True crime podcaster Rachel Krall is back, this time focusing on an unsolved series of murders in Florida. Tackling these crimes has her involved in the world of social media influencers and working with the FBI to determine the who, what, when and why of past murders while investigating the present day disappearance of an instagram celebrity. Five stars.

Megan Goldin's most recent book Stay Awake was one of my favourites of last year. It was the first of her books that I read and I immediately went back to read her two earlier books.

Dark Corners sees Rachel Krall (the true crime podcaster who starred in The Night Swim) back for another mystery thriller.

I was hooked from the start. Rachel is summoned by the FBI and immediately drawn into the hunt for a missing high profile influencer.

No spoilers, this is an involved and multilayered plots, historic murders and a race against time as a suspect in those murders in due to be released from prison.

Megan Goldin is very skilled at weaving multiple plot strands, and this story is presented through Rachel's present, reports from her podcast, and chillingly, the perspective of one of the suspects with a cold eye for his potential next victim.

The plot comes together brilliantly, with a lot of twists and all questions answered.

This is a very satisfying and skilfully presented killer thriller, even better than The Night Swim and fans of Megan Goldin's previous books are going to love this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! I read The first to this duology and absolutely loved it so I was very excited to get an ARC to this one.

The story was great and the twist toward the end was good. I found a few things were obvious but overall I was hooked and needed to know what was going to happen next.

Dark Corners by Megan Goldin is an engrossing read.. A superb job with plot and characters. Well worth the read.

Rachell a true crime podcaster had been asked to help find a missing fellow podcaster, Maddison. Maddison went missing after visiting Bailey, a murderer of six women, who is soon to be released. Rachel goes to visit with Bailey to see if he knows anything about Maddison's disappearance.
A young woman is discovered who has a tattoo of a snake eating its tail?. That is the same tatto that Rachel saw on the back of Baileys had when she was visiting him the other day. is the killer now targeting Rachel. Will Rachel figure it out in time.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of Dark Corners in exchange for an honest review.

An Instagram influencer named Maddison Logan lied to gain access to Terence Bailey, an inmate in a Florida prison. He’s days from release even though the police have long suspected him of abducting and murdering several young women. At the end of their brief conversation, Bailey wrote “Bring Rachel Krall to me. Do whatever it takes to find her. It’s time. . . .” But within hours of leaving the prison, Maddison disappears, and the FBI’s investigation is going nowhere as Maddison seems to have no past. Out of desperation, the FBI asks Rachel—who’s essentially Sarah Koenig from the Serial podcast—to come to Florida, talk to Bailey, and see if she can get a lead on what happened to Maddison. Soon, Rachel is conducting her own, parallel investigation of what happened to Maddison, which includes going undercover at an influencer convention called BuzzCon, even as she is being targeted by the murderer….

Dark Corners marks the return of Rachel Krall, heroine of The Night Swim. That’s good news indeed, as Rachel is a clever, engaging character. There are multiple mysteries at work in this novel. Who is Maddison Logan? Was she really abducted, or is this all just some ploy for greater online fame? Does Maddison’s disappearance have anything to do with a death at BuzzCon? Is Terence Bailey really a serial killer about to be freed, or did someone else murder the women he’s suspected of killing? There are also several red herrings, making it unlikely you’ll figure everything out before the reveals.

Ms. Goldin sets Dark Corners within the world of Instagram influencers. I can only assume that was a deliberate choice so that she could explore—perhaps expose would be a more accurate word—that community. Most of the influencers are portrayed as cutthroat and/or phony, creating utterly false presentations of their lives and using their so-called friends for nothing more than their own promotion. It’s an interesting portrayal, but certainly not a flattering one.

Dark Corners is a solid, entertaining mystery/thriller. It’s well plotted, and builds to solid climax. I look forward to the next novel starring Rachel Krall (and co-starring FBI Special Agent Joe Martinez, I suspect). Recommended.

P.S. You know that meme that says “when I was a kid I thought quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem than it is”? Well, this book has quicksand, and it’s a problem. Another selling point for this book. 😁

Ohhh my goodness, this is another FANTASTIC Megan Goldin book! I mean, I loved her last book but this one knocked it out of the park! Great character development, twists, and just overall an excellent thriller. I am so glad I got the chance to read this one and can't wait until I can discuss it with someone else!

I enjoyed Rachel Krall in The Night Swim, but she was a bit more unlikeable in Dark Corners. She is askaed by the FBI to head to Daytona, FL to assist with an investigation. She ups and leaves (and sadly we don't hear from poor Pete again) and meets with FBI agent Martinez. He slowly fills her in and has her talk with a man in prison.

She learns that Maddison, a social media influencer, had just visited this man as well and her name was brought up. She doesn't get much information but Maddison is now missing.

For most of the book, there are seemingly three storylines going on: one that reads like it could be her podcast episodes regarding a dead girl found in the woods, another regarding Rachel and Martinez and the Maddison investigation and yet another by a ride-share driver named Thomas.

Some of these pieces are pretty easy to put together, but how it all evolves is interesting. There is a deep dive into the world of social influencers (Rachel infiltrates Buzz-Con, a conference for social media influencers). There are no podcast episodes (just the notes which could read like a podcast, but this does differ from Night Swim). There are also no courtroom scenes (one of my favorite parts of Night Swim).

There is no need to read Night Swim before this one as it doesn't bring up that book at all (aside from a few mentions that she just returned from Neapolis). Rachel herself is hard to like. She's stubborn and doesn't have a ton of common sense. She's an armchair detective and doesn't listen to people that, you know, actually solve crimes for a living. She thinks she is invincible, which is frustrating, given her history with crimes and podcasts. But she does get things done. We don't get any more background on Rachel, but it does seem like we'll see more of her in future novels.

I really enjoyed The Night Swim by Megan Goldin, and was looking forward to Dark Corners, the second book in the Rachel Krall series. Rachel is a journalist turned podcaster who finds herself in the middle of an influencers’ event and a missing person investigation. This is a great blend of thriller and social media influencer culture. Not everything is what it seems including the perfect lives the influencers portray. I was hoping the ending was going to be a little more twisted, but overall, this is a solid sequel. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Dark Corners is Book 2 in a series by Megan Goldin. I enjoyed the first book - Night Swim - and while it wasn’t necessary to start with Night Swim, I recommend you do! Both books are enjoyable, and Book 2 is enhanced by having read the first one.

In Dark Corners, Podcaster Rachel Krall, takes on an investigative role in an FBI case involving a missing person. While that in and of itself was unrealistic, I was happy to see this side of Rachel. She’s a very well-developed character, likable, smart, and tenacious. I was fascinated by the serial killer aspect, and the FBI’s involvement.

I particularly enjoy police procedural books, but they need to ring true. Unfortunately, this one fell a little short for me in that regard. I just didn’t buy the FBI’s willingness to work with and share the investigation with Rachel. (The FBI doesn’t even like to work with other law enforcement agencies!) Having said that, the story was interesting enough, and Rachel’s character was strong enough, that I still very much enjoyed the book. I hope to see more of Rachel in Goldin’s next book.

Solid 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book.

I'm a fan of Megan Goldin, and was excited to get a chance to read her latest! Dark Corners is atmospheric and engaging and while I did guess a few of the twists, that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. Recommended!

I've adored all of Megan's previous books, including The Night Swim, where we first meet Rachel Krall, so I was thrilled to get the chance to read Dark Corners to see what she has gotten herself into next!

Rachel Krall is a true crime podcaster, this time following the disappearance of vanlife influencer, Maddison Logan. Being a former vanlifer myself, I was immediately sucked into this storyline!

After Maddison visits inmate, Terence Baily, who is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, she then disappears and all eyes are on Terence. To help with the investigation, Rachel finds herself wading through BuzzCon, an influencer conference Maddison was supposed to attend, and its participants, who all seem to only care about one thing.. their social presence.

Rachel is smart, tough, and has great instincts and I loved watching her and Joe's relationship bloom throughout the book. Highly recommended read and author!

Almost three years ago, <i>The Night Swim</i> was one of my favorite Summer reads of 2020. I thought that book, which I thought at the time was standalone, did a masterful job of blending a story with multiple points of view and timelines with (what was at the time) a fairly fresh angle of an intrepid podcast host investigating the crime. I read it in a little over a day. When I found out that there would be a second book in the series, I jumped at the chance to get an advanced copy.

So did <i>Dark Corners</i> live up to my hopes?

...Basically?

It's a bit of a slow starter. I found that early, the narrative and point of view changes actually did more to stall momentum than build intrigue. The first thirty percent or so of the book is kind of a muddled slog, trying to introduce too much and tease things that probably could have waited until they naturally arrived later in the book.

But when the story gets rolling it maintains a nice, tight pace for the rest of the book. Its more of a thriller than a mystery, since the identity of the main villain is known to the reader from the very beginning, but there's nothing fundamentally wrong with that. Rachel is a fun, likable protagonist, the villain, and supporting characters work, the attendees at the convention are realistically obnoxious, and the mystery generally makes sense. There's not much more you can ask for from a mystery series. I look forward to book three.

I want to thank NetGalley and St Martin's Press for my advanced copy.

Wow!! I stayed up so late at night to finish this one . I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. I really hope this author writes another Rachel Krall book. I loved this book even more than The Night Swim!

This was a good read. I haven’t read The Night Swim yet but planning to. I liked the short chapters and the mystery on the book. What I didn’t like much are the influencers and social media part. There were times I was bored. I hated the police work, and what they did with Terry. Overall this could have been better. I just felt it needed more depth.

Wow what a book I devoured it in a few days definitely keep me reading losing some night sleep. It's definitely one of my favorite books this year.

This was another great book my Megan Goldin! Her Rachel Krall series is great. The book was suspenseful and exciting. It had romance and humor as well, and kept the reader guessing until the last page.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced digital copy of Dark Corners by Megan Goldin! After reading and really enjoying The Night Swim, I was super excited to get this copy of the "sequel". I put that in quotes because you wouldn't necessarily have to read the first one to enjoy the second one. Megan does a great job of catching you up without boring you. I will say though, I enjoyed the podcast aspect of The Night Swim a lot more, especially the audio version of that one. You knew which chapters were meant to be the podcast episode, whereas in Dark Corners it was hard to tell if some of the chapters were even meant to be the podcast. Overall, it kind of felt like a run of the mill, average suspense book that I won't remember down the road, but it still kept me guessing and wondering what would happen next.

True crime podcaster Rachel Krall is back in this entertaining slow-burn crime/thriller novel. Rachel heads to Daytona Beach for her next podcast investigation: Social media influencer Maddison Logan disappears right after she meets with soon-to-be-released convict Terence Bailey in prison. The FBI and Rachel suspect the two incidents are related. As the FBI conducts its own investigation, Rachel goes undercover at huge social media influencer convention BuzzCon to solve the case.

While Dark Corners has its fair share of gruesome content and depictions of violence against women, it's more frivolous, less serious than its predecessor The Night Swim—which focused on a sexual assault trial. The novel had dark elements, but it was a quick read and thoroughly entertaining with some clever twists. I hope we see more of Rachel Krall in future novels from Megan Goldin. She's a bada** woman who knows how to get things done, and therefore, she's a fun main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this ARC. After reading and loving The Night Swim, I knew I had to read Dark Corners. I think it was a great continuation of Rachel’s podcast! I enjoyed that this one focused more on the police/FBI side of investigating. Rachel is a very interesting and intelligent character, I’d love to read more books with her as the main focus. Dark Corners is more of a slow burn thriller, but I really enjoyed it!