Book Review: ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS by Stacy Willingham

ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS by Stacy Willingham

Minotaur; 1/10/23

CBTB Rating: 4.5/5

The Verdict: a hypnotic, immersive mystery

Stacy Willingham returns today with her sophomore thriller ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS, a lyrical, immersive mystery that delves into one mother’s waking nightmare—and the dangerous secrets she will uncover as she seeks the truth about the two tragedies that have defined her life. I devoured ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS over my holiday break this year, and found this to be one of those rare books that genuinely is impossible to put down. Moving between past and present, ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS delves into the darkest corners of the life of one mother as she investigates the disappearance of her son one year prior—and, in the process, confronts long-buried secrets from her own childhood. Stacy Willingham’s masterful use of dual timelines adds intrigue and atmosphere to this compelling mystery, while her immersive writing draws readers into our protagonist’s increasingly unstable state of mind. Slow-burning yet simmering with tension and suspense, ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS is hypnotic, immersive, and emotionally-impactful—the kind of mystery you’ll sink into, not coming up for air until you’ve turned the final page. Highly recommended for fans of Lisa Jewell’s THEN SHE WAS GONE and Jennifer Hillier’s LITTLE SECRETS, this is a 2023 mystery not to be missed.

Isabelle isn’t sleeping—and she hasn’t been for a year, not since the fateful night when, as she and her husband slept in the next room, her young son was taken from his crib, never to be seen again. In the year that has followed, Isabelle’s life has fallen apart. Now separated from her husband and living in the isolation of her far-too-quiet home, Isabelle’s every waking hour (of which there are many) is dedicated to tracking down her son. The trail of her missing child may have gone cold in the eyes of law enforcement, but Isabelle will never give up on him—and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to bring awareness to his story. Desperate to keep public attention on her son’s case, Isabelle now travels to true crime conventions, where she stands in front of crowds of hundreds of eager true crime aficionados, recounting the night that changed her life forever. And then, one fateful day, another convention attendee—a true crime podcaster with a burgeoning audience and a knack for solving real-world mysteries—catches wind of Isabelle’s story, and offers his help. With nothing to lose, Isabelle invites him into her home, and into the nightmare that her life has become. Together, the pair go down the rabbit hole, following the trail of Isabelle’s missing son wherever it leads—even into the lives of Isabelle’s loved ones, and all the way back to her own murky childhood.

ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS is a hypnotic, immersive mystery—a masterful story that proves you don’t need mile-a-minute action or twists every other page to sustain tension and build suspense. Instead, ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS shines thanks to its superb character development and the effective way in which it draws readers into its protagonist’s increasingly unstable state of mind. At the heart of this book is author Stacy Willingham’s superb protagonist, Isabelle Drake. A crime novel dealing with the themes that Willingham tackles here—themes including motherhood, grief, and guilt—needs an intimate, up-close-and-personal relationship with its protagonist to deliver, and that’s exactly the kind of no-holds-barred glimpse Willingham gives us into the life of her complex protagonist. Isabelle Drake is a woman on the edge. When we meet her, it’s been a full calendar year since she had her last full night of sleep—the very same night that her young son was taken from under her own roof. It will come as no surprise to the reader, then, that Isabelle is coming unglued when we enter her life. A year of sleepless nights and incalculable grief over the loss of her son has taken its toll. To make matters worse, public sentiment hasn’t always been kind to Isabelle, and she has reason to wonder if the suspicion voiced by strangers—vicious rumors surrounding her own possible culpability in her son’s disappearance—might have some truth to it. Because Isabelle is a woman with secrets—in particular, a dark secret from her childhood that, if exposed, might make her look more guilty of harming her son than ever before. Can Isabelle trust her own memories? Could her own mind be playing tricks on her? And worst of all: could she have done something to hurt her own child?

Stacy Willingham masterfully captures the best of the “unreliable narrator” trope through her story’s convincing protagonist. Isabelle’s agony, grief, and instability is palpable; her increasing desperation can be viscerally felt on the page, and the deeper readers venture into her world, the more curious they will find themselves about Isabelle’s past, and what exactly the terrible secret she’s hiding might be. And this is where ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS shines perhaps most of all: in its masterful use of dual timelines to dole out the truth about its central mystery—and its protagonist secrets—in tantalizingly measured time. A riveting “past” timeline adds a layer of complexity, intrigue, and atmosphere to this immersive mystery. In our story’s “past” timeline, readers travel back into Isabelle’s childhood, to a hazy July in the South, where Isabelle’s childhood home—a vast estate—becomes the site of a terrible tragedy. The year is 1999, and a young Isabelle is growing up in a luxurious mansion, a home with an external opulence that belies the dysfunction within its walls. Isabelle’s father, a prominent politician, is largely absent; her free-spirited, artistic mother might be present physically, but is nearly as absent in her own way. Isabelle and her younger sister Margaret spend their days playing, adventuring on the mansion’s grounds, and trying to stay cool in the oppressive heat of a Southern summer. And then tragedy strikes, and Isabelle’s life will never be the same. There’s just one problem: Isabelle can’t totally remember the facts of what happened that fateful summer, and she has reason to believe she might be implicated in the tragedy itself. Could a terrible secret from Isabelle’s past—something she has repressed for years—have manifested itself in her adult life, and caused her to harm her son? Stacy Willingham effectively weaves together past and present, drawing readers into a hypnotic tale of long-buried secrets and their present-day fallout in her gripping sophomore suspense novel.

ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS isn’t exactly what I would consider a “fast-paced” suspense story, but its tension and readability don’t suffer in the least for its measured pacing. Quite the opposite, in fact. Stacy Willingham’s masterful command of her material allows this story to unfold piece by expertly-laid piece, drawing readers ever deeper into its many mysteries. And the payoff here is very much worth it; not only did I not see this story’s ending coming, but I found myself in tears by the book’s end, too. This is also one book in which I would highly recommend reading the Author’s Note once you’ve finished the novel itself; I respected the author all the more for the thought and care she put into this story, as evidenced by this note. ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS is hypnotic, immersive, and gripping. It’s a story about the experience of moving through the world as a woman—and as a woman navigating guilt, grief, and the impossible-to-please opinions of others. This is a story filled with messy, complicated characters, none of whom are totally blameless, and none of whom are purely “evil,” either—and it’s all the more compelling for their many gray areas. Stacy Willingham delves into the complicated and dark corners of her characters’ lives, peeling back their secrets bit by bit—and she gives us a front-row seat for the process. ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS is an excellent second novel from Willingham, well worth adding to your 2023 to-read list.

I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own.

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RECOMMENDED FOR FANS OF:

• Lisa Jewell’s THEN SHE WAS GONE and Jennifer Hillier’s LITTLE SECRETS

• Mysteries involving true crime podcasts

• Dual timeline mysteries

Book Details:

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Minotaur Books (January 10, 2023)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 page

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250803853

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250803856

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