Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars. 

Since then, she has been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben’s innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her brother’s? 

Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back? 

She begins to realise that everyone in her family had something to hide that day… especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find.

Genre: Contemporary Mystery-Thriller

Gillian Flynn wasn’t an author I was unfamiliar with. I sort of was, but also I wasn’t at the same time. I knew of her book Gone Girl, which I knew based on the film adaptation, but I wasn’t familiar with the author of the book. 

I think I came across Dark Places when researching my A-Z Reading Challenge picks, where I’d first came across Gone Girl, which subsequently lead me to Dark Places. 

Before embarking on this book, I was apprehensive of starting it (when am I not?), simply because I just had a feeling I wasn’t going to enjoy it. I think that was down to the fact it was from an author who wasn’t particularly popular on BookTok or Bookstagram. 

Yet, I decided to continue with this book (mainly because I didn’t have time to find another book starting with the letter D) and I thought it was only fair that I read it and give it my full opinion. 

Dark Places follows Libby Day twenty five years after the brutal murders of her mother Patty and two sisters, Michelle and Debby in her childhood home when she was seven years old. Being the only survivor, at just seven years old, Libby testified against her brother Ben as a witness of him being the murder.

The story alternates between present day and 1985, the day the murders occurred, with chapters leading up to the murders hour by hour. The 1985 chapters alternate in a third person perspective between Ben, young Libby and their mother Patty, who is a struggling single mother of four; desperately trying to keep their farm afloat.

We first meet Libby twenty-five years later, where she meets with her lawyer, who informs her that after years of living solely off donations made by concerned members of the public, has now ran out of money and will therefore need to find an alternative way of paying her bills. 

After receiving a letter from a man named Lyle Wirth, who expresses his interest in her family’s death, Libby receives an invitation to his crime fan club. Desperately needing money, Libby is forced to earn it by making appearances at Lyle’s club meetings, where members believe strongly in Ben’s innocence. 

Initially, Libby angrily brushes them off as crazy, obsessive fanatics after they accuse her of ruining Ben’s life and calling her a liar in regard to her testimony. However, Libby is in desperate need of money and after being presented with more information, she begins to question what happened all those years ago – especially with how each murder took place and how they differentiated from each other, despite happening on the same night.

Lyle’s crime obsessed fan club called The Kill Club, encourage Libby to embark on several tasks in exchange for money. These tasks being that she has to speak to people who were involved in Ben’s past, including Ben.

Libby’s first task is to visit her older brother Ben, who has been in prison for the last twenty-five years serving a sentence for his family’s murder. Libby has had no contact with Ben after believing he was responsible for her family’s death. When meeting Ben, Ben is understanding for Libby’s testimony that imprisoned him when she was seven years old. The pair share stories from their childhood and Libby encourages Ben to speak about the events that happened that day, only he’s reluctant to do so, but is persistent in Libby believing he didn’t do it. When catching up, Libby spots the end of a tattoo that Ben has that ends in ‘olly’, when asking Ben on this, he says it’s from a penpal he used to write with and believed he would marry, until she left him due to his life sentence. Libby asks Ben about the whereabouts of their distanced father.

Following her meeting with Ben, Libby meets up with Lyle who informs her of the accusations that Ben had during 1985, in which he was accused of having a sexual relationship with an 11 year old, called Krissi Cates when he was 15 years old. Krissi Cates and several other girls had accused Ben of sexually assaulting them and forcing them to participate in satanic acts. 

Lyle encourages Libby to visit Krissi Cates in hopes of finding answers and when meeting with her, Krissi details the events in which Ben sexually assaulted her at age 11 – not recognising who Libby was. Lyle and Libby are encouraged to look into Krissi’s father as a possible suspect, following his past criminal record and with the motive being his daughter was assaulted. Only when returning home, Libby is visited by Krissi who remembers Libby and reveals that she wasn’t sexually assaulted by Ben and that it was an obsessive crush that got out of hand, when Ben turned her down. She details how she would regularly tell her friends about her (fake) high school boyfriend and the things they would do, only her friends told their parents, who told Krissi’s parents. Krissi went along with the lie, encouraging her friends as well because of the attention she was receiving with her estranged parents.

Lyle informs Libby that The Kill Club are keen to buy memorabilia from around the time of her family’s murder. This prompts Libby to look through her family’s belongings for items she can sell for extra money. When looking, she finds a letter that her sister Michelle had stolen from Ben, which had been written from his girlfriend Diondra. The letter reveals that Diondra was pregnant with Ben’s baby and their need to run away, out of fear Diondra’s father would be furious with her pregnancy.

Libby tracks down her father and pays him a visit in hopes of gaining answers about what happened that night. Libby’s father Runner, is unhelpful, as he still holds onto the grudge of Patty not helping him with his money troubles. Lyle has the idea that Runner was responsible for the murders, following that he was denied money from a struggling Patty when attempting to leave town and that his ex girlfriend is in the process of changing her statement of being his alibi that night. Only Libby is reluctant to believe that idea, due to her father not seeming capable. When speaking with her father, Runner reveals the name Trey and that it was a friend who Ben hung around with alongside Diondra.

Following her visit from her father, that leaves her without any answers, she visits Ben again and asks him about Diondra, in which he pretends he doesn’t know who Diondra is. 

Lyle and Libby go to visit Trey, where when asked about Diondra, he revealed that they would regularly hang around with each other, participating in satanic rituals and that she was crazy. Trey revealed that Diondra would regularly run away and despite being reported missing for years, reassured Lyle and Libby that she’s probably alive living under a fake porn name – something she would do regularly. Trey then tells them her fake name to be polly, which sparks recognition in Lyle, who remembers Ben’s tattoo ending in ‘olly’.

While leaving Trey’s farm, Lyle searches for Diondra’s fake name, where they are able to find her. This prompts Libby to go visit her. 

Libby goes to visit Diondra who is not surprised by her visit and recognises her as Ben’s sister straight away. Diondra alludes to Ben saving her life and protecting her. Diondra reveals that on the night of the murders, her and Ben were preparing to run away because of her pregnancy and the fears she’d be left as a single parent, following the accusations of Ben. Only she thought Ben had backed out, when he failed to turn up, not realising he had been arrested.

Libby asks about the baby Diondra had and at that point, is introduced to Diondra’s daughter, Crystal. The trio catch up over food and wine, only when Libby is distracted, Crystal bashes Libby over the head knocking her unconscious. Diondra and Crystal had realised Libby was onto them and were going to kill her. 

Libby manages to escape into the woods but is closely followed by Crystal and Diondra. Libby manages to get away from them and finds Lyle who she reveals everything to. While Libby was escaping back to Lyle, Crystal and Diondra set their house on fire that was filled with evidence and go on the run. 

Libby goes to the police and reveals everything in hopes to free her brother, only there’s no evidence to back it up. That is until Libby remembers the lipstick she stole from Diondra’s bathroom that contains her DNA. The lipstick is used to match DNA that was found at the house on the night of the murders. 

Together Lyle and Libby piece together the events from the evening her family died. Ben and Diondra had secretly arrived back to Ben’s home to pack for their getaway whilst everyone was sleeping. Lyle had revealed that his kill club were investigating a man called Calvin Diehl who was known for murdering those in financial struggles to help their family gain their inheritance. Lyles club discovered that Libby’s mother had hired Calvin to murder her, so her children could receive her inheritance, allowing them to keep their family farm. Calvin Diehl reveals on a letter that during Patty’s murder, Debby accidentally wandered in, witnessing everything – resulting in him having to kill Debby too. So he uses Patty’s gun to shoot Debby and the axe that was left nearby. Also in the note, he states that he didn’t murder Michelle and that he never knew she was in the house. 

Before Patty and Debby were murdered, Ben and Diondra were interrupted by a sneaking Michelle who was ears dropping on their conversation in which she heard about Diondra’s pregnancy. Michelle accidentally gives her ears dropping away, resulting in Diondra to furiously chase her to her room. Whilst in the room, Diondra strangles Michelle to keep her from snitching and whilst doing so, Ben can hear the murder of his mother and sister taking place. Michelle is strangled to death by Diondra, and when Ben leaves his room, he finds the scene of the brutal murder of his mother and sister.

Diondra believes that this is the perfect result as they could use his mother’s inheritance to leave town and that despite the sexual allegations against him, people would find sympathy for him. Diondra remembers Ben’s littlest sister and encourages Ben to go and take care of her, but Ben encourages Libby to keep hiding in order to protect her. While Ben is away looking for Libby, Diondra smeared the blood of Debby and Patty on the walls with satanic verses. 

As the book is written in alternation between present day and 1985, the chapters in which reflect on the night of the murder also alternative between a third person perspective of young Libby, young Ben and their mother Patty. 

In Patty’s perspective, it is evident she is a struggling mother of four who is trying her best to make ends meet, whilst maintaining the farm that once belonged to her late parents. Patty meets with a financial advisor who reveals that there is no money left and therefore the bank are due to foreclosure. Adding to her stress, she discovers the rumours surrounding Ben and his accusations of sexual assault. The chapters of Patty detail the events leading up to her murder where she was rallying round trying to find Ben to clear up the accusations. Only she’s unable to find Ben and returns home, where her financial advisor suggests a way for her to get out of her money struggles. Her financial advisor had put her in touch with Calvin Diehl, who was aware of the accusations surrounding her son. He revealed that it would be better for him to be arrested for murder rather than for sexual assault of children. Patty makes up her mind, agreeing to be murdered for the sake of her children, only this isn’t mentioned in the book, simply implied. Patty awakes during the night of her murder and goes to the door for fresh air, unaware she’s about to meet her ending, she is brutally stabbed by Calvin.

In Ben’s perspective, it can be seen that Ben is struggling with being the outcast of the town, resulting in him make friends with dark characters – Trey and Diondra. Diondra and Trey regularly participate in satanic rituals and animal sacrifices. Following Ben’s first animal sacrifice, Ben’s inner thoughts become frightening and dark, leading to the question of whether Ben was capable of such things as murdering his own family.

In Libby’s perspective, it describes the events of the murder from the perspective of a scared seven year old child, hiding in her mother’s room. It is revealed that despite being in the house, Libby did not witness the murdering taking place – simply only hearing the voices. This had lead Libby to believe it was Ben’s voice she had heard. However, with the rumours of Ben’s satanic obsessions and sexual assault accusations, lawyers influenced Libby to testify that it was her brother. Libby’s testimony was further backed up by Trey’s lies about his own involvement of devil worshiping and lies about knowing Ben.

The story ends with Ben being released from prison, Diondra being arrested and Crystal going on the run. Libby reveals to Ben that even if she found Crystal, she wouldn’t make the same mistake of putting her family in prison. 

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This story had a lot to unpack and honestly, when thinking about what happened, I couldn’t remember what I had actually read – like all the side, but equally important details. 

Starting off with the beginning of the book, I found this extremely slow which had me slightly considering DNFing the book. The chapters being 30 pages long also didn’t help with my lack of motivation.

I think the opening of a mystery-thriller book is very important, it has to hook you in, has to be shocking – make you wonder what happened so you’ll read more. This book, did the opposite. 

Along with the lack of motivation to read due to the chapter length and lack of hook, I found the start very hard to follow. Like I felt like I was reading another language at times with the topics and references that were made. I just felt like I didn’t understand what was being described, despite rereading the same parts multiple times. 

However, I persevered because I don’t like to give up. I don’t know if I’ll ever DNF a book, simply because I’ll always wonder what happened and it would irritate me not knowing. Maybe I will if they have a film, so I can waste 1hour 30 minutes of my life rather than 6hours+. I don’t think this book picked up fully until around 50% and even then, it was still slow. I wasn’t fully interested until 70% where it picked up pace and also that the chapters were considerably shorter (15 pages).

Throughout the book, I wasn’t sure whether Ben was guilty or not. My decision switched with every chapter. I wasn’t keen on the accusations presented in the book and the chapters from Ben’s perspective that referenced the mix up of events there. How he did kiss Krissi, but realised it was inappropriate before putting an instant stop to it. There were no trigger warnings at the start, so I felt uneasy when I reached those chapters. Not that they’re triggering for me, I just would’ve liked to be aware of topics as such. 

I don’t really like to make predictions when reading, mainly because I’m too engrossed to make anything concrete and because if I’m right, then it disappoints me as it takes away the element of shock. Although, I had a feeling that Diondra’a baby wasn’t going to be his. I was wrong, it was his, which makes sense because she wouldn’t want to trap a poor boy when she could have someone who was with a good amount of money. I also suspected that maybe Patty would sacrifice herself for the farm and her children, but I didn’t think too much about it. The thought popped in my head as a “can you imagine if”, nothing that I sat and thought about for longer than what the idea came into my head. 

As for the reveal of the murders, I wasn’t gasping at who did it. They weren’t a main character so I wasn’t shocked. That could be because I was expecting it to be someone at the front. Calvin wasn’t mentioned much and I actually had to go back and see when he had previously been mentioned because I didn’t know who he was. For me, that made it anticlimactic. I was also expecting it to be a Libby, despite her being seven years old at the time. I just thought she might’ve been this sick and twisted child who was evil and capable of such things. As it got closer to the end, I thought it might’ve been Diondra and Trey who had done it; especially after the animal sacrifice.
I wasn’t expecting there to be two murders in the end and I’m surprised and slightly disappointed that there weren’t any predictions/theories included from what members of the kill club had came up with. 

I felt like there was a lack of emotion in this book, especially when Ben found his sister and mother. I wish we had of had more of an insight into the day after, like Ben being arrested and why everyone changed their stories of that night. 

What I did enjoy about the book – I enjoyed something? Shocking! I liked that it flashed back to the past and that it included multiple perspectives of the people involved. This helped get rid of the questions of what were they doing while this happened, or always my wish of seeing another perspective to see the full story.

With Gillian’s writing, I was able to visibly imagine the farm and other areas where events took place.

Overall, this just wasn’t a book I was gasping and reaching to read. My motivation slightly peaked at 70% but that was to find out what happened and finish it before the end of February. I’d also found that there was a movie adaptation of the book, so I was also quite interested in watching it and I didn’t want to watch the film before finishing the book. 

I watched the film, straight after finishing the book and I felt like that was a mistake. When trying to write my review, I felt like the scenes of what I envisioned and watched merged into one. I couldn’t remember what I had watched and read, I didn’t want to include parts of the movie in my review.

I’m not sure whether I would read more by Gillian Flynn. I’ve got Gone Girl listed as my pick for the letter ‘G’ but I’m slightly reconsidering it. Especially because I sort of know the premise of Gone Girl, so I feel like reading the book would make it anticlimactic.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Some quick notes about my thoughts on the film.