Dark and Darker

Who's afraid of the dark? If you aren't already, you will be after tackling these up-all-night reads. Looking for an excuse to stay up all night? Probably with all the lights on? Then these are the books for you!

The Dark Lake

Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock, the lead homicide investigator in rural Smithson, Australia, is deeply unnerved when former high school classmate Rosalind Ryan is found dead, her body floating in a lake. As much as Rosalind's life was a mystery to Gemma when they were students together, her death presents even more of a puzzle. The investigation becomes quite challenging when Gemma's past, full of secrets and lies, returns to haunt her.

Why would anyone want to kill the beautiful and talented Rosalind?

Clever and unpredictable, this twisty mystery, Bailey's debut, will have you guessing right up until the end. And I've discovered a new author!

In a Dark, Dark Wood

A broken friendship, a dark past, a doomed bachelorette party, and an isolated cabin in a dark, dark wood—the perfect ingredients for Ware's debut in which Leonora Shaw can't trust anyone, not even herself.

It is set in Northumberland, England and opens in a hospital room where Leonora wakes with scratches, contusions, and a woeful head injury. Afflicted with memory loss and a nagging sense of guilt, she sees a policeman stationed outside her room and asks herself "What have I done?" Apparently a murder has been committed and she is under suspicion. Uh-oh, poor Leonora.

What exactly happened in that beautiful cabin in a dark, dark wood?

Dark Places

On a small-town American farm, when Libby Day was seven years old, her older brother killed their family in a night of horrors. Or did he? Twenty-five years later, prompted by a cultish club of groupies obsessed with notorious crimes, she starts looking into what really happened that night. She begins to realize that everyone in her family had something to hide. You will never guess what she discovers.

Who massacred the Day family?

I know, I know! There's a movie starring Charlize Theron. Never saw it, never will. I prefer the book and what a thrill ride it was!

All of these crimes are committed in dark, isolated areas which adds to the haunted, atmospheric feel of the mysteries. These books also explore the darkness within regular, everyday folks. As I said, keep the lights on. You never know who, or what, is lurking nearby...