I can tell you two things after reading Gillian Flynn’s “Sharp Objects.”  First, if you say that a character is left handed, like all geniuses, I will flag that page.  Second, Flynn remains someone I would not want to end up with in a dark room.

As always, it’s a good sign of any thriller when I don’t mark many pages throughout the book.  This time, I made just two notations, the other being more of a “research this later” signal about a reference she made to Warren Harding’s wife and her penchant for recording offenses against her and getting revenge.

The story follows Camille, a reporter for a low-rated Chicago newspaper who is sent to her hometown in Missouri to cover the murder of a young girl and later another.  She has a complicated relationship with her insufferable mother and her emotional trainwreck of a half-sister, Amma.

The book was Flynn’s first, but the third that I’ve read.  While it doesn’t have the constant twists and turns of “Gone Girl,” her ability to inject characters, particularly female, with danger and an unsettling nature shines just as strongly in this story.

It’s not hard to believe several possible suspects for the murders, and in the end that leaves you considering the true nature of people when you find out who is responsible, and what is left of those who are not.