A Dark and Secret Place

February 15, 2021
Fantasist Williams comes down to earth--well, somewhat closer to earth--in this tale of a disgraced journalist's search for the truth about her mother's suicide. It's been so long since Heather Evans has been close to her mother that she doesn't have a key to her house. Even if they'd been much closer, nothing could have prepared her for the double shock of learning that Colleen Evans killed herself after leaving behind a note addressed "To you both." Heather doesn't have any siblings. What unbearable secret led her mother to put an end to her life, and who else was she writing to? Searching for answers among Colleen's effects, Heather finds a cache of letters written by Michael Reave, a friend of Colleen's from the Fiddler's Mill commune in the 1970s who's been imprisoned for years as the Red Wolf responsible for a gruesome series of murders. The appearance of new victims of a copycat killer who's clearly made a close study of the Red Wolf leads DI Ben Parker to urge Heather to talk with Michael Reave, who's oddly eager to talk to her as well. But Reave, alternately reticent and rambling, is far from eager to tell Heather what either she or Parker most wants to know. After an anonymous note informs her, "I know what you are, and I think you do too," Heather, more anxious than ever to get to the bottom of the mystery after her sudden estrangement from Parker, ventures with her old friend teacher Nikki Appiah onto the grounds of Fiddler's Mill, where the pace of events will rapidly quicken. A fairy tale for adults with strong stomachs.

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Starred review from May 15, 2021
In this thoroughly addictive thriller from fantasy writer Williams, Heather Evans returns to her childhood home after her mother's mysterious suicide and uncovers a shocking secret--her mother maintained a decades-long correspondence with imprisoned serial killer Michael Reave, also known as the Red Wolf. Even more chilling is the fact that women have started disappearing again, and the circumstances are eerily similar to those in Reave's previous crimes. Is a copycat at work, or is Reave somehow hunting from prison? Heather joins DI Ben Parker's investigation in the hopes of both uncovering her mother's connection with Reave and helping to save the lives of any future victims who could be trapped in the Wolf's murderous jaws. Williams does a marvelous job of establishing an ominous sense of place, and the juggling of two points of view--Heather's and Reave's in the letters--connect the past and present brilliantly. Heather is a haunted and at times unlikable protagonist whose complexity paves the way for the disturbing twist at the end. Fans of Alex North and C. J. Tudor should get their hands on this one ASAP, though a strong stomach will be required.

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