A Flicker in the Dark is an entertaining suspense novel that explores what it’s like to be a family member of a serial killer. Just when psychologist Chloe Davis thinks her father’s reign of terror is in the distant past, girls begin disappearing again. Are these the acts of a copycat killer, or is something else going on?

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Let’s begin with A Flicker in the Dark book summary.

Chloe has tried to move on from the dark days twenty years ago when her dad was arrested for kidnapping and killing six teenage girls. But she struggles with it. She can’t reconcile the memories of her loving father with the monster who confessed to being a serial killer. Perhaps that’s why she studied psychology.

Two of her coping mechanisms are Xanax and alcohol, sometimes together, which makes her groggy and has the reader questioning her reliability as a narrator. As damaged as she is, Chloe has something she’s really looking forward to – her upcoming marriage to Daniel.

Daniel and Chloe got engaged soon after they met, a fact of which her brother Cooper disapproves. Cooper thinks they haven’t been together long enough for Chloe to really know Daniel, an opinion that had me paying closer attention to the fiancé. And, indeed, I found Daniel somewhat suspicious. For one thing, he was overly intrusive into Chloe’s life – sort of a fiancé version of a helicopter parent.

Things begin to unravel for Chloe when a local girl disappears. The details are reminiscent of those long-ago murders. When the girl’s body is found, a piece of jewelry is missing and the cause of death was strangulation, two hallmarks of her father’s killings. In fact, we learn that 12-year-old Chloe found a box containing jewelry from the missing girls hidden in her childhood home, which led to her father’s arrest.

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Soon after the first girl goes missing, a second one is taken. This one hits close to home – she was a new patient of Chloe’s who was abducted right after her first therapy session with Chloe. And when the victim’s body is found dumped behind Chloe’s office building a week later, everything goes from bad to worse.

Chloe has worn out her welcome with the police, but she’s determined to stop the killer. So, along with a guy who wanted to interview her for the New York Times, she launches her own investigation. As she digs deeper, Chloe becomes increasingly suspicious of her fiancé, but things might not be as they seem…

I enjoyed A Flicker in the Dark but it’s not without its flaws. Chloe’s character is believably damaged, and who wouldn’t be when your dad is a notorious serial killer? And her character finally made me realize why the main protagonists of modern suspense novels are often mentally fragile substance abuses. This allows authors to have them think incoherent thoughts and act irrationally.

Using this device, the author is able to make Chloe jump to conclusions, alienate the police, and be manipulated by others. Her thoughts and behaviors made me wonder if she was a reliable narrator. It’s a rather clever technique, but maybe overly relied upon? I try to suspend belief when I read fiction, but listening to Chloe jump to the conclusion that the first of the present-day abductions was connected to the murders from her past was a pretty big stretch.

As for the plot of A Flicker in the Dark, it’s well-constructed and has some surprising twists. And the author does a good job of creating an increasingly gloomy and suspenseful atmosphere.

The reader, Karissa Vacker, is terrific and becoming one of my favorite audio book narrators.

I think fans of good suspense might like A Flicker in the Dark, especially if you listen to it.

For another great suspense novel by Stacy Willingham (and read by Karissa Vacker), check out All the Dangerous Things.