This book is creepy and mysterious and an all together great little crime mystery! I loved the setting and how well the author wrote and described it, it is almost like you are there. I could not guess the murderer so by the time I got to the end I was pleasantly surprised!

Nicely done procedural featuring DC Gaby Darin, a smart, entertaining detective who finds herself with a real puzzle when a woman goes to bed with a man and then wakes up next to a dead woman. Wow. No spoilers from me but this was a unique plot that went places I wasnt' expecting. It's part of a series but was fine as a standalone. And it's set in Wales. A good read.

This is a classic mystery story
The pacing dragged a bit in the middle
The characters were well developed
A good detective story

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Such a gripping read and case. Really enjoyed it and can't wait to read more from the author. It keeps you guessing all the way through.

This is the second book in a series of six, but does read nicely enough as a standalone. Christine, the main character lets her hair down for one night, and ends up being the main suspect in a murder investigation. She can't remember what happened the night before, but has to. Soon. I will definitely read the rest of the books in the series, can't wait for that!

Great thriller that kept me turning the pages. Great story, great writing and characters. Really enjoyable and would read this author again.

DC Gaby Darin is an interesting character. Bright, brash, overweight, lonely, and very good at her job. I enjoyed the first book in the series very much, which made me eager to pursue this series. It’s turning out to be a corker!

The Pembrokeshire, Wales setting added to the overall ambiance of the book.

The characters were very well developed and I thoroughly enjoyed reading of their personal relationships and work exploits.

The crime(s) were fascinating, and caused me to question my own skill at figuring out the murderer. I did NOT manage to, which speaks well of the author’s plotting prowess.

The book was suspenseful and compelling – I read it in two days. Also, I absolutely love the cover!

I’m certain that anyone who enjoys a well-written, character-driven, police procedural will love this book, and this series. Recommended!

4.5 stars rounded up

Definitely recommend this series. Always a good plot with surprising twist and turns. Great thriller overall. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, I really loved this book and found a new author for me. Good storyline, great characters this book kept me interested all the way through.

Recommended.,

A wonderfully written book full to the brim with suspense and twists and turn. The lead character Gaby is unique and truly intriguing. The storyline was perfectly paced and had me hooked.

This Is the second book in the series featuring Detective Gaby Darin. I hadn’t read the first book but found that this book read well as a stand-alone. Gaby is still recovering from the trauma of her last case and has a lot to prove, Christine is divorced and trying to move on with her life. She has a flatmate Nikki but is hoping that her stay is temporary. It is her birthday and a friend persuades her to go out and celebrate. Christine wakes up next morning with little memory of the previous evening but she seems to remember that she brought a man home with her and they went to bed together. After going to make herself a coffee, she returns to bed to wake up the man and is horrified that Nikki is the person in her bed and she is dead, Gaby and her team are called out to investigate and of course, Christine is the main suspect. When another woman goes missing Gaby has to find if there is a link between the two cases and also try to trace the mystery man, when one of her team is target eyed Gaby has a race against time to find the kille,r. This book is gripping, fast paced and had me hooked from the start. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had read Jenny's first book and absolutely loved it so was nervous about reading Book 2 because surely it wouldn't live up to its predecessor? Well, I need not have worried because she has done it again with Darkest Night, this book takes a totally new turn for Detective Darin but loses none of the suspense and charm of the original.

The story will leave you guessing right up until the very end - always a bonus, there is nothing worse than working out the culprit halfway through.

Jenny has also built on the character of Gaby making her so real I can already see who will play her in the tv adaptation. ( Ruth Jones would be perfect!!!) She has also introduced new characters such as Rusty, Malachy and Amy who compliment her protagonist perfectly.

Book 3 is due out in November and I can am already counting the days until I can get myself back to Wales.

Darkest Night is one of those books that, one paper, is everything I want to read. A perfect mix of police procedural and psychological thriller. In practice, however, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
The main reason? The relationship between DC Gaby Darin and Rusty, the local Pathologist. It drove me absolutely potty (just what it was doing to Gaby in the book). One minute they were getting on, the next they weren’t. But there was no rhyme or reason to it, and the premise, that they both maybe liked each other more than they cared to admit, just didn’t feel right.
Other than that, I actually enjoyed it. It had a great opening that drew me in and plenty of unreliable characters to keep me guessing. Some of that weren’t as fully-formed as I’d have liked, but a lot of books in this genre are guilty of the same thing so I don’t judge Darkest Night too harshly for it. I also liked Gaby. She’s the type of female lead I enjoy reading about. A nice, complicated back-story and a need to prove herself. It always makes for a few sparks to keep the reader interested.
Would I recommend it? Yes, despite the Gaby / Rusty relationship. Will I be reading the next book in the series? Possibly – I’ll wait to see just how many more books are on my shelves when it comes out 😊.

Great reading! Enjoyed the character of Gaby as the main investigator& the suspense of who the killer was. First time reading this author and will read her again. Thanks to Netgalley & HarperCollins for a copy of this book.

Darkest Night begins when Christine de Betrand wakes up expecting an embarrassing conversation with an unknown man she picked up in a bar the night before. Instead she finds the body of her flatmate, Nikki. It’s easy to see why DC Gabby Darin finds it hard to believe that Christine is not a murderer, but her need to search for absolute evidence leads down a much more convoluted path.

Gabby Darin has moved to Llandudno after the case she investigated and solved in Silent Cry, the first in the series, puts her in an awkward position with her colleagues. Without giving too much away about the first book it is difficult to understand why Gabby needed to move. Indeed, Gaby has a habit of moving around because at the beginning of Silent Cry she has also just been forced into a move. This is one of the inexplicable plot twists that recur in both the Gabby Darin books and which feel unnecessary to the story. Darkest Night meanders and trips itself up in ways that do not enhance either the plot or the development of Gabby’s character. It seems like she is a complicated person and should therefore be interesting, but she really isn’t. While there are twists in the conclusion of whodunnit, there is a predictable romantic solution and that just felt too tidy.

If you like your police procedurals wholesome, and you enjoy a lot of dialogue, this is a worthwhile read. If you’re looking for gritty and dangerous you would be better served reading Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan books.

From reading the summary of this book I thought it would be really interesting! A girl who wakes up to her roommate dead in her bed, intrigue from the start. Unfortunately, it did not keep me intrigued at all during this book. I would not call it a bad book but I did not connect with it. I found the writing hard to visualize but at the same time it gave off so many details in spots that I wanted to tell the characters to just get to it already. I was determined to power through and keep reading but there wasn't anything that kept me wanting more all the way to the end. I did not feel any connection to the characters nor did I seem to have a need to know who the killer was. If you have a different method of understanding text you may enjoy this book but as a person who visualizes what she reads this book was sadly not for me.

Nice mystery/thriller that keeps you intrigued, I wanted to know what had happened. Enough twists to keep you entertained for a while and not too predictable. Safe bet if you're looking for a new mystery.

*** An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

First of all, I would like to thank #netgalley, the author and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I seem to bump into detective series of late, and this one seemed to tick all the right boxes. And yet, for me, it fell a little flat.
Basically, it's a classical whodunnit detective story with no scary or creepy elements. So if you're into CSI or those kinds of shows, pick this up. Being the second book in a series you get a bit of the backstory, yet not too much to overwhelm you, and you can read it as a stand-alone. I especially enjoyed the hate/love relationship between the pathologist and the main character, DC Gabriella Darin. Short and clipped chapters and a protagonist every normal girl can relate to. I didn’t guess who the murderer was until the very end. All in all a good read!

In the Darkest Night, Jenny O'Brien delivers a fast-paced and suspenseful read. When Christine wakes up next to the body of her housemate, DC Gaby Darin and her her partner, DC Owen Bates are called in to investigate. What first appears to be a straightforward case, quickly spirals into something much bigger, when another woman goes missing and Darin and Owen are forced to extend their investigation to try and work out how the two cases are related.

Fast paced with twists and turns at every corner, Jenny O'Brien delivers an enjoyable thriller with an intelligent and strong female protagonist. I will definitely be buying the first book in this series and am looking forward to reading about DC Darin and Rusty in future books.