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 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.
“One of the most thrilling and entertaining suspense writers of The Netherlands—or any country for that matter. With each new book we—her ever growing number of readers—are surprised by her power of invention and brilliantly imaginative plots. Marion Pauw just may be the Dutch answer to Gillian Flynn.” —Herman Koch, author of The Dinner
