Theme Music

An utterly propulsive and unpredictable psychological thriller from stunning new talent T. Marie Vandelly

For the lucky among us, life is what you make of it, but for Dixie Wheeler, the theme music for her story was chosen by another long ago, on the day her father butchered her mother and brothers and then slashed a knife across his own throat. Only one-year-old Dixie was left alive, infamously known as Baby Blue for the song left playing in the aftermath of the slaughter.

Twenty-five years later, Dixie is still desperate for a connection to the family she can’t remember, so when her childhood home goes up for sale, Dixie sets aside all reason and moves in, re-creating a macabre decor with her family’s salvaged furniture. But as the ghosts of her family seemingly begin to take up residence in the home that was once theirs, Dixie starts to question her own sanity and wonders if the evil force menacing her is that of her father, or a demon of her own making.

In order to make sense of her present, Dixie becomes determined to unravel the truth of her past and seeks out the detective who originally investigated the murders. But the more she learns, the more she opens up the uncomfortable possibility that the sins of her father may belong to another, and, perhaps most tragically, to Dixie herself. As bodies begin to pile up around her, Dixie must find a way to expose the lunacy behind her family’s massacre and redeem what little remains of her soul.

I’d heard that this was a dark and twisty book, which means it was right up my alley!

This was so good. It pulled me in right away and I loved the way the story kept me on edge, wondering what was going on in that house, and if Dixie was losing her mind. And I could not put this book down, truly. I read it in a day.

I saw this compared to Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places, and they do have similar premises. I think if you liked Dark Places, you’ll like this book as well. They’re both dark, twisty mysteries with a terrible crime at the centre of it all.

Recommended, and I am very interested to see what T. Marie Vandelly writes in the future!