Title: The Dark Room

Author: Sam Blake

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publisher: Corvus

Publication Date: 7th January 2021

Rating: 4/5

Cover:

Summary:

Hare’s Landing, West Cork. A house full of mystery…

Rachel Lambert leaves London afraid for her personal safety and determined to uncover the truth behind the sudden death of a homeless man with links to a country house hotel called Hare’s Landing.

New York-based crime reporter Caroline Kelly’s career is threatened by a lawsuit and she needs some thinking space away from her job. But almost as soon as she arrives, Hare’s Landing begins to reveal its own stories – a 30-year-old missing person’s case and the mysterious death of the hotel’s former owner.

As Rachel and Caroline join forces, it becomes clear that their investigations are intertwined – and that there is nothing more dangerous than the truth…

Review:

This book really appealed to me because it involves a fabulously mysterious setting and a great female duo investigating and it was just as good as I’d hoped! The story follows Rachel and Caroline, both of whom end up at the grand and atmospheric country house hotel, Hare’s Landing in West Cork, for different reasons. Once there they find themselves embroiled in more than one mystery involving missing persons, a suicide and some very nefarious characters.

The Dark Room is a fun and addictive read with a perfectly spooky setting in the beautiful but somewhat tragic Hare’s Landing. The house is like a character itself, and seemingly has a bit of a mind of its own. I really liked both Caroline, a journalist who is in need of a break from her job and Rachel, whose partner is involved in an accident which leads to her ending up at Hare’s Landing to try and find out more about whether his accident was just that. They are both smart and likeable, I loved that they teamed up to uncover the mysteries of Hare’s Landing and how determined they both were. However, my favourite character has to be the third member of their little investigative team, Rachel’s german shepherd, Jasper. He is brilliant! The story moves along at a steady pace, with some really interesting twists and turns I didn’t expect and a kind of classic murder mystery feeling which I enjoyed! Would especially recommend to anyone who is looking for a kind of cosy mystery with a much darker current running through it.

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.