by Julia Heaberlin
SYNOPSIS
It's been a decade since the town's sweetheart Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving only a bloody handprint behind.
Since her disappearance, Tru's brother, Wyatt, has lived as an outcast, desperate to know what happened to his sister. So when Wyatt finds a lost girl, he believes she is a sign.
But for new cop, Odette Tucker, this girl's appearance reopens old wounds.
Determined to solve both cases, Odette fights to save a lost girl in the present and in doing so digs up a shocking truth about that fateful night in the past...
REVIEW We Are All the Same in the Dark tells the story of Trumanell, a young girl who goes missing from a small town in Texas. Her brother Wyatt is a suspect, as well as her father who is also missing after an incident one night at their home.
Odette is a young police officer who was involved in the case when she was younger - she was friends with Trumanell and had been dating Wyatt at the time. Despite warnings from her father (who was one of the officers in charge of the case), Odette returns to the town and joins the local police 10 years later. When Wyatt finds a young girl abandoned in a field, Odette knows that the people in the town will destroy him if they find out, having never believed his innocence in his sister's disappearance.
Odette still holds out hope that Wyatt is not guilty and takes Angel in to keep her safe, but as the decade old mystery begins to unravel, both Odette and Angel’s lives are at risk as someone is determined to keep their secrets buried.
We Are All the Same in the Dark is a slow build with mysteries built up layer upon layer, gradually being stripped and investigated over more than a decade. The style of writing perfectly embodies the small-town atmosphere; close-knit, claustrophobic and complicated with all of the characters taking a personal interest in the case and the victims, making it even harder to work out who was involved and who to trust.
Full of twists and turns, the final conclusion was raw and devastating to read, having formed a connection with the characters over the course of the story. With a considerable number of characters, and the investigation being pursued in multiple timelines there was a lot to take in. This isn’t a book to rush through but if you take the time to read it thoroughly, it’s well worth the wait!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julia Heaberlin is an award-winning journalist. She has also edited numerous real-life thriller stories, including a series on the perplexing and tragic murders of girls buried in the Mexican desert and another on domestic violence. She lives with her husband and son in Texas.
Her previous novel, Black-Eyed Susans, was a Sunday Times Number Two bestseller and a Simon Mayo Radio 2 Book Club selection as well as Waterstones Thriller of the Month.
Thanks to @MichaelJBooks and @juliathrillers for the opportunity to read and review.
Fiction: Psychological Thriller / Mystery
Product format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-0241385494
Pages: 352 pp
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