One Dark Night - by Hannah Richell (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When a body is found the day after Halloween, a small British community must reckon with its past and the dangers lurking in its present in this spine-tingling novel from "not to be missed" (Hayley Scrivener, author of Dirt Creek) author Hannah Richell.

On Halloween, a group of teenage students meet in the woods near Sally in the Wood, a road steeped in local lore and rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered girl. By the end of the night, one student will be dead.

Rachel, the school guidance counselor, is trying to keep a handle on her increasingly distant teenaged daughter, Ellie, while students and parents panic and mourn. Her ex-husband and detective Ben, dealing with a personal crisis of his own, has concerns about his daughter's safety as he investigates the death. Meanwhile, Ellie is keeping secrets from both her parents, including one about where she was that night.

Told from multiple perspectives and with Hannah Richell's distinct "atmospheric and ever-twisting" (Emylia Hall, author of the Shell House Detective Mysteries) prose, One Dark Night is a white-knuckled and suspenseful thriller about urban legends, privilege, and how the past continues to haunt us.

Review Quotes

"Immersive and twisty, One Dark Night has a brilliantly realised sense of place and fully realised characters, with Rachel and Ellie's mother/daughter relationship particularly convincing and well done. More than merely a well-written and propulsive thriller, One Dark Night is a poignant exploration of grief, and a chilling exploration of the unkindness teenage girls can inflict on each other. Highly recommended."
--Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal

"Richell delivers a well-executed whodunit that culminates in a darkly satisfying reveal."
--Publishers Weekly

"Dark and twisty small-town noir at its very best--I couldn't look away!"
--Pip Drysdale, author of The Close Up

"Hannah Richell is the new master of the atmospheric thriller."
--Ali Lowe, author of The School Run

"Evocative and haunting, One Dark Night delves into the complexities of human nature and relationships. This gothic thriller had me on edge through its clever twists and turns, and kept me reading late into the night to the spine-chilling climax."
--Petronella McGovern, bestselling author of The Last Trace

"Thrilling and page-turning!"
--Sally Hepworth, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Sister

About the Author

Hannah Richell was born in Kent, United Kingdom, and spent her childhood years in Buckinghamshire and Canada. After graduating from the University of Nottingham, she worked in the book publishing and film industries in both London and Sydney. She is a dual citizen of Great Britain and Australia, and currently lives in the southwest of England with her family. She is the author of several international bestsellers, such as The Search Party and One Dark Night. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. Find out more at HannahRichell.com.