One dark night by Hannah Richell

A gripping thriller, One dark night delivers everything that a mystery reader will love – an eerie atmosphere, relatable characters and a very twisty conclusion. There is an old tale about the haunted woods near the small town of Thorncombe, and locals love to relate it to send shivers up tourists’ backs:

He murdered her at the folly on their wedding day, left her body for the crows. They say she haunts the woods now, a girl in a white dress …

The atmosphere engendered by the story of Sally in the woods makes the haunted woods the perfect place for teens from the local private school to party and to scare each other with Ouija boards and ghost stories. But events turn nasty when a girl in a white dress is found at the bottom of the old stone folly, and the police are brought in to investigate. Detective Ben Chase must track down what has happened. Has something gone wrong at the party, or is it a ritual killing with a sinister murderer still at large?

I read One dark night in a couple of sittings, engrossed not only in the twists and turns surrounding the investigation of the murder, but in the family relationships that Richell describes so well. She outlines the trauma of Ben’s divorce from Rachel with feelings of anger and grief dominating. While navigating life in a split family their daughter Ellie is experiencing difficulties fitting into an exclusive private school where Rachel is a counsellor. Meanwhile Ben begins to wonder if Ellie is harbouring secrets about Sarah the dead girl and must decide where his loyalty lies – with the police or with his daughter.

Complex relationships, a school setting, haunted woods and red herrings make One dark night a riveting read which was so engaging that I immediately picked up another of Richell’s stories, The search party.

Themes: Murder, Thriller, Family relations.

Pat Pledger