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

Jennifer Hillier has done it again! THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK is a smart and deeply layered mystery that will have you flying through pages this summer.

We meet Paris Peralta as she is covered in her husband’s blood at the scene of the crime. Paris becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her celebrity husband. Has the past she desperately tried to outrun finally caught up to her?

As the title suggests, this story is not a light-hearted read. I love the multiple meanings to the title and how Hillier took on tough topics such as domestic abuse, vulnerable women, and confronting the past in a thoughtful way.

With three separate mysteries in various times/places to solve, I was constantly trying to work out how the murders were related and who I could trust. If you’re looking for a thriller with a fresh storyline, add THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK to your beach bag.

RATING: 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5 stars)
PUB DATE: July 19, 2022

A big thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review will be posted to www.instagram.com/kellyhook.readsbooks in advance of publication date.

What an excellent book! It is chock full of family drama, secrets, and lies. Paris Peralta awakes to find her wealthy, much older husband dead. She is thought to be guilty by the media and the police, but she is innocent. Of this murder, anyway. I loved the story of this book and how the dialogue and action really sped up the story. I kept reading so fast because I wanted to know what happened next!

I'm a bit shocked at how long it took me to get through this novel. Jennifer Hillier has been a favorite since I read Jar of Hearts a coupleyears back. I went back and read her other novels too since I liked her other books so much. The jist is, I like her books. Hillier tells a captivating story. Things We Do In the Dark isn't as quite 'grab you by the throat' intense as I've come to expect from her. I liked how the narrative was divided between three point of views. We get Paris, Drew, and Joey's POVs. I'm really glad it was separated like this, it kept me interested. The characters were all likeable except Ruby and her family members. I seriously felt for Joey's story. It was painful to revist her past. I was bored with Drew's addition at first but after a while the story really started to come together under his POV.


My main complaint is that this didn’t exactly feel like a thriller or a suspensful book. It felt more like a strait mystery... which I'm fine with. It just lacked in that "get your heart pumping" feeling. A bit if a warning though, if you have trouble with child abuse or sexual abuse, tread carefully here. There was only talk about sexual abuse in a past context and wasn't explicit. The child abuse tugged at my heart a lot and I really wanted to hug some social workers afterwards.

Paris Paralta is arrested for her husband’s murder. Tbh, things don’t look great for her. She was found in her bathroom, covered in blood, and holding a straight razor that seemed to be the murder weapon. Oh ya and her husband? He’s a famous comedian currently riding the wave of a comeback out of retirement. Meanwhile, investigative podcaster Drew is looking into a crime that hits way close to home. Ice Queen Ruby Reyes — who killed her lover with an ice skate — is being released on parole and Drew wants to get to the bottom of what happened that night and to her daughter Joey. These two storylines connect and everyone gets their answers — whether they like them or not.

Wow this book has everything (Stefon voice) — strippers, murder, missing person, mobs, and more. I truly am not sure if it was just me or not, but this was finitely a slow burn. The book starts with Paris before shifting to Drew — felt like starting a whole different book! It’s not long until things intersect. There are also like a lot of characters you get to know pretty well throughout the book so that also made it feel a bit slower paced — not that a slow burn is a bad thing! I also really liked the diversity in here — lots of yummy food mentioned too that made me hungry!

Thank you so much St. Martin's Press, NetGalley & Jennifer Hillier for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review will be posted on my bookstagram @bookswithbrielle in May.

This was my very first Jennifer Hillier book & now I totally understand why I've seen people rave about her writing. I have Jar of Hearts and Little Secrets of my TBR book car and I can't wait to read them both, This was a really good thriller through and through.

The story follows is about a woman named Paris accused of murdering her celebrity husband while running from her past of demons. I really enjoyed the NOW/THEN POV and and appreciated that despite the back and forth I was never confused about what was a flashback and was happening in real time. I enjoyed learning about Paris backstory and character & how the writing really made you empathize with Paris.

RUBY. OMG RUBY. This is how you know it's a good thriller. I HATED her, Jennifer Hillier was able to elicit strong emotions with her writing and her development of Ruby truly did that.

There are some parts of this book that can be hard to stomach-- specifically when it comes to child abuse. But if you like a good thriller with interesting characters and backstories you are a fan of true crime type writing then this book is for you.

The book comes out July 19, 2022.

Maybe this is a case of “it’s just me” and not the book. But…

I’m a huge Jennifer Hillier fan and loved all her previous works. So my question is…what happened here?🏻‍♀️. A question I kept asking myself while reading this latest release.

Paris’ husband is dead in the bathtub. Paris herself is covered in his blood, gripping a straight razor. She has no memory of killing him. WOW! Right!?💁🏻‍♀️ You’ve got my attention! But then things took a hard turn. The focus and point of view changed to exploring Paris’ backstory. At this point the pace slowed and I quickly lost interest.

I held out hope for a twist, an OMG jaw-dropping moment, the shocks, this author usually delivers. Unfortunately if felt like straight up fiction with no thrills.🥱

There are many mixed reviews with plenty of five-star reviews here. Hoping your experience will deliver all the stars!⭐️💞

A buddy read with Susanne that left us both underwhelmed.😕

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press

I am a longtime Jennifer Hillier fan and was beyond excited when I heard she had a new book coming out this year. I’ve read everything she’s written and found that THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK has all the hallmarks of a Jennifer Hillier book that I’ve come to know and love.

I like to go into my thrillers blind and that’s my recommendation for other readers too so will keep my plot summary on the vague side - when the book opens we meet Paris Peralta who is found confused, covered in blood, and next to the body of her dead husband. And while being arrested isn’t exactly the best thing in the world, what Paris is more concerned about is that the notoriety of the case with threaten to expose who she really is.

Paris’s husband is a famous comedian, but when Paris met him he was retired and living a life out of the spotlight, which is exactly what Paris needed. But when a famous person is murdered the press jumps and a murder charge becomes the least of her worries.

We get complicated characters that don’t always say or do the most likable things but who are so profoundly human and messy and make choices and live with consequences and find themselves doing what they need to do. She does not shy away from dark subject matter, unlikable characters and gut wrenching moments. But she also weaves in a drive for survival, devotion and a recognition of how we can’t escape our pasts but perhaps we also don’t let it define us.

I really enjoyed how the story was told and how different timelines were woven together. As usual, there’s a cast of dark and messed up characters (my fave) who inhabit this world and who instantly jump off the page. Jennifer Hillier does a great job of creating characters (even the minor ones) who feel real and who I can clearly picture in my mind.

I do think we were meant to be ahead of some characters as they unraveled parts of the story and I didn’t mind being with them as they put pieces together. I am happy to go on any journey Jennifer Hillier wants to take me on and if you haven’t been reading her books are a fan of character-driven thrillers that twist and sometimes shock I highly recommend her books.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in return for an honest review.
3.5 ★ rounded to 4
Paris Peralta has been arrested for the murder of her superstar husband Jimmy Peralta. She has been found covered in blood with the murder weapon in her hands. While the press is gearing up for what is sure to be the trial of the century, Paris is concerned by another issue that plagues her mind- the possibility of being recognized. Sure enough someone from her past starts threatening to reveal her darkest secrets. Told in 3rd person with past and present timelines, Hillier takes us on a disturbing ride as the truth is finally revealed.