The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Willingham, Stacy. Flicker in the Dark. Minotaur Books. 2021. Kindle.

Flicker in the Dark is narrated by the protagonist, Chloe Davis, in first-person present. In the prologue, Chloe tells the reader that she started fearing her father when she was 12. The first section of the novel is set in May of 2019. Chloe works as a therapist for troubled teen girls. She has a session with Lacey, her patient, on Friday afternoon, and then calls in a prescription for Xanax for herself. Ever since her father, Dick Davis, had confessed to the murder of six teenage girls in 1999, Chloe has experienced severe anxiety. In order to cope with those feelings, Chloe turns to abusing prescription pills and alcohol. A reporter from The New York Times, Aaron Jansen, calls and tells Chloe he is writing an article about Dick Davis because the 20th anniversary of the Breaux Bridge murders is just a couple of months away. Chloe hangs up and refuses to talk to the reporter. Chloe goes home and is shocked to find that her fiancé, Daniel, has thrown her a surprise party. Her brother, Cooper, critiques Daniel for doing so behind his back, and then tells Chloe she should not marry him because they do not truly know one another.

The largest section of the novel takes place in June of 2019. Chloe starts finalizing plans for the July wedding, but then she learns that a local Baton Rouge girl, Aubrey Gravino, has gone missing. Later that day, Aubrey’s body is found in the cemetery where she was last seen. On Monday morning, Chloe learns that Lacey is now missing. The last place she had been seen was Chloe’s office on Friday afternoon. Chloe decides to go visit her mother, who has been in a residential home ever since she tried to commit suicide after her husband’s confession. Lacey learns that Aaron Jansen had visited her mother a few days prior. Chloe angrily calls Aaron, and he tells her that he believes a copycat killer is replicating her father’s crimes. He had stolen jewelry from each of his victims and kept it in a box in his closet that Chloe had found. She had told her mother, who had gone to the police with the evidence.

The police call Chloe and tell her that Lacey’s body had been found in the alleyway behind her office. They ask Chloe to come examine the body of Lacey to see if she might notice anything. Chloe realizes that Lacey is missing her bracelet. Chloe goes home and worries that the killer might be trying to leave the bodies in places where Chloe would see them. She talks to Aaron again and he asks her if she can think of anyone with deep knowledge of the crimes who might be killing girls. Chloe speculates that Bert Rhodes, the father of one of her father’s victims, might be a murderer because he had stalked her family after the 1999 killings. She looks him up and finds that he owns a home security system business. Daniel sees the website and thinks Chloe wants an alarm system because she is scared, so he calls Bert and invites him over. Bert recognizes Chloe and makes strange comments about wondering what it would be like to murder someone, which convinces Chloe he is guilty.

Chloe goes to the police and tells them her theory about Bert, but they do not believe her. She goes home, sets her alarm, and takes pills until she falls asleep. She wakes up to the alarm going off and rushes to the closet to find Daniel’s gun, but instead she finds a box with Aubrey’s necklace inside. Daniel comes into the room and asks how to turn the alarm off. Chloe hides the necklace and turns the alarm off.

The next morning, the necklace is gone. Daniel insists that they go kayaking so that Chloe can relieve her stress, and she agrees to go despite her new fears that he is a murderer. They go home after kayaking and Chloe decides to take off from work on Thursday and Friday. Chloe looks through Daniel’s receipts and realizes he has been visiting her father in prison. She tells Daniel she is throwing herself an impromptu bachelorette party and leaves the house with his gun. She books a motel and meets up with Aaron, then asks him to come with her to meet Dianne, the mother of Daniel, whose daughter disappeared after Dick Davis was arrested.

Dianne insinuates that Daniel was responsible for his sister’s disappearance. Chloe and Aaron leave and go back to the motel, where they have sex. Aaron gives Chloe a glass of water that makes her pass out for an entire day. When she wakes up, she learns that her friend’s daughter, Riley, had been kidnapped. Chloe tries to figure out where Daniel might have taken Riley, and she decides to go check her father’s old house.

Chloe arrives at the house and finds Riley alive. Aaron arrives and tells Chloe he had the same idea about checking on the house, but Chloe realizes that Aaron is guilty and shoots him. The police arrive and take Chloe to the station, where they confirm that “Aaron” is really a man named Tyler Price who was impersonating a New York Times reporter.

Chloe goes home and talks to Daniel about his sister. He tells her that he helped his sister run away because their father was abusive. She asks him why he was visiting her father, and he explains that he suspected Cooper of the original murders and was trying to find evidence.

Chloe speaks to her brother and learns that he did commit all the murders with the help of his friend, Tyler Price. His father had realized the truth and had then decided to take the blame for his son. Chloe drugs Cooper and then tells him she is turning him into the police. In the end, Daniel goes to live with his sister in Mississippi and Chloe drives there to give her engagement ring back.