Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Release Date: July 19, 2022
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Psychological
Things We Do in the Dark is a brilliant new thriller from Jennifer Hillier, the award-winning author of the breakout novels Little Secrets and Jar of Hearts. Paris Peralta is suspected of killing her celebrity husband, and her long-hidden past now threatens to destroy her future.
When Paris Peralta is arrested in her own bathroom—covered in blood,
holding a straight razor, her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub
behind her—she knows she'll be charged with murder. But as bad as this
looks, it's not what worries her the most. With the unwanted media
attention now surrounding her, it's only a matter of time before someone
from her long hidden past recognizes her and destroys the new life
she's worked so hard to build, along with any chance of a future.
Twenty-five
years earlier, Ruby Reyes, known as the Ice Queen, was convicted of a
similar murder in a trial that riveted Canada in the early nineties.
Reyes knows who Paris really is, and when she's unexpectedly released
from prison, she threatens to expose all of Paris's secrets. Left with
no other choice, Paris must finally confront the dark past she escaped,
once and for all.
Because the only thing worse than a murder charge are two murder charges.
Jennifer Hillier's Things We Do in the Dark is a dark thriller about the wife of a famous comedian who was murdered and her dark and secretive past might end up in the light of day. Paris Aquino Peralta becomes front-page news when her very famous husband, Jimmy, is found stabbed to death, and she is found by the police holding the murder weapon. Now an accused murderer, Paris' perfectly crafted life is in shambles, and she is in danger of not only facing murder charges but also being exposed for who she really is: Paris has a dark and dirty past.
“Because while you can reinvent yourself, you can’t outrun yourself. As a
woman once reminded her a long time ago, the common denominator in all
the terrible things that have happened to you is you. Everywhere you go,
there you are.”
This book is separated into four parts. Part I is pretty much the author laying out the alleged facts of what Paris is accused of doing and who the key characters that you should be paying attention to are. Including Elsie Dixon and Zoe Moffett. Abused from early in her childhood by her mother and countless men,
Joey became tough to survive until she got a chance to escape and start
again. There are plenty of emotional triggers for those who are susceptible to them but the author doesn't actually get into the dirty parts.
The second part is from the perspective of Drew Malcolm. Drew is a podcaster of a show called Things We Do in the Dark. He was a reporter at the time of Ruby’s murder trial and knows what she did to her daughter. 20 years ago, Drew knew a young woman named Joelle (Joey) Reyes. Joey was his roommate for a brief time before he left the city. Joey was allegedly killed in an apartment fire. It was Drew who identified the body. Something body should have to do. Drew still blames himself for not doing enough to save the girl he loved.
What if she didn’t die in a traumatic accident? Drew is now laser focused on her mother Ruby Reyes for his podcast who the media is now portraying as a victim because of #MeToo. And now that the Ice Queen is being released, Drew wants to get answers from her as to what happened to Joey. To make matters even more twisted, Drew sees a familiar face in the news which makes question everything he knew about Joey. However, this Joey has found herself deep into trouble, and it's not looking good for her future.
Ruby knows Paris's true identity and could ruin everything for Paris. Reyes begins to blackmail Paris - she wants money, lots of it, or she'll expose Paris's secrets. It is unknown to me and others how Ruby found out about Joey being alive. (I guessed it may have had something to do with the wedding announcement). Joey was allegedly killed in an apartment fire. but there was another young woman who went missing at almost the exact time. The women could have been twins, and often danced together in a local strip club.
Paris's past is told in several story lines. The past and present are explored as we uncover that Paris had no chance at a normal childhood let alone an adult one. While some of the things she did to survive were pretty bad, they weren’t nearly as bad as what was done to her by her mother and her boyfriends. Paris scrambles to figure out how to handle the situation knowing she was nowhere near Jimmy when he was murdered. She has worked too long and hard for everything to fall apart now. Will Paris be able to confront her haunted past without shattering her chance for a better future?
I have to tell you, I had feelings. Ruby was just plain awful and she should have gone to prison for what she did to her own daughter. But I digress since Ruby uses the #MeToo movement to claim that she was being abused which is truly despicable. There are some good people who cross Paris over her lifetime including a certain social worker who Joey took shine to because she actually felt loved and wanted. There are of course, some plot twists when it comes to Jimmy's murder, as well as how Paris has to deal with Ruby.
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