Girl in the Dark: A Novel of Suspense

Marion Pauw

Feb 2016 · HarperCollins

About this ebook

An award-winning, internationally bestselling author makes her American debut with this taut, riveting domestic drama with the compulsive intensity of The Good Girl, The Pocket Wife, and The Stranger, about a long-lost brother convicted of a horrifying crime and a sister’s fight to clear his name.

A single mother and lawyer, Iris has a colorful caseload, a young son with behavior issues, and a judgmental mother.

She also has a brother—shocking news she uncovers by accident. Why did her mother lie to her for her entire life? Why did she hide the existence of Ray Boelens from her?

Curious about this sibling she has never known, Iris begins to search for long-buried truths. What she discovers surprises—and horrifies—her. Her older brother is autistic—and in prison for brutally murdering his neighbor and her daughter.

Visiting Ray, she meets a man who looks heartbreakingly like her own son. A man who is devoted to his tropical fish and who loves baking bread. A man whose naiveté unnerves her. There is no question that Ray is odd and obsessive, unable to communicate like the rest of us. But is he really a killer?

Told in the alternative voices of Ray and Iris, Girl in the Dark is a compulsive, page-turning thriller about lies, murder, and the tenacity of a family determined to stay together even as they are pulled apart at the most vulnerable seams.

Ratings and reviews

I thought this was going to be 'just another suspense/thriller'. It wasn't. This book is really good with a plot twist i didn't see coming. Keeps you guessing until the end. Everytime i put it down, i couldn't wait to get back to it.

Wow! This book really blew my mind! By the end, my stomach was in knots and my anxiety level was through the roof! I could not believe it. It was very well written, believable but unbelievable at the same time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something twisted and surprising and very, very different.

The whole read it suspenseful and leaves you to question. This is such a good read I recommend it to any one who loves to read

About the author

Marion Pauw is a thriller writer living in Amsterdam. In the Netherlands, Girl in the Dark won the Golden Noose Award—the annual award for the best Dutch crime novel—under the title Daglicht (Daylight), and has sold more than 200,000 copies in Europe. It was also made into an acclaimed Dutch film. Girl in the Dark is Pauw’s American debut.