A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

 Following the success of the runaway best seller, A Flicker in the Dark, Stacy Willingham returns to the murky waters of Southern Gothic suspense with Forget Me Not, a story that examines how trauma reverberates across decades. Coming out August 26, the novel focuses on Claire Campbell, a journalist who has spent 22 years running from the ghosts of her past.

Haunted by the tragic murder of her sister Natalie, an event that drove their parents apart, Claire escaped her South Carolina hometown of Claxton for a fresh start in New York City at The New York Journal. She has not been back since she left 15 years ago but an unexpected call from her father brings her back home to deal with all of it again.

Now a freelance writer with her own schedule, she decides to take a job for the summer in the nearby Galloway Farm where her sister once worked before she disappeared. She will be picking grapes and doing other farm chores while staying on the farm in the guest house where she makes a surprising discovery: an old journal.

The past and present begin to be woven together as Claire uses her journalistic skills and the mysterious diary to create a narrative about the history of the farm and its people. What seems to be a tranquil atmosphere is anything but as the diary starts to reveal the story of a runaway teenage girl whose love for an older man turns into something dangerous as long-unsolved crimes are detailed in its pages. Claire believes the account holds clues to Natalie’s fate.

As things turn dark and mysterious, it is a race to the finish for readers to discover just what happened on the farm…and where the bodies are buried.

Stacy Willingham had remarkable success with her debut novel, A Flicker in the Dark. Actress Emma Stone’s production company along with HBO Max are developing a series based on the novel. Willingham lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her family.