Like pretty much everyone else, I was obsessed with “Gone Girl” so I made sure to read Gillian Flynn’s next novel, “Dark Places” and it did not disappoint.  Libby Day is the victim of a gruesome crime.  When she was just seven, her mother and two sisters were brutally murdered – we’re talking strangled, chopped with an…

The “marriage plot” is a common literary [and now film] device wherein the storyline is developed around courtship rituals.  Two people are perfect for each other only they can’t see it because a) there’s a love triangle (“27 Dresses”), b) religious/political differences (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) or c) other “insurmountable” obstacle (“Monster-in-Law”).  In the end,…