Things We Do in the Dark

It was such a delight to discover Jennifer Hillier. When I read Things We Do in the Dark, I became an instant fan. This is a superb novel—a complicated story, expertly told. It deals sensitively with dark themes, and the characters and storytelling are utterly authentic.

The story opens with Paris Peralta soaked in blood, holding a straight razor. Her older husband—multi-millionaire comedian Jimmy Peralta—lies dead in their bathtub. Paris is charged with his murder, but there’s much more to the story. Paris is not who she says she is, and this case is going to open her up to scrutiny that she will not be able to withstand. At the same time, podcaster Drew Malcolm is reviving interest in a notorious Canadian murder case twenty-five years in the past, involving infamous murderess Ruby Reyes, aka the Ice Queen, as Reyes comes up for parole. Hillier thrills and teases us until the different storylines collide in the most satisfying way.

I love it when I’m in the hands of a talented storyteller who grabs you and won’t let you go. That’s what happened when I opened Things We Do in the Dark. I couldn’t put it down. I suspect you won’t be able to either . . .

When Paris Peralta is arrested in her own bathroom—covered in blood, holding a straight razor, her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub behind her—she knows she’ll be charged with murder. But as bad as this looks, it’s not what worries her the most. With the unwanted media attention now surrounding her, it’s only a matter of time before someone from her long hidden past recognizes her and destroys the new life she’s worked so hard to build, along with any chance of a future.

Twenty-five years earlier, Ruby Reyes, known as the Ice Queen, was convicted of a similar murder in a trial that riveted Canada in the early nineties. Reyes knows who Paris really is, and when she’s unexpectedly released from prison, she threatens to expose all of Paris’s secrets. Left with no other choice, Paris must finally confront the dark past she escaped, once and for all.

Because the only thing worse than a murder charge is two murder charges.