8 Of The Best Books Like A Flicker In The Dark By Stacy Willingham

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“And for one single moment, like a flicker in the dark, it felt good.”

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If you couldn’t put down A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham, you’re not alone. This dark, twisty psychological thriller hooked readers with its chilling small-town secrets, unreliable memories, and a protagonist haunted by the past. But what do you read next? In this list, we’ve rounded up ten of the best books like A Flicker in the Dark – stories brimming with tension, mystery, and shocking revelations. From psychological thrillers that dig deep into the human mind to gripping mysteries about missing girls and family secrets, these novels will keep you guessing right up until the final page. Whether you’re searching for similar books to A Flicker in the Dark or just crave another suspenseful read with a twisty plot, these recommendations are guaranteed to leave the same haunting, addictive sweet spot that Stacy Willingham fans adore. 

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A Flicker In The Dark Summary

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls disappeared in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer. Twenty years on, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and that terrifying summer from all those years ago comes crashing back. Is she being paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren’t there, or, for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer? 

In her stunning debut novel, Stacy Willingham has crafted an unforgettable story in a spellbinding thriller perfect for fans of books by Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter. 

All The Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham

Kicking off our list of books like A Flicker in the Dark with another one of Stacy Willingham’s best books, All the Dangerous Things. One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night. With little evidence and few leads, the case went cold. However, Isabelle isn’t able to rest without Mason being back – literally. Except for the occasional blackout, she loses track of time and hasn’t slept for a year. 

Isabelle’s whole existence now revolves around finding Mason, but she knows she can’t keep on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster – but his interest in her past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning, coupled with her severe insomnia, has brought up comfortable memories: of her past, of the night itself, making her question who she can trust… including herself. 

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Before She Knew Him – Peter Swanson

Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby, and has found the right medications to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace. 

But when they meet the neighbours next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s had a long fascination with this unsolved murder – an obsession she doesn’t talk about anymore, but can’t fully shake either… 

The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena

Another one of the best books like A Flicker in the Dark that revolves around a missing child comes from Shari Lapena and her bestseller, The Couple Next Door. Your neighbour told you that she didn’t want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn’t stand her crying. 

Your husband said it was fine. After all, you only live next door. You’ll have the baby monitor, and you’ll take turns to go back every half hour. Your daughter was sleeping when you checked on her last. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realised. She’s gone. You’ve never had to call the police before. But now they’re in your home, and who knows what they’ll find there. What would you be capable of when pushed to your limit? 

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Local Woman Missing – Mary Kubica

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that draws more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold. 

Now, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her. In this smart and chilling thriller similar to A Flicker in the Dark, Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried. 

None Of This Is True – Lisa Jewell

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday, popular podcaster Alix Summers runs into an unassuming woman named Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and believes she might be an interesting subject for her series. According to her, she’s on the cusp of great changes in her life. 

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and Alix is unable to resist the temptation to keep the podcast rolling. Slowly, she begins to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets. But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix realise that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her very own true crime podcast – with her and her family’s lives under mortal threat. 

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Every Secret Thing – Laura Lippman

In Every Secret Thing, two eleven-year-old girls, Alice Manning and Ronnie Fuller, make a terrible mistake one summer day that ends with a baby’s death. Seven years on, they’re released from juvenile detention – but when another child goes missing, suspicion immediately falls on them again. As the investigation unfolds, buried resentments, unreliable memories, and class tensions boil to the surface. 

Told through multiple perspectives, the novel gradually reveals the truth behind both disappearances and the devastating consequences of childhood guilt and secrecy. Like A Flicker in the Dark, Lippman crafts a hauntingly psychological mystery about perception, blame, and how the past so often refuses to stay buried. 

Good Girl, Bad Girl – Michael Robotham

A girl is found hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime. Half-starved and filthy, she won’t tell anyone her name, or her age, or where she came from. She doesn’t appear in any missing persons file, and her DNA can’t be matched to any identity. Six years on, still unidentified, she is living in a secure children’s home with a new name, Evie Cormac. When she initiates a court case demanding the right to be released as an adult, it is up to psychologist Cyrus Haven to determine whether she can go free. 

Meanwhile, Cyrus is called to investigate the shocking murder of a high school figure-skating champion, Jodie Sheehan, who dies on a lonely footpath close to her home. Supposedly the perfect girl next door, Cyrus gradually peels back the layers, revealing a secret life that Evie Cormac knows about. Cyrus is caught between the two cases – one girl who needs saving, and another who needs justice. 

The Last Thing He Told Me – Laura Dave

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hill knows to whom the note refers – Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey, who lost her mother tragically and wants nothing to do with her new stepmother. 

As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly learns that her husband isn’t who he said he was. Bailey just might hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity, and why he really disappeared in this gripping mystery thriller perfect for anyone who loved A Flicker in the Dark. 

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