Shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award, Dark Places has been rated as a Bestseller by the New York Times. The burning question on the readers’ mind is the identity of the real criminal.ĭark Places has an intriguing plot that often goes into flashback, as old incidents (seen through the eyes of Libby’s mother and brother) are recreated and brought to the fore, exposing the grim realities of spousal abuse, extreme poverty and class struggles. Libby decides to join in and help them, and thus begins the hunt for the real killer, by narrowing down possible suspects and tracking down witnesses to a crime that was committed years ago. They step forward to help exonerate him and start investigating this case on their own. More than two decades later, the case catches the attention of a few people, who are convinced that the boy is innocent. At the end of the trial, her own brother, a teenager at the time, is found guilty as a direct result of her testimony, and is sentenced away to prison for the crime. As the sole survivor and witness to this terrible tragedy, her first-hand account of what happened on the day of the murders is of prime importance to this case. The protagonist, Libby Day, witnesses the gruesome murders of her mother and sisters, and somehow manages to escape the scene alive. The winner and nominee for many awards in the year that it was published, Dark Places is a mystery novel that tackles the underlying issues of domestic abuse, extreme poverty and struggles related to class in rural America.Ī horrific crime has been committed in Kinnakee, a rural town in Kansas, America.

Dark places by gillian flynn