In My Dreams I Hold a Knife

Ashley Winstead

Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.

A college reunion turns dark and deadly in this chilling and propulsive suspense novel about six friends, one unsolved murder, and the dark secrets they’ve been hiding from each other—and themselves—for a decade.

Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent—not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year. Ten years ago, everything fell apart, including the dreams she worked for her whole life—and her relationship with the one person she wasn’t supposed to love.

But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.

Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won’t be able to put down.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(4.5 / 5) “Memories are powerful things. But— and this is important, my therapist said— so are the dark spaces. The things you choose, consciously or not, to repress. Always, they’re the things you need protection from. The too much: too terrifying, too shameful, too devastating. The things that, if allowed, would threaten the very core of who you’re supposed to be.”

I read this in one day. Who am I? With kids and cleaning and momming all day, I usually only get a few hours to read at night. But I got this on a Saturday, sat down to see how it started then kept finding time to get back to it.

At a highly competitive university, the 10 year reunion is around the corner. Some of the students do not want to attend. While their college years were filled with friendship and fun, they were also filled with jealousy, selfishness and a murder. One of their own was accused.

It’s full of lies, secrets, jealousy, terrible, terrible people and delicious drama. Wow, it was well done and kept me on my toes! I was guessing until the end. The characters are deplorable and twisted and fabulously petty. It’s told from multiple POV’s which is perfect for this setting, and we jump back and forth between the past and present. It is done very well. I highly recommend this one to those that love dark academia, fast-paced thrillers and books that keep you guessing!

Content Summary: F words 20+ , drugs, drug addiction, details with sex, murder- stabbed 17 times as she slept (details), small m/m romance, a break-in involves a machete and gun, a man dies from an overdose, rape (no details), attempted suicide, murder and attempted murder.

Thank you to BiblioLifestyle and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to be on this tour and for the gifted copy!

The book released August 3, 2021.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.