Some Choose Darkness (A Rory Moore/Lane Phillips Novel)
Forensic reconstructionist Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together crime scene details others fail to see. Cleaning out her late father's law office after his burial, she receives a call that plunges her into a decades-old case . . .
In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing. The predator, nicknamed The Thief, left no bodies or clues behind--until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, whose unorthodox investigations appeared to unmask the killer. Then Angela disappeared without a trace. Forty years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela's murder. But the cryptic file Rory finds in her father's law office suggests there is more to the case.
Making one startling discovery after another, Rory becomes helplessly entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell and what happened to her. As she continues to dig, even Rory can't be prepared for the full, terrifying truth that is emerging . . .
"Engrossing . . . Donlea smoothly mixes red herrings and genuine clues. Readers who relish a good puzzle will be rewarded."
--Publishers Weekly
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Community Reviews
This book was a quick read for me, but I quite enjoyed it the whole way through. As I was reading it and started to realize where things were going in the story, I definitely had a few "oh my god" moments, which I always enjoy in a mystery story. I love when the clues are there for me to put things together myself, but not so obscure that I wouldn't ever be able to figure out the connections.
I also enjoyed the portrayal of main characters with mental illness (on the spectrum and OCD in this case). It's always nice to read a book where mental illnesses are acknowledged, but not the only thing defining the character — and also when mental illness isn't glossed over or made to seem like it's not a big deal, but also acknowledging that while mental illness can be debilitating sometimes, it doesn't mean that the character isn't able to serve as the main hero readers can root for. That is something that is sadly missing from a lot of popular fiction, so I felt like the main characters in this book were very refreshing.
The author definitely surprised me with where he ended up taking the mystery in that the original mystery that was presented at the beginning of the book, which readers assume will play a main part in the story, wasn't even solved by the end. I didn't mind that though, given everything else that transpired and the fact that this book was more about Rory and her self-discovery than a mystery necessarily. Also, partially given his novel (and very welcome) take on mental illness and also just his general description of Rory, I felt like his characters were quite original and not the same sort of detective or cop I've read about in mysteries a thousand times before. I wish there had been more about Rory's relationship with her boyfriend, but hopefully there will be more of that in the sequel!
Hopefully this rambling review actually made some sort of sense since it's 2 AM and I can't be bothered to use proper English and grammar this late at night. Writing is HARD okay?
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