime red meat comes in—Heather discovers a trove of carefully preserved letters from infamous serial killer Michael “The Red Wolf” Reave. I was sucked in at this point—it’s every true-crime fan’s dream, to uncover new evidence in crime, especially hidden letters!

Even though the Red Wolf has been in maximum-security prison for more than twenty years, convicted of a series of brutal and ritualistic murders of women, he has always said that he was innocent. And it seems that her mother had some insight into the mind of the Red Wolf and into these murders. Heather has to find out what her mother knew, and what the Red Wolf knew, as another young woman is found murdered, in the same way that the Red Wolf killed.

This was dark, twisted and ultimately compelling take on a tried-and-true narrative—the prodigal child returning to uncover long-buried secrets, the help and insight of a possibly innocent incarcerated killer into a new crime, a romantic interest. I enjoyed this and it reminded me of books by Tana French and Kathleen Barber, even Thomas Harris’s Silence of the Lambs. Very dark, and TW for graphic descriptions of mutilated bodies.

Overall I found the premise of this book to be really intriguing, but something about the execution did not draw me in. it took me a while to even get invested in the main character and by then, it started to switch viewpoints. I think this would have done better if it had focused on one POV with interjections of another POV, but it felt overly distracting. However, I like the gory scenes with the Michael - he is atavistically animal and I like that juxtaposition with him being a naive and lost child. Overall, perhaps I would recommend to friends who love thrillers and would like a fresh premise.

DNF, y'all, so let's not count this one as my official first book of the year! The setup is interesting, but the story plods along (especially in the middle) and then the ending is just like HEREYOUGOALLATONCEOKAYSORTITOUTYOURSELF!!! I don't know - I just didn't love it, but I wanted to, because I love a good dark premise.

Perfect title for this book. This is a dark read for those that like intense and terrifying. This is a psychological suspense that takes you on a ride of unforgettable thrills, into the past of a deceased mother, her daughter Heather, makes discoveries that sends her into dangers she is not ready to face. Great read!

Wow! What a riveting read! A Dark and Secret Place grabbed me by the throat and held onto me until the very end. I did not see that ending coming - what a complete shock! Skilled writing and character building made this an A+ novel.