But when Crystal lets slip what really happened, Libby finds herself running for her life again. Dark Places Summary. Maybe someday he'll meet his daughter, because Libby didn't turn Crystal in. I read it anyway. Dark Places: A Novel by Gillian Flynn | Summary & Analysis. | When she isn't laughing at Ben with Trey, she's manipulating Ben. Everything happens at once. Eventually, almost thirty years after the ghastly incident, Libby embittered and nearly broke, she will inevitably accept the offer of Lyle Wirth, a "True Crime Club" member, to share her side of the story at their annual meeting. While some readers will not be pleased with the generally bleak outlook of … So Libby does her own detective work, interviewing her estranged father, Runner, and finding Krissi Cates. That night, Libby's mother and two sisters were brutally murdered. Back in the present, Libby doesn't know any of this. Bestselling author Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places, is an odd investigative text with an unusual protagonist and an unfortunate set of circumstances. | Almost thirty years later, she reluctantly agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night. She's been living on donations and lectures ever since. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Taglines Libby Day was only eight years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Responding to the police's leading questions, she tells them that her brother Ben (Sheridan) committed the crime. Libby is just glad to put all these dark places behind her. Plot Keywords After convincing Ben to engage in a Satanic animal sacrifice, Diondra persuades him to steal money from his family and run away with her, even though she's the one with money. Worried about finances even more now that Ben might need a lawyer against Krissi's false accusations, Patty has made a deal… not with the Devil, but close enough. Start by marking “Dark Places: A Novel by Gillian Flynn | Summary & Analysis” as Want to Read: Error rating book. We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. Synopsis But Ben was with his girlfriend, Diondra, and their "friend," Trey. © 2020 Shmoop University Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal. Well, well. Seems like both Krissi and Libby were coached into giving false testimony back in the day. Hearing the commotion, young Libby runs away and hides in a field. Ben follows Libby into the field, calling out to her to stay where she is—not because he wants to kill her, but because he wants to save her. In 1985 in Kinnakee, Kansas, Libby Day is the sole survivor of the massacre of her mother and two sisters. There are multiple dark years covered in Dark Places—and multiple dark Days, too, as Libby Day circa 2009 works to uncover the truth behind her family's murder on the night of January 2, 1985. In the '80s, especially in the middle of the "Satanic panic," people were eager to pin blame on anyone different, especially an outcast like Ben. Libby starts to suspect her brother may be innocent after she is contacted by Lyle Wirth, the head of the Kill Club. In the present day, Libby (Theron) has made a living from donations sent by strangers to the little girl they saw on the news. Almost thirty years later, she reluctantly agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night. Welcome back. She uses the baby to guilt trip Ben and wrap him around her little finger. Krissi, now a stripper, confesses she made everything up. That kindness has run out. Ever since the murder, Libby hasn't worked a day in her life, living off the kindness of strangers. — A24 Sofisticated the first time you read it, then it becomes boring and predictible. She agrees to go and answer questions about her past for $700. So when Lyle offers to pay Libby to talk to people involved in the case and find out who the real murderer was, she jumps at the opportunity for a paycheck. Krissi had accused Ben of molesting her, and when Ben's mother, Patty, found out, she and her sister, Diane, tried to find Ben and get the true story. Soon, she is captured and arrested. As this is going on, Calvin Diehl comes to the door and stabs Patty… but Ben's other sister, Debby, witnesses it. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. There are multiple dark years covered in Dark Places —and multiple dark Days, too, as Libby Day circa 2009 works to uncover the truth behind her family's murder on the night of January 2, 1985. So what did happen that fateful day to those fated Days in 1985? Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? If the whole family is gone, the entire insurance settlement will be all theirs. Libby Day is no stranger to trading the victim card for cash. She's hired a man named Calvin Diehl to murder her so that her family can collect the life insurance. However, Libby by digging deep into her traumatic past, she will begin to doubt her brother's guilt, furthermore, not only will she realise that the real murderer may still be on the loose but also that even though there can be more than one sides to a story, the truth has only one.