Dark Corners

My July Book of the Month selection was Dark Corners by Megan Goldin (the other options were The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange, The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, Hello Stranger by Katherine Center, and Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong). I picked it because I recently read and enjoyed The Night Swim (the first in the Rachel Krall series) and was eager for another case involving the popular podcast host. I think I liked this one even more! A violent criminal named Terrence Bailey, who was once the main suspect in a series of brutal murders against women, is about to be released from prison after serving time for breaking and entering. Two days before his release he receives a random visit from a young and successful social media influencer named Maddison Logan and then she disappears several hours later. In the course of their investigation, the FBI discovers that Logan spoke with Bailey about Krall during their meeting and they want to know why so they reluctantly ask for her help. Both Krall and the FBI come to believe that Bailey is somehow responsible for Logan's disappearance and she suspects that she might be the next victim. The narrative alternates between Krall's POV as she investigates Logan's last movements at an influencer convention and those of a rideshare driver who may or may not be Bailey's accomplice and an FBI agent racing against time. This is a fast-paced mystery filled with lots of suspenseful twists and turns that kept me reading into the early morning hours (and kept me guessing until the very end) but I especially enjoyed the deep dive into influencer culture because it is a lot more cut-throat than I imagined and I was absolutely fascinated (and, as someone who follows a few influncers on social media, I was also appalled). Rachel Krall is a great character (I love intelligent, strong, and independent female protagonists) and I particularly liked her development from a passive role as a reporter looking into a crime that happened years ago in the first novel to a more active participant in an on-going investigation in this one and I hope to see more of her in future installments of the series. The only aspect of the narrative the fell flat for me was the sudden romance between Krall and an FBI agent because it was a bit cringe-worthy and seemed out of character but this is a minor criticism. Even though this is the second in a series I think it works as a standalone (there are only a few references to the first novel and they are thoroughly explained) and I definitely recommend it to fans of mysteries.