Megan Goldin (Stay Awake; The Escape Room) dips into the world of social media and the business of influencers in the well-plotted Dark Corners. Rachel Krall, who also appears in Goldin's The Night Swim, approaches her popular Guilty or Not Guilty true-crime podcast as a journalist, seeking truth for those unfairly accused, getting justice for victims, and adhering to ethics while avoiding sensationalizing the true crimes she covers. She's intrigued when the FBI requests she immediately fly to a Central Florida prison to talk with Terence Bailey, long suspected of murdering six women, though convicted only of breaking and entering. Through the years, Terence has had just one visitor--Maddison Logan, a celebrated influencer, who, hours after their meeting, apparently disappeared. Terence, who will be released in a few days, has asked for Rachel by name, but their meeting ends with the prisoner threatening her. Rachel and the FBI hit a dead end in trying to find Maddison. No one saw Maddison's face at the prison; she seems to exist only on social media--no family, friends, just posts. As part of her investigation, Rachel goes incognito at BuzzCon, an influencer conference where the competition is fierce.
Goldin delivers a brisk mystery in Dark Corners, though the clichés of the creepy loner and the remote farmhouse with a foreboding basement momentarily stall the plot. Still, Rachel is a formidable heroine--tenacious, intelligent, observant. Her attraction to an FBI agent enhances the story. The solid plot is intensified by her podcast excerpts, which alternate with the suspenseful search for Maddison and attempts to prove Terence guilty. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer