WOW! This has to be one of the best psychological thrillers I read this year! I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by this author.

The characterization was superb for the most part. I definitely got a feel for the main ones; however, the plot was where the author really shined. With a cast of characters, where anyone could be guilty of killing Jay, including the wife of the victim, I did not have a clue who was responsible for his murder. Added to that, there was a smattering of very surprising twists and turns, and then the ending scenes showed a few more suspenseful twists!

Well played!

After a festive party, Molly's husband is viciously murdered in his home office. Rita, a police detective, investigates. Alternating narratives reveal details incrementally. Fans of light suspense will enjoy it.

All the Dark Places is an absolute whirlwind, I read it in one sitting because I couldn't force myself to put them down! I loved the characters and found the plot to be engaging and even found myself pleasantly surprised by the ending - and that doesn't happen very often! A great read!

This was a really good debut thriller, with two very interesting narrators, a full cast of characters, almost all of them suspects, and it was a really hard one to figure out!

The story is told from two points of view Molly, the grieving widow and from Detective Rita Meyers the officer in charge of the investigation. I really liked this dual narration because we got both perspectives, what is happening with Molly and how the police work to solve the murder.

I liked Molly for the most part. She is pretty tough but she also seems to have a lot of bad luck in her life. She is a victim in this story and she often acts like one, but given her traumatic past I can understand how she feels. I did like how she defended her friends though. She was loyal to them, which may have contributed to some of the things that went on. The author also does a good job of showing us what grief looks like after an unexpected death especially a brutal one.

Rita was a great character and a very sympathetic one. She is a good detective and was able to look at the clues and the suspects with an open mind. I also liked that we got to see a little bit of her life outside of the job, which made her a much more rounded character. It would have been nice to see her have an ah-ha moment though and figure out who the killer was before the killer revealed themselves.

The plot was good, however, the pacing was a tad slow, but not so slow you lost interest. Some of this may have been due to the short chapters and the switching of points of view. I do have a couple of issues with the story, there were just too many characters to keep track of, and there wasn’t really a chance for the reader to figure out who commited the murder before the person is revealed. I had a really hard time keeping track of who all of the characters were, especially with Molly using their first names and Rita using their last ones when interviewing them. They also all seemed a bit interchangeable. Among the suspects there really didn’t seem to be any clues to help the reader figure out who was the guilty party until they were revealed. All of them were good candidates until the end. Even the cops weren’t sure until they showed themselves.

I did enjoy this and would recommend it to those of you who like psychological thrillers. I think this is a solid debut and I will be keeping an eye out for more books by this author.

I loved this debut thriller! I read it in a day and couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed the story being told from the perspectives of two female main characters, a police detective and the wife of the murder victim. The story and characters kept me engaged and I was surprised by the ending/reveal. This one was a 5 star read for me!

Molly and Rita, the detective investigating the murder of Molly's husband Jay narrate this nicely twisty procedural about the past boomeranging into the present. Jay was killed sometime on the night of his 40th birthday party, a small event attended by close long term friends. Who among them is the villain who slit the throat of the psychologist? But wait, someone is stalking Molly now and she's worried about an old secret, something that happened when she was only a child. Turns out she should have been more curious about Jay. No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Terri Parlato hits the ground running with her smashing debut, ALL THE DARK PLACES —from a birthday party that ends in murder and a tenacious detective in this gripping crime thriller.

It is New England winter and snowy, and Molly Bradley is throwing a 40th birthday party for her husband Jay of three years. She is hosting at their home with some close friends.

Three couples: Kim and Josh, Cal and Laken, and Elise and Scott. All is going well with food and wine and great company.

As the night moves on, Molly is tired and goes to lie down upstairs. The next morning she senses something is wrong. She goes downstairs and finds him in a pool of blood outside his office.

Seasoned Boston PD Detective Rita Myers (60+) is assigned to the case. (really liked her).

Who would have killed Jay, a 40-year-old psychologist everyone seemed to like with no enemies? A patient? Revenge? Someone at the party?

With short chapters told from POV: Molly (wife) and Rita (detective). From suspects, theories, and motives with an ongoing investigation underway, to look at the couples at the party first.

There is also an ongoing mystery of what happened during Molly's childhood. In Molly’s chapters, we learn that she has a dark past, which happened to her when she was younger. Her past seems to collide with why her husband was killed.

Jay knew about Molly and loved her the same. She slept through his murder, and she cannot forgive herself. She could have helped. Before the party, she had been crying in the bathroom with another failed IVF try for another twelve thousand dollars. Now they will never have a child. With Jay gone, how will she keep the demons at bay?

Jay's father and grandfather were detectives for the Boston Police Department, and his grandfather worked on the Boston Strangler case.

While Rita is trying to determine which partygoers may be responsible, Molly fears that her past is rising to the surface. Jay was killed by a single neck wound. Otherwise, he was a healthy man. He was also writing a book.

A fantastic debut thriller with lots of suspects, twists, and red herrings! I also enjoyed Rita, the seasoned detective, and hope we see more of her in an upcoming series! A solid whodunit thriller, and look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to #KensingtonBooks and #NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Dec 27, 2022
Dec 2022 Must-Read Books

I found the book a bit slow in the beginning but it picked up. The major drawback this book had was that the dialogue was so repetitive. Almost every page, someone said: “Who would do that to Jay? Everybody loved him!” I wasn’t a fan of the repetition but minus that, it was a solid story.

Jay Bradley and his wife Molly have a party for his 40th birthday, inviting their closest friends. The next day Molly wakes up and finds her husband dead downstairs with his throat slit. That leads to Detectives Rita Myers and Chase Fuller being brought in to investigate his death. I liked how the story played out being told from two different POVs, Molly and Rita. Overall it was a great read and I would definitely recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

This one was a wild ride and I never knew what was going to happen next! I loved the backstory and the dual POVs. The plot was effective and the cast was perfect. Parlato wasted no time getting to the meat of the story and taking the reader on an intense and emotionally charged ride that was also dark and creepy. The imagery and pacing was fantastic as well.

Great debut novel!

It’s Jay's 40th birthday, and Molly, his wife, decides to throw a small, intimate party at home with their closest friends. It's a great night and everyone enjoys the party. However, the next morning, Jay is dead in his shed/office. And everyone is a suspect!

Rita is the homicide detective assigned the case, along with her younger but driven partner.
They begin to investigate Jay’s death and learn there is more to this mystery.

I loved the dual narration of both Molly and Rita. Both giving their side of the story and it gives us more insight.

I really liked Rita and liked that we saw her away from the job, which gave us a better understanding of who she was.

I was immediately drawn in. The short chapters were great and the story flowed. I found myself suspecting everyone. Even eleven year old Alice may have blipped on my radar, but she quickly was off my list.

The investigation took me on a wild ride and I loved the way the story unfolded.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

All The Dark Places by
Terri Parlato
My rating:
4/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The book begins with a 40th birthday celebration for Jay Bradley, all of his closest friends in attendance. The morning after, his wife Molly, wakes up the next morning to find Jay, dead. Who killed him?

From there, The whodunit begins and the story of Molly’s past comes to light.

This story was wild. I had so many theories and for the most part, I wasn’t able to figure it out. I kept going back and forth between what I thought happened and truly felt like the author did a great job with the suspense!
I really enjoyed the short chapters and dual POVS between Molly and Rita, the main detective on the case.

This one is a must read and I got the opportunity to read it before it was published thanks to @netgalley and Kensington Books!

Add this one to your goodreads want to read shelf immediately! 🕵️‍♀️

#allthedarkplaces #bookreviews #bookstagram #terriparlato

WOW! Just wow.

Terri Parlato's debut novel, All the Dark Places, DELIVERED.

I was hooked from the very beginning. The premise of the book -- the night after her husband's 40th birthday party, Molly Bradley finds him murdered in his home office. This happens in the first 10 pages, and the book just keeps getting darker and more twisted.

I was hooked from beginning to end.

The narration goes between Molly, the wife, and Rita, the lead detective. I likely would've given this a full five stars if there had been a little more "breadcrumbs" for me to follow throughout the story. I could not even come close to attempting to guess "who dunnit?", and that's my favorite part of reading mystery books.

Well done to Terri Parlato! I will absolutely recommend!

Big thanks to Kensington Publishing for this ARC! Make sure to look for All the Dark Places on the shelves this December!

Unbelievably wonderful debut from this author. I really enjoyed this one. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the early read.

This is a fantastic debut by the author and I must say. I actually enjoyed reading this book and was hooked till the end!

The story starts with a birthday party held at Bradley's house and all of their close friends were invited. Mrs. Bradley, known as Molly retires to bed early after the party and Joe is stuck in the office as he is busy working on his new book. When Molly wakes up, she finds that his side of the bed was empty and not slept in. When she goes downstairs, she finds her husband dead with his throat slashed. One of the guests at the party was guilty of the murder and someone in the group knows Molly's turbulent past. The detectives Rita and Chse gets involved in the case as they believed that the murder of Dr. Bradley is connected to the disappearance of another woman happened months ago.

This was really engrossing. It was told from Molly's and Rita's POV and we do know through reading Molly's POV about the secret that she was keeping. The book itself talks about the trauma the person gets when the person was abducted, and of couse, this was a quite page turner which is a plus sign in psychological thriller books. Also, there are some twists and turns and until the end, you would actually never know who the real killer was. Overall, this was truly an engaging thriller and I cannot wait to read more books from this author. Worth solid five stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

One frigid snowy night, Molly throws a 40th birthday party for her beloved husband Jay. Molly got a little tipsy and goes to bed, passing out. Jay never came to bed; Molly goes looking for him and finds him dead on the floor of his office. Rita has worked for the Boston PD many years and has grown accustomed to murders. Rita is convinced Jay’s murder wasn’t random or one of opportunity. Rita is convinced it was one of Jay’s friends who killed him. Molly struggles with figuring out her husband’s death and struggles to keep her deepest secrets buried. Will Rita be able to solve the murder before Molly is revealed? Will Molly be able to survive this?

This book was a solid suspense thriller. The pacing wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t too slow – definitely on the slow side though. I tend to find most suspense novels are deep in the atmosphere of character development which can bog the story down and draw it out – that happened here. I did enjoy the story, I just felt like there were a lot of words that didn’t fit – and some entire characters actually. While this was a solid book, the drawn out nature of it made not as enjoyable as I had hoped. However, that being said, this was a solid debut novel.

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher, Kensington Books @kensingtonbooks, for my advanced e-arc in exchange for this honest review. This one is out December 27th, so treat yourself to some after Christmas Shopping. This one would be perfect for fans of Megan Miranda and Shari Lapena

This book starts off slow but it does picks up. It was pretty good. It definitely kept me guessing. I would of liked a little bit more character development. Overall, this is a good debut. I will be on the lookout for future books from this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters were well developed, I was invested in the main characters journey, and the plot unfolded at a good pace.

Another fantastic debut novel in 2022. There really have been so many new authors to get excited about and Terri Parlato goes on that list. I read this in a day, finding it hard to put down. Each twist lead to even more questions and ai had to know how it was going to end.

Molly wakes up the morning after her husbands 40th birthday party to find that he is not in bed with her and she can’t smell the morning coffee pot. She finds him on the floor of his office in a pool of blood. Police soon arrive and Mollys world is turned upside down. Police are sure that somebody from the party did this… but it was the couples closest and best friends. Who would do this? Turns out, this group of friends is hiding all sorts of secrets, Molly with the biggest.

I really loved how this one had you pointing the finger at everyone at some stage or other. It was a well put together ending and I throughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for my advanced copy of this book to read. Published on December 27th.

All the Dark Places by Terri Parlato scared me to death in the best way. Absolutely un-put-down-able. I had to know what happened and was NOT disappointed. A must read for thriller fans!