Jennifer Hillier. Things We Do in the Dark. USA: Minotaur Books, 2022.
Paris Peralta loved her life with her husband of two years, the aging celebrity comic Jimmy Peralta. Until she found him dead one night in their bathtub. Although his assistant Zoe, his long-time lawyer Elsie, and Paris herself believe it was suicide, homicide is the police judgment. Being the obvious suspect, Paris leads us through her arrest, jail, arraignment, and bail with ankle monitor, as well as her mental anguish at losing Jimmy and fear that the media frenzy will reach someone who could uncover her past―a past known only to murderer Ruby Reyes, in prison for the murder of her married boyfriend, Charles Baxter. Ruby is about to be paroled, with blackmail more on her mind than old history. That's Part One. Next up is Part Two with Drew Malcolm, a journalist-podcaster, fixated on the same Ruby, for the criminal abuse she heaped upon her daughter Joey, Drew's good friend. Ruby is being painted in the press as the victim of a wealthy predator, despite being convicted for killing him. Drew plans to expose the real Ruby in a podcast.
The solution to a large part of the mystery was so obvious to me from an early stage, even though appropriate red herrings are in place. In Part Three, Joey's sad childhood to adulthood after mother Ruby's imprisonment is interspersed with Drew's interviews of anyone who knew mother or daughter. He wants to learn from her friend Mae how and why Joey died in a fire. In Parts Four and Five, Paris is free again, no murder charge; we learn about Ruby's trial. Hillier presents a well-told story where the lives of four different women intersect. Overcoming the odds against today's social evils is muy simpรกtico.
Paris
▪ They were two adults making a decision to do life together, and that was enough for both of them. (15)
▪ "If I didn't know otherwise, I might have thought you were his wife, you know him so well," Kellogg says to Elsie. (27)
▪ "Jimmy," she said, "I don't feel right leaving you alone." (32)
▪ As a woman once reminded her a long time ago, the common denominator in all the terrible things that have happened to you is you. (38)
▪ Hi Zoe. Thanks for the phone. You're fired. (53)
▪ She'd only known her husband for three years. Elsie had known Jimmy for five decades. (197)
Drew
▪ "Can you tell this dude I'm your friend?" Drew said. It came out more hostile than he intended, and he saw the bouncer's jaw twitch. (97)
▪ "Do you still love her?" Drew asked. "After everything?" (141)
▪ Ruby must believe that Mae had something to do with the fire that killed Joey. And if she's blackmailing Mae, she must know she can prove it. (169)
Joey
▪ No child should have to live through what she lived through with her mother. (79)
▪ "You're getting married," Joey whispered. "You're having a baby. You're making a whole new life, and it doesn't include me." (105)
▪ "You know your Tita Flora didn't want you here, because your mom has done something very bad." (128)
▪ "She's my mother," Joey said simply. "Everything I feel for her is intense, and I feel it all at once. Intense love, intense fear, intense hate." (141)
▪ She earned a thousand dollars from that one customer that night. She was surprised at how easy it was. (208)
▪ Joey's mother had a bad mother too. (253)
Ruby's defense
"Baby, if you tell the jury about Charles when you testify, it helps me, do you understand?" Her mother's face is inches from her own, her voice the volume of a stage whisper. "Because then the jury will understand why I did what I did. I'm your mother, and I did it to protect you. This is extremely important for my defense. If you don't tell them about Charles, I will go to prison forever. And the where will you be? Stuck in Maple Sound, that's where. I might only do six months on the child abuse charge with good behavior and the completion of some bullshit program. Six months, Joey, and then we'd be together again. Don't you want me to get out?"
I don't know.
"Baby, please," Ruby said. "You need to do this, okay?" (253)
Hannah Morrissey. The Widowmaker. Ebook download from TPL. USA: Minotaur Books, 2022.
Morgan is a photographer who ruefully moves back to her hometown, Black Harbor, another woman with a dark, fateful past that's merely hinted at (similarities to the previous book duly noted). An anonymous message left in the ashes of a fire had given her a key to "The Ruins," an unknown entity she wants to find. Her first professional job at home is for Eleanor Reynolds, snapping the guests at a lavish pre-Christmas party; son of the house, Bennett, makes it clear he wants to see more of her. The wealthy Reynolds family is a town legend: Patriarch Clive disappeared twenty years ago, and many people believe Eleanor killed him.
In another part of town, detective Ryan Hudson is shocked speechless by the bullet-ridden body of his police mentor and good friend, Brix Garrison. Morgan, on her way home after a drink with Bennett, witnesses the shooting. In Garrison's pocket Ryan finds an odd ticket that says "Welcome to The Ruins / Where your true self dwells." None of it makes sense to the less-than experienced detective, stuck in a depressing department of policing. The killer took off in Morgan's car with all her equipment. Then a huge accidental discovery: the iconic Porsche (nicknamed Widowmaker) owned by Clive Reynolds is located, long submerged in Lake Michigan. With a skeleton in it ‒ but it's not Clive. Ryan is assigned the cold case of finding Reynolds, dead or alive, while cops from a different jurisdiction hunt for Garrison's killer.
A very convoluted narrative spins out with almost too many mysteries: who shot Garrison and why? How did he connect with Morgan? What happened to Clive Reynolds? What were the dark background events that sent Morgan running home to Black Harbor? Who gave her a key to the unknown "Ruins"? What was that fire about? In the beginning, Morgan is not necessarily a sympathetic figure; only feeling safe with Hudson, she opens up her sad, sad personal history. Morrissey could be reaching a little too far with several interpretations of Ruins/ruin. The reveals are slow in coming but no one said they had to be logical.
Bits
▪ The Reynolds family was enshrouded in wealth, status, and mystery; and Black Harbor's entire eroding shoreline belonged to them. (7)
▪ "You know what we call it when strange shit happens around here? Tuesday." (93)
Morgan
▪ Since her previous life had burned to the ground just a few months ago, she'd been trying to make the right choices. (33)
▪ "I found you." (56)
▪ Hudson didn't fill the bill for a cop any more than she did for an innocent photographer. He was a misfit, like her, and damn if she didn't automatically like him a little for it. (84)
▪ The muscles in her stomach contracted. She couldn't be locked up again. (121)
▪ She'd been home for three months and was still no closer to finding the key's corresponding lock. (121)
▪ Bern had made her into what she was: a misanthropic vengeful creature. (202)
▪ Morgan had done the same thing with people, making their outsides match the depravity they hid inside themselves. (242)
▪ Because if people feared her, they didn't hurt her. (266)
Hudson
▪ This was the first time in eleven years he'd thrown up at a scene. (22)
▪ "Figure out what happened to Clive Reynolds, Hudson, and you'll never have to work a Sensitive Crimes case again." (50)
▪ It wasn't his cross to bear that his brother was Hades, drug lord of the underworld. (155)
▪ "Now, if you can't love your brother for one night out of the year, Ryan, you'll have to go." (159)
▪ He was a worry stone, worn so smooth after Garrison's death and being disowned by his family that nothing bad could stick to him anymore. For the first time in his life, he felt invincible, a little come-what-may. (175)
▪ And then there was Hudson. Moody, mercurial, and so damn unsure of himself. (303)
▪ He should have listened to Kole and stayed out of the investigation of Garrison's death. (319)
Hannah Morrissey. The Widowmaker. Ebook download from TPL. USA: Minotaur Books, 2022.
Morgan is a photographer who ruefully moves back to her hometown, Black Harbor, escaping a fateful past that's merely hinted at. An anonymous message left in the ashes of a fire had given her a key to "The Ruins," an unknown entity she wants to find. Her first professional job at home is for Eleanor Reynolds, snapping the guests at a lavish pre-Christmas party; son of the house, Bennett, makes it clear he wants to see more of her. The wealthy Reynolds family is a town legend: Patriarch Clive disappeared twenty years ago, and many people believe Eleanor killed him.
In another part of town, detective Ryan Hudson is shocked speechless by the bullet-ridden body of his police mentor and good friend, Brix Garrison. Morgan, on her way home after a drink with Bennett, witnesses the shooting. In Garrison's pocket Ryan finds an odd ticket that says "Welcome to The Ruins / Where your true self dwells." None of it makes sense to the less-than experienced detective, stuck in a depressing department of policing. The killer took off in Morgan's car with all her equipment. Then a huge accidental discovery: the iconic Porsche (nicknamed Widowmaker) owned by Clive Reynolds is located, long submerged in Lake Michigan. With a skeleton in it ‒ but it's not Clive. Ryan is assigned the cold case of finding Reynolds, dead or alive, while cops from a different jurisdiction hunt for Garrison's killer.
A very convoluted narrative spins out with almost too many mysteries: who shot Garrison and why? How did he connect with Morgan? What happened to Clive Reynolds? What were the dark background events that sent Morgan running home to Black Harbor? Who gave her a key to the unknown "Ruins"? What was that fire about? In the beginning, Morgan is not necessarily a sympathetic figure; only feeling safe with Hudson, she opens up her sad, sad personal history. Morrissey could be reaching a little too far with several interpretations of Ruins/ruin. The reveals are slow in coming but no one said they had to be logical.
Bits
▪ The Reynolds family was enshrouded in wealth, status, and mystery; and Black Harbor's entire eroding shoreline belonged to them. (7)
▪ "You know what we call it when strange shit happens around here? Tuesday." (93)
Morgan
▪ Since her previous life had burned to the ground just a few months ago, she'd been trying to make the right choices. (33)
▪ "I found you." (56)
▪ Hudson didn't fill the bill for a cop any more than she did for an innocent photographer. He was a misfit, like her, and damn if she didn't automatically like him a little for it. (84)
▪ The muscles in her stomach contracted. She couldn't be locked up again. (121)
▪ She'd been home for three months and was still no closer to finding the key's corresponding lock. (121)
▪ Bern had made her into what she was: a misanthropic vengeful creature. (202)
▪ Morgan had done the same thing with people, making their outsides match the depravity they hid inside themselves. (242)
▪ Because if people feared her, they didn't hurt her. (266)
Hudson
▪ This was the first time in eleven years he'd thrown up at a scene. (22)
▪ "Figure out what happened to Clive Reynolds, Hudson, and you'll never have to work a Sensitive Crimes case again." (50)
▪ It wasn't his cross to bear that his brother was Hades, drug lord of the underworld. (155)
▪ "Now, if you can't love your brother for one night out of the year, Ryan, you'll have to go." (159)
▪ He was a worry stone, worn so smooth after Garrison's death and being disowned by his family that nothing bad could stick to him anymore. For the first time in his life, he felt invincible, a little come-what-may. (175)
▪ And then there was Hudson. Moody, mercurial, and so damn unsure of himself. (303)
▪ He should have listened to Kole and stayed out of the investigation of Garrison's death. (319)
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