A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel

A New York Times Bestseller

“A smart, edge-of-your-seat story with plot twists you’ll never see coming. Stacy Willingham’s debut will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime.” —Karin Slaughter

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. While she finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to achieve, she sometimes feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. So when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer?

From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page.

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Published Jan 11, 2022

363 pages

Average rating: 7.34

190 RATINGS

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Raleigh Women 30+

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✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *A Flicker in the Dark* is a twisty psychological thriller set in Louisiana, praised for its suspenseful plot, unexpected twists, and enga...

The.readrose
Jan 28, 2026
8/10 stars
TW: Cutting and prescription drug abuse, attempted suicide attempt.
Cresta McGowan
Dec 25, 2025
4/10 stars
Bad. #cooperisthebadguy #knewinchp1
MandiCole11
Oct 29, 2025
6/10 stars
3.75
Mary Pat Holt
Feb 05, 2026
6/10 stars
This is a solid 3.5. I read a lot of thrillers, so I think that's why I tend to rate them a bit harsher than other genres. The first 100 pages were so slow for me, picked up in the middle and by the end I couldn't read fast enough to see if I knew who was the real whodunnit. (I was wrong.) There were several twists that I didn't see coming. The narrator is a self-medicated psychologist who is still working through her own childhood trauma. When Chloe was 12, there was a serial killer on the loose in her small Louisiana town of Beaux Bridge. Her father was arrested for the murders, pled guilty and was sent to prison. Twenty years later, Chloe is preparing for her upcoming wedding when a string pf copycat murders sends her anxiety spiraling out of control. Are there real connections between the murders of her father and those from today? The story is told in alternating chapters from present day to flashbacks of her childhood. I liked this debut novel well enough to check out more from this author.
Aundrea todd
Jan 07, 2026
10/10 stars
Wow!!!!
1st time reading this Author.
SHE IS GOOD!!
Just when you think you have it figured out, turn the page!

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