Content warning: rape, child abuse, suicide

I recently read Jennifer Hillier’s latest thriller, Things We Do in the Dark, and wow what a ride that was. Jennifer is a master at weaving a dark and twisty thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. If I had the time, I definitely would have read this in a single sitting.

Paris Peralta, accused of her famous husband’s murder, has a secret past. As the reader goes through the story and starts to connect the dots, it starts to become clear exactly what she’s hiding. I really enjoyed her character - she was complex and relatable. I was instantly emotionally invested in her story as it played out.

Jennifer Hillier certainly tackles some difficult and dark subject matter in her books, but, if it's material you are okay with, I definitely recommend picking up Things We Do in the Dark. It is dark, heart wrenching and perfectly paced to keep the reader hooked. I definitely want to read more of her backlist, I read Jar of Hearts last year and loved it!

Things We Do in the Dark came out on July 19th so it is currently available! Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for sharing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐4.5/5 stars⭐

I'll be honest, this is one of those books I'm not sure what to do with. On one hand, it felt a little predictable and I did have some issues with it...but on the other hand, it's one I'm going to be thinking about for a long time.

THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK opens with one of our main characters, Paris, being arrested for the murder of her famous husband. As we follow her trial we find out that Paris tends to lay low, and her trial could dig up some unsavory things from her past. Learning her backstory in multiple timelines (flashbacks etc) was interesting, and I enjoyed being able to really dig into the characters' backgrounds and timelines. However, I felt like the book simply tried to do too much. The middle seemed a little dragged out before everything was wrapped up at the end, and the twists weren't as twisty as I'd like. On top of that, there was (in my opinion) an excess of descriptions of child sexual abuse, something that I find extremely uncomfortable as a plot point. Can you address abuse in a novel like this? Absolutely, but it must be done with more tact.

While this didn't totally miss the mark (I genuinely did enjoy reading it!), it is what it is: a shocking, (mostly) fast-paced thriller. It isn't life changing, but it's definitely good enough.

3.5 stars - Things We Do in the Dark started strong, drew me in, and was engaging through the first section. When it hits a part two, I felt like I was reading a completely different book for a while, and the pacing slowed. Eventually the separate story lines came together and then proceeded forward. Lots of clues via foreshadowing, and I easily predicted the first big twist.

Definitely plot holes throughout, some threads started and dropped, some things lined up too conveniently. Reveals came with more telling than showing. I wasn't very satisfied with how the opening mystery was resolved (although I correctly I predicted it). Regardless of my criticisms, I did like the book and would recommend. This was my second read from this author, and I'd read more from her.

Big trigger warning for child abuse - detailed in flashbacks. Explicit physical abuse, non-explicit sexual abuse.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

First off I will say Jennifer Hillier writes very well with an effortless style that drew me in with the first sentence. Thrillers are one of my favorite genres so that also got my attention. Ditto for the setting. The two things that didn't work for me - hence three stars - were the multiple points of view with too much jumping around for me to keep them straight and it was too dark for me. The various characters were not easy for me to care about, I couldn't become engaged in their stories to the extent that I was eager to know more. Having said that, I would not hesitate to recommend Things We Do in the Dark to friends who are fans of Noir. This book just wasn't my cup of tea.
My thanks to the publisher Minotaur and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly, 3.15 stars. It seems I am in the minority here because there are so many positive reviews for this one, so don't listen to me because you might love it. I was looking forward to it because I have enjoyed this authors work in the past, but I just wasn't feeling this one.

When a younger woman marries a much older man she's automatically deemed a golddigger and that term only intensifies when the husband is rich and famous. Then he turns up dead...with the wife possibly holding the murder weapon, thus making her the likely suspect. But who is Paris really?

Told in 6 parts with A LOT of backstory throughout the whole book.

I liked Drew and his investigative skills as he worked on his podcast.
I didn't really care for any of the other characters ~ Paris was blah, Zoe was too much, Elsie seemed like an old hag, Ruby was just the worst or all worstness. Actually, I did like the 4 year old cousin, Carson, and Deborah seemed nice.

I was lucky enough to receive a kindle copy and an audiobook. Quite a long listen at 11 hours and 50 minutes and Carla Vega was a good narrator, but I did prefer reading and not listening.

TW ~ child abuse, sexual abuse, pedophilia

Overall, most of the story was predictable, twists not very twisty and the story dragged at times with repetition. This was not my favorite by Jennifer, but I would read her work again.

A dark and emotional read with some head spinning twists. There are three major twists in this book. The first big twist I figured out pretty much right away but the other two at the end I didn't see coming at all. This was gritty, gory, and if this had been a movie I probably would turned my eyes away for a couple of scenes. I liked the way this was written with the multiple POV's and the pacing. I've only read one other book by Jennifer Hillier and I can say her books are not for the faint of heart. They definitely make you uncomfy and uneasy reading due to the material and the way its written. So if that is something you are looking for in your thrillers than I'd give them a try but be very diligent in checking out the content warnings.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the EARC in exchange for my honest review.

Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier is a very highly recommended psychological thriller.

Paris Peralta is arrested for killing her celebrity husband. She is found holding a straight razor while her husband Jimmy Peralta is lying dead in the bathtub. Paris swears she didn't kill Jimmy, but she does have secrets in her past that she does want to hide. All the publicity from the murder accusation may bring to light Paris's past and secrets that she does want to hide, including another murder and her mother, convicted killer Ruby Reyes.

Investigative Journalist Drew Malcolm is planning a pod cast featuring notorious killer Ruby Reyes, aka the Ice Queen, is about to be freed on parole after serving 25 years of a life sentence. Drew was good friends with her daughter, Joey, who later died mysteriously in a fire. Drew wants to highlight the abuse Joey received at the hands of Ruby, redirecting media attention away from Ruby.

The well written, complex and intricate plot of Things We Do in the Dark is compelling and full of surprises and heartbreak. It is also an un-put-downable psychological thriller. This complicated web of relationships, deceit, and lies is told through flashbacks and the perspectives of different characters. The timeline also moves back and forth between the past and the present and includes a couple big surprising twists in the plot. What is uncovered is Paris's relationship in the present with Jimmy, but also all her relationships in the past as she was growing up in Canada.

As a character driven drama Things We Do in the Dark excels. All the characters are portrayed as real people, protagonists and antagonists. There are characters you will support and commiserate with and there are characters you will actively despise. Paris is an intriguing and sympathetic character. You know she couldn't be responsible for Jimmy's murder. Journalist Drew Malcolm is also a character you will trust.

This is really an enjoyable thriller. At times the plot does stretch credibility, but you will be too engrossed and emotionally invested in the plot to care. Since Things We Do in the Dark is my first Hillier novel, it is impressive enough that I'm now planning to look at some of her previous novels. 4.5 rounded up
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

Jennifer Hillier does it again! She is so good at writing smart mysteries and psychological thrillers that you can't put down. Paris finds herself covered in blood next to her older (and very wealthy) husband and naturally, it doesn't look good. Paris is trying to prove she didn't kill her husband, while trying to protect the secrets of her past.

I was so invested in Paris's story and whether she ACTUALLY killed her husband when the narrative switches to that of Drew Malcolm. Drew is a journalist doing a podcast on the release of the Ice Queen from prison (she was convicted of a murder similar to that of Paris's husband) and he is trying to figure out what happened to his best friend Joey, who died years ago in a fire. So what do these people have to do with Paris and the current mystery? That's the million-dollar question.

I will say that switching from one storyline to another so drastically and at such a pivotal moment was a bit frustrating, but then I became engrossed with the story of the Ice Queen and her daughter, Joey.

It took a while for the stories to connect and I will say the twists at the end all shoot at the reader at a rapid pace. But man, it was an incredible ride. Loved this one!

Thank you SMP and Netgalley for the gifted copies.

Wow, another twisty read from Jennifer Hillier. It's a bit of a slow burn, but takes twists and turns just when you think you've got it all figured out. This book is well written, and well plotted. It sucked me in from the very beginning and I stayed up way too late finishing it because I couldn't put it down!

There were parts I had figured out, but it was written well enough and there were enough other twists that I didn't mind at all. The description of how the family treated Paris/Joey after Ruby got arrested was heartbreaking, yet so real. I also liked how there were two storylines (the Joey/Ruby/Charles one, and the Paris/dead husband/Elsie/Zoe one) yet they were both connected and Drew was involved throughout.

I can't wait to see what this author writes next - she's an auto buy for me, 100%!

I’ve said this before, I know, but every new Jennifer Hillier @jenniferhillierbooks novel is my current favorite, and Things We Do in the Dark continues the steak.

In the dark, monsters are real. In the dark, it never happened. In the dark, she could be anyone.

This is my favorite kind of thriller. There’s just the right amount of characters so that you can listen to it on audio (which by the way is fantastic) and be able to easily follow along, and the plot is perfect paced to make it oh so bingeable. Also, if you’re not rooting for Paris from the very first page, send me a DM, because you need to explain yourself.

Thanks to my partners at @minotaur_books for my glow-in-the-dark copy (which charged up perfectly on the beach) and to @macmillan.audio for my audio copy.

Link to 7/19/2022 post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgMuO5Frf_Q/

This took me longer than usual to finish, a week, but only because life got in the way, and I resented having to put it down when I did. So I read late at night and sacrificed a few hours sleep but it was worth it,. Let me forewarn potential readers that some scenes will be disturbing.

This multi-layered psychological novel intrigued me from the get go. Well crafted and well spaced between past scenes and present, without being hard to follow. It told the story of Paris Peralta, who in the opening scenes is lying on the floor covered in blood while her famous older husband bled out in the bathtub. She of course is the prime suspect, as she has the murder weapon in her hand when she regains consciousness.

She had another life before she was “Paris” a very hard and disturbing life from her early years on, that she had managed to put behind her. Now she’s afraid the notoriety will disclose it. This could be very dangerous for her.

I won’t disclose more, but this ticked all the boxes for me. If you like a good mystery/drama/ with complex characters and unpredictable scenarios, look no further. I heartily recommend it and her “Little Secrets” of a few years back. Hillier is fast becoming a favorite author for me.

#ThingsWeDointheDark #JenniferHillier #NetGalley #StMartinsPress
Thank you for providing me a pre-release e-Arc for my honest review. Release date today: July 19, 2022.

This isn't a light read regarding the topic (TW: Sexual Assault), but I'm still considering it a beach read for myself. I very much enjoyed reading it, but there was nothing that happened that really shocked me.
The twists were predictable from the start, and the ending fell a little flat. With that being said this book still provided entertainment during my commuting hours, so for me it was a win.

What an incredible, twisty roller coaster ride this book is. Just as the mystery begins to unravel, Hiller hits you with another surprise. Now I want to go read everything by this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

• dark psychological thriller
• twisted characters
• smartly written

Well, I've read my first Hillier! This one starts with a bang and hooked me right away. I enjoyed how it was broken into parts and the way it all came together in the end. I didn't find the reveal all that shocking but it was definitely satisfying.

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley, @minotaur_books and @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Another wonderfully twisty turny well thought out thriller!! This time the well known older man younger wife trope is used to set a lot of people on the wrong path when a famous comedian is found dead in his own tub. But, the wife has a much darker past than the normal trophy wife and being accused of his murder seems to be the least of her problems. While some of the twists were easily guessed, I don't think they were intended to be big surprises. In that way, the writing was incredibly well done and the story engaging. By taking away their zing, the overall story felt that much heavier and complex than something going for easy shocks. This resulted in a quality page turning read for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

Things We Do In The Dark by Jennifer Hillier is an intriguing novel filled with excellent writing and characters. It is engaging and tough to put down. Right from the onset the reader is taken on a memorable journey with clues purposefully left along the way to remind us that things and people aren't always what they seem.

I received a digital advance copy of Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier via NetGalley. Things We Do in the Dark was released July 19, 2022.

Things We Do in the Dark begins with a murder. Paris is found covered in blood, holding a straight razor, standing next to the bathtub holding the dead body of her celebrity husband. The attention of the arrest is worse than the accusation of murder, as it draws the public eye to Paris. Someone out there knows who she is, and what she did in the past. Paris is forced to fight for her legal freedom, and freedom from a past that doesn’t want to let her get away.

In addition to Paris, we see the story through the point of view of Drew. Drew is a former investigative journalist who now supports himself with his true-crime podcast. He is drawn into the story of Ruby Reyes, (the Ice Queen), a woman convicted of a grisly murder twenty-five years ago who is now being released on parole. As Drew begins to dig into her story (which is connected to his own past), he finds himself entangled with Paris’ story in the present day.

Hillier has crafted a solid thriller/mystery in this novel. While I did figure out some of the twists and shifts before they were revealed, the story was still satisfying in its complexity. Characters figured things out in the moments it made sense for them to, with none of the moments of me as a reader wondering how they could miss the obvious. Each of the characters has substantial baggage from their past that they are forced to carry through this story with them. In some spots, the baggage felt a bit expected, but in other cases the past was layered in a way that made the characters real people.

Overall, Things We Do in the Dark was a solid story that was more of a mystery than a thriller for me. While I had questions throughout, the bulk of the true danger of this story was buried in the past, with ripples pushing forward into the current story.

So much fluff. I feel like the author just kept diving deeper and deeper in Joey/Paris’ life to try and throw you off. It didn’t work… it just aggravated me. I loved learning more about Joey but at 50% I just wanted to get on with it.

Thanks to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

A go to author for me and a solid new book! The twists were subtle but still packed a punch. I would read any of her books. The story had a slow build and kept me at the top of the roller coaster waiting for the fall. Great summer read.

As the story opens, we meet Paris Peralta. She’s in her bathroom, covered in blood, and not remembering how she ended up there. Paris soon becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her celebrity husband, Jimmy Peralta. Is she a murderer or has the past that she desperately tried to out run caught up with her?

☁️Thoughts:
This was one of my most anticipated books of the summer and I really wished I loved it as so many do! It was definitely more of a slow burn mystery than a thriller and I thought the story was thoughtful and beautifully written while tackling tough topics of domestic abuse. I really enjoyed the first part of the story where we met the players and started to understood the motives of who could’ve killed Jimmy.

We then start flashing back to Paris’s early years, this is where I started losing interest - too much backstory and not enough present day. The ending also wrapped up a little too quickly and easily and left me wanting more.

While this is my first Hillier book it definitely won’t be my last as I would like to dive into her backlist!

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for my gifted copy