This book is based on the real case where a group of lighthouse keepers went missing in the isles of Scotland but now it's England and the 70s. Also, the 90s. Seriously, this has nothing to do with this case. It really only takes the mystery disappearing and conspiracy theories.

This book references Murder, She Wrote and has our gal Jessica Fletcher hiding in a wardrobe which Fletcher has never done. I think. I watched every episode of the show last year and the films didn't exist in 1992. I've looked for this episode, but can't find it. There are episodes where secret rooms and wardrobes. Is it asinine to write a full paragraph about whether a Murder, She Wrote episode exists or not, but it was the highlight of the whole novel for me. Okay, that might be overly mean.

I think this novel was not for me. There are things I should have liked. Grey characters. Mystery. I dislike the characters as people which isn't an issue for me, but I find them all boring as well so there's nothing. Everyone deserves each other. Well, the ones we spend the most time with, anyway.

The pacing is slow, this book feels longer than it actually is, I was surprised to find out that this book was only 30o pages long. The novel jumps around from when the keepers went missing to decades later when a writer is interviewing the romantic partners of the keepers as research on a book he's writing. The balance works for the most part.

I really dislike the last chapter, how things ended in the 1990s. It just made me mildly annoyed. The solution presented for the mystery is whatever, makes sense for what is presented through the story. I don't care for it, but it's fine.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Fishing Line. Sometimes books and readers do not gel together. I have no strong emotions over this book or any real criticism. It just happens sometimes that you don't enjoy something for no actual reason. This could be the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this ARC

I was so excited to read this book and have since recommended it to everyone in both PB and HB format!

A story I heard as a girl whilst on a holiday in Scotland brought to life. Thankyou so much for this story!!

I loved the idea of this audiobook, the mystery and setting, but unfortunately I struggled to stay interested. I did not finish at 11% as I didn’t feel the story was going anywhere.
The narrator’s voice held my interest but I’m afraid the story didn’t.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get on with this audiobook - I kept getting confused with the story in between chapters. Though the narration was great.

Loved this one. It’s unique, intriguing and keeps you reading until the very end. Such a brilliant book, I will actively await the next one from Stonex!

Loved the sound of this book and had heard lots of great reviews. At the beginning of the book I was really gripped and intrigued by the mystery but after a couple of chapters I just found myself switching off. I found it to be a very atmospheric read but at a certain stage I just got bored and felt the story became very dull, which was a shame as there was great potential and an interesting storyline. I just don’t think this was one for me, I got to 64% and then gave up.

A real classic locked room whodonit.

3 lighthouse keepers on a remote rock lighthouse, they've all disappeared yet the tower is locked from the inside. The clocks have all stopped at 8.45 and the table was set for tea but for two not three.
The story alternates from the keepers lives leading up to their disappearance in the 1970's and the recollections and theories of the wives and partners as they are interviewed by a novelist in the 90's
The story is well written and all of the characters have depth and personality as well as a fair few secrets.

This will keep you guessing until the end and the losses people go through and how/if they come to terms with them will definitely tug at your heartstrings.

So in conclusion this is a great crime story made all the more interesting as it is based on a real life disappearance that happened 100 years ago.
It is also much more than that, it's an exploration of relationships and how they survive or fail due to distance and separation.

I listened to the audio book of this (twice) and thoroughly enjoyed not just the story but also the two narrators who as many have already pointed out did a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life.

A really compelling story about the mystery of three men who disappeared from a lighthouse, which was locked from the inside. Told from the time of the disappearance, and also thirty years later, by their partners – and everyone has a secret. The story is in the slow revealing of these secrets, which is done incredibly well.

The audio was fantastic too – the different accents were brilliant (not too put-on), and really helped to distinguish each character. Would recommend.

This arrived on the scene with plenty of publicity, an intriguing pitch and attractive jacket. I've loved the famous Flannan Isle poem since a child so I'm afraid the bar was set pretty high to match that in atmosphere. The opening was good, describing the sea and the lighthouse keepers' routines well. For me, the wives' accounts didn't engage and slowed the book down considerably. Slowly the cycles of inner monologues became repetitive and the plot felt bogged down. Even though I listened to this in a heavy seaside storm I only found one scene (when the journal is discovered) disturbing. The denouement felt strangely familiar as I remembered the same event taking place in the 2016 film The Lighthouse. I hope others found it enjoyable; I think a really hard edit could have helped the writing shine through.

I adored this, it took me a little while to get into but then I was in. I got really sucked in while actually finding it very soothing. Very glad to have had the chance to review.

I couldn't get into this book, I think it's the fact it's audio book. This was my first audio book and I just didn't get on with it which in no way reflect on the quality of the book.

I am so conflicted on my opinions in this book.

First of all, I loved the concept. A unique and mysterious plot that I LOVED the sound of. Plus the fact it is based on a true event. Secondly, I enjoyed the authors writing style. Her use of description (especially where the sea/light house life was concerned) was brilliant and atmospheric. I also enjoyed the use of the two timelines.

I think my mistake was choosing the audiobook version over physically reading it. It took me a little while to get through the audiobook and I’m not entirely sure why. It wasn’t pulling me back and I wasn’t rushing to listen again as I usually am with my audiobooks but I genuinely believe, had I have read this book I’d have enjoyed it a lot more and finished it quicker.

I don’t have anything negative to say about it and I would still recommend. I think I just started this at a very busy time in my life and I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Classic case of right book, wrong time. From a narration side of things, I thought all the actors were brilliant and cannot fault them at all.

One thing I will say is that it has made me fear the sea!!!. I was also really fascinating hearing about the lighthouse keeper life, something I knew very little of until this point

I enjoyed this audiobook. I actually think I would not have enjoyed the book as much if I had read it. The two narrators did a fantastic job of bringing the story alive for the lighthouse keepers, their wives and the full cast of characters they narrated for. It's a compelling story, the very fact that it is based on a true story really gave me a sense of wonder and awe for life on the seas, the unknown, the what ifs and all that the mystery of the disappearance of the three lamplighters brought.

Inspired by a true story, this book explores the unsolved disappearance of three men from a lighthouse. We jump between the time leading up to the disappearance, and the perspectives of the three women left behind as they are interviewed for a book on the subject.

I loved the writing style of this book, particularly the chapters where the women are being interviewed. Within these chapters it’s as if we are the interviewer so we only hear the women’s side of the conversation and this was so effective for an audiobook.

As well as uncovering the mystery and learning about the secrets that each person has kept hidden, I really enjoyed learning about lighthouse-keeping, seeing the relationship between the women and their relationships with the men, and how this event impacted so many people in different ways.

I really enjoyed this. The audiobook was fantastic - mainly down to the 2 people reading, who were able to convey such a fantastic range of people, emotions and this story with incredible depth. I was captivated.

The story was intriguing and mysterious and kept me guessing right up until the very end. An easy 4 stars and I would definitely recommend to others.

I didn’t give 5 stars as I did feel it lost a little momentum in some places, but I mostly loved it!

What a fantastic book! Probably my favorite of the year so far I didn't want it to end it was so beautiful and so gripping!

A true masterpiece and I cannot wait to read more of Emma in the future!

I loved the concept of The Lamplighters and it had an amazing start and finish, but I do not think that the middle of the book did dip and the pace did drift.

The book is inspired by the true events of three lamplighters missing from their lighthouse, without a trace. Through the course of the book, we go back and forth in time, learning about what truly happened back in 1972 and how the remaining family members are doing in 1992.

Honestly, this book is equal parts fascinating and heartbreaking, the further into the story I got the more what-ifs popped into my head and at the same time as feeling so anguished for these characters the mystery of what had happened to them had me enthralled.

What I love about this book is that when I first read the blurb it was the mystery aspect of the story that caught my attention but actually what I really connected with was the characters and how the circumstances that they have faced and decisions they have made has changed their lives, how they have dealt with separation, loss, and unresolved feelings alongside the mystery around the disappearance. I also loved that I was kept guessing right to the end, any time another theory started to take shape, another part of the story would wash it away until all that was left was a compulsive need to know what on earth actually happened, what the motivation was for the chain of events.

The story is told between the past by the three lamplighters Arthur, Bill, and Vince and was narrated by Tom Burke and the present by their partners Helen, Jenny and Michelle twenty years later which was narrated by Indira Varma. I liked that there were two narrators for this story it really made the characters come alive, there are chapters that are monologues from the characters and these work so well in the audiobook because you really get such a good sense of the character's voice.

I hadn’t really thought much about what it would have been like to work on a remote lighthouse or how it would affect the family left ashore but to be honest the minutiae of the keepers day to day existence was captivating. It also framed the atmosphere for the book perfectly, the contrast of the monotony of their days and the claustrophobic way of living against the addictive need to discover what happened. I think the plot and the structure of this book are just brilliant and time just flew in as I was listening, it’s nice to discover that I can still get that one more chapter feeling from an audiobook.

It is so hard to put into words how incredible The Lamplighters is but if you are looking for a book that has the thrill of a mystery whilst at the same time being a beautiful exploration of love and loss through an ordeal, then you will not be sorry to read this book. I loved it and would highly recommend it.

The premises of this book intrigued me - 3 keepers go missing in mysterious circumstances from a lighthouse. Not many books set on a lighthouse are there? The story gradually builds till we find out the truth. The story is told in two timescales - the 1970s when the men went missing and the 1990s after the enquiry is over and the relatives are getting on with their lives. The narrators - especially the male ones really brought the story to life.

I listened to this audiobook whilst visiting a small English coastal village with a distant view of a lighthouse and this really helped to set the scene. The author describes perfectly the scents and sense of the seaside, it wasn’t difficult to lose myself in the narrative.
The story builds around two separate strands: the events around an unexplained disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from their post, and a weaving together of clues by an author hoping to write a book about the event twenty years later, in 1992. The reader, or listener in my case, is given an insight into the lives of the women left to grieve for the men through their interviews with the author. There is a slow drip feed of information building a web of truth and intrigue. The voices were made very distinct and easy to ascertain which helped me to keep a picture in my mind of what was being relayed.
The action in the lighthouse was written with such attention to detail that it was clear this book has been very well researched. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the space inhabited by the men and the scenery outside. Having the story from the point of view of each of the lighthouse keepers gave the story a well rounded feel and an insight into their experiences.
I have been gripped by this story since I started listening to it, and usually I would find any supernatural elements in a tale difficult to embrace. However, there are many superstitions associated with life at sea, and so the ghostly elements in this book felt natural in this setting. The mysterious theme of the book made this a great read, I would highly recommend it.