A Flicker In the Dark

A Flicker In The Dark is the first novel by American author, Stacy Willingham. When Chloe Davis was twelve years old, she learned her father was a serial killer: in the summer of 1999, six teenaged girls in the small Louisiana town of Breaux Bridge disappeared. While their bodies were never found, Richard Davis was sentenced to six consecutive life terms.

Stunned by disbelief, shame and guilt, the psychological effect on Chloe, her mother and her older brother, Cooper was understandably profound, and was the impetus for her qualification as a medical psychologist.

Twenty years on, she practices in Baton Rouge, but still suffers panic attacks, hypochondria, insomnia and nyctophobia. She self-medicates to dull her fear and paranoia, and has only, in the last year, been able to trust someone enough to get engaged. She'll be marrying Daniel Briggs in late July.

On a day when a New York Times reporter calls wanting to talk about her father and her fiancé throws her a surprise party, she learns that a teenaged girl has gone missing, recalling the events of two decades earlier. Days later, as the teen's body is found, another goes missing.

With Richard David still safely incarcerated, Chloe doesn't take much convincing to believe there is a copycat killer, even if the MO is not quite identical. What's worse, she discovers a personal connection with both victims. Then she stumbles on something that has her wondering if, once again, the killer is much closer to home than she could ever have imagined.

There are plenty of red herrings to keep the reader second-guessing themselves on just who the perpetrator is, although not all of them are entirely convincing, and some aspects of the plot could have been more subtly handled. It might be wise to prebook a chiropractic appointment before starting this one: there are some excellent twists and surprises, making this a very impressive debut novel. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins Australia.