All the Dark Places

3.75

It's always super fun reading books set locally to me (yes, even thrillers). Unfortunately, the setting wound up being the most enjoyable part for me. 

The morning after Jay's birthday celebration, his wife Molly finds him murdered in his office. Enter Rita, a longtime detective with honed skills that leads her to believe the killer is someone close to the couple. As if losing her husband this way wasn't enough, Molly must confront her traumatic past without the comfort of her beloved husband. In doing so, she begins to question her life with him.

I enjoyed the plot of this though it felt as though it could be smoothed out a little bit. There was a lot of potential with the characters but the way it was written left a lot on the surface despite how much their pasts were intertwined. I felt like I was muddling through it rather than feeling any suspense. It picked up at the end, but by then I was ready to move on.

This story was interesting but it moved a little too slow at first. I actually fell asleep a few times listening to this. It finally did pick up and then I listened to the rest (almost) half in one sitting.

2.75 ⭐️'s

Overall an interesting read, but there was plenty about it I wasn't a fan of.

Many unnecessary details that I assume were an attempt to make the characters feel more "real" but I felt myself getting annoyed while reading through some of the chapters.

Biggest "ick" for me, is the lack of warning about the book containing scenes depicting the violent assault of a child (age 6) & d**th of a child (age 4)

I think I would actually read a book by this author again, given the chance, as I didn't completely hate it - the way the details of the story were slowly woven together actually worked quite well.

Also, I think detective Rita Myers was probably the most interesting character in the book. I didn't care much for most of the other characters though & there were a LOT to keep track of.