- Is Libby Day a victim or a survivor? The answer may be "whatever makes her more money that day," but try to look deeper than that. What distinguishes the two roles?
- How does Libby live in the past and try to hide from it at the same time?
- Why does Gillian Flynn provide us with at least three characters' points of view? Why does she choose these three characters? What does each one tell us that the others cannot, and how do the puzzle pieces come together to form a complete picture? What other characters' points of view do you wish Flynn had included?
- What similarities do you see between the crime depicted in Dark Places and real-world crimes like the Clutter murder in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood?
- Why is the Kill Club fascinated with serial killers? Does that make the club members strange, unusual, or sick people? What is it about violent crime that both repels and fascinates people?
- Gillian Flynn was accused of misogyny in Gone Girl. Flynn responded by saying that she likes writing about "violent, wicked women. Scary women." In what way do those types of women appear in Dark Places? Are they the heroes or the villains? Are Flynn's depictions of these women misogynistic? Maybe Gillian Flynn just hates everyone, men and women?
- Why did Flynn choose the Midwest for her setting? Could this story have taken place in a more urban setting? How would it be different if it were to take place in a big city?
- Is Dark Places too violent? Are the gruesome depictions of violence critical to the story, or is Gillian Flynn trying to be provocative on purpose?