We Are All the Same in the Dark

Heaberlin, herself a Texas native, frequently uses Texas as the backdrop for her psychological thrillers. As a former journalist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News, her experience writing about crime and cold cases in the state permeates her novels. However, We Are All the Same in the Dark is set in neither of these metropolises but rather in a small, unnamed Texas town. Although the overwhelming majority of Texas’s residents—over 80%—live in urban areas, the state’s sheer size means that it has the largest rural population of any US state (Brannen, John. “After Census Redefines Urban and Rural, Texas Remains Steadfastly Both.” Urban Edge, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2023). The novel’s setting thus reflects a significant subset of the state’s demographics. 

Many aspects of We Are All the Same in the Dark’s portrayal of its small-town setting are common to literary depictions of rural life broadly. Heaberlin uses the novel’s tight-knit community to heighten the suspense and tension, highlighting how small towns can birth local legends and persistent, harmful rumors. Wyatt’s response to the trauma of Trumanell’s death is read as suspicious by the locals, leading him to be unjustly suspected of her murder.