This is the first book I’ve read that is set in Antarctica. I love the setting and the fact that it is a locked room mystery.

Holy moly this book kept my heart rate up and my attention hooked. It is entirely due to the setting. The plot would have fallen flat if it had taken place anywhere else but the concept of absolute darkness and isolation in Antarctica really made it creepy. I am not familiar at all with the research stations in Antarctica but now that I have learned some more from these it blows my mind that people can do that. The main character was not the most likeable and she made annoying (and probably unethical?) decisions which was frustrating at the time but at least it kept it realistic. I could figure out the twist pretty early on but like I said because of the setting it still worked.

The Dark
The outstanding Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month
by Emma Haughton
Pub Date 19 Aug 2021
Mobius Books, Hodder & Stoughton
Mystery & Thrillers


I am reviewing a copy of The Dark through Mobius Books, Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley:


Due to subject matter and strong language, I would recommend you be sixteen



Kate north is an A&E doctor who had been knocked out of her orbit by a personal tragedy. When she’s given the opportunity to be an emergency replacement at the UN research station in Antarctica, she jumps at the chance. The previous doctor Jean-Luc, died in a tragic accident while out on the ice.


The move seems to be the best decision for Kate no one knows about her past; no one is checking up on her. But as the winter descends and with it darkness, Kate begins to suspect that Jean-Luc’s death was no accident.


I give The Dark three out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

After suffering a personal tragedy Dr. Kate North decides to embark on an adventure as the in-house doctor at a research station in Antarctica. Upon arrival, she meets her fellow colleagues who she will be spending the next year with and learns her predecessor's accidental death may not have been an accident at all.

Things I loved about this book:

The claustrophobic atmosphere of the station. Workplace gossip and tensions are multiplied by 100 in the confines of such an isolated place.

The ability of the author to quite vividly make the reader feel the desolation and beauty of Antarctica.

What I didn't love:

The MC is hard to root for. She does and says things that are so ill-advised. It's like "What are you thinking?!"

Also, (small spoiler) she has an addiction to opiates and downs all sorts of prescription pills with wild abandon. And, while I get that addiction is an illness, the way it's presented here rubbed me the wrong way. Just my personal opinion.

There are a lot of characters and at times it's hard to keep them straight especially when like 4 of them have names that start with the same letter.

You can see the ending coming a mile away and the resolution is a little lackluster but there is
some decent action toward the end.

Overall, I did enjoy it but it wasn't a story that I think will stick with me.

I absolutely love the setting for this book. The change into 24-hour darkness of Antarctica helps add to the unsettling slow build of uncertainty that is pivotal to the story. This book makes you wonder who can you trust? Even the main character seems a bit unreliable from the jump. With mounting unease on the base is there something darker behind it all? Does it/they live amongst them?

Doctor Kate North needs to escape from her home after a tragedy, and where better to go than Antarctica. It’s hard to get more remote than an Antarctic research base, so Kate accepts a position when the base’s first doctor is killed during a misstep out on the ice. At first, Kate settles in comfortably, but when true dark takes over, she begins to feel like someone is watching her. Something is wrong on the base and the first doctor’d death was no accident. Creepy and claustrophobic

I adore remote murder, so murder in Antarctica was right up my alley. This reminded me of the show The Head, which was another bonus. Although I did guess the big twist fairly early, I was so entertained I didn't care. I was hoping for a little more character development, as some characters weren't as fleshed out as others, which led to me narrowing my list of suspects more quickly than I might've. But the setting was superb and it was a book I couldn't put down, overall.

I accurately guessed the ending about half-way through, but there were still so many things to keep me interested! Murders, winter in Antarctica, unplanned pregnancy, and a main character with a mysterious background. Just finding out who’s murdering their coworkers is the tip of the iceberg (pun intended).

Kate is looking to escape her life, post tragedy, so she takes a job as a doctor at a remote outpost in Antarctica. In close confines, she learns about her new coworkers and roommates in bits and pieces: winter has made everyone edgy, but so has the recent death of Kate’s predecessor. John-Luc had an accident out in the ice, leading to his death. Everyone believes it to have been an accident, but Alex, John-Luc’s closest friend and equipment manger, believes someone murdered the man because he was close to discovering something dangerous.

When Alex turns up dead, Kate begins to think that the two men were on to something- and she sets out to discovery what these two men died for.

I’m really into books that take place in strange places: space, the ocean, Antarctica. There’s just something about exploring the unknown accompanied by inescapable locations that brings out not only the depth of plot, but the skill of the author. It isn’t easy to write about real scenarios a majority of people will never experience.

I will say, I thought going into this I wouldn’t really be able to deduce who the murderer is. There’s only a limited number of characters, but it took me awhile to sort out who everyone was. When I got an inkling about halfway through I rolled with it. Usually I flip-flop, but I knew for a fact who the murderer was I was so sure, Haughton’s attempts at deflection didn’t work on me and I just wanted to yell at the characters. I still found the devolution of the murderer’s plans interesting, as well as Kate’s methods about going about it. Kate is unreliable, so it was hard to trust her deductions because of her unreliability, but that just made it all the more dramatic.

A lot of the tropes in this book have been done in numerous other books and movies but that doesn’t make them any less dramatic. I particularly like the side plot of one of the women getting pregnant and having to live through a serial killer. The plot was excellent, in short.

The characters, on the other hand, were meh. Haughton tried to make them all unique but in her desire to imbue diversity, it just hit confusing. There are people from the US, England, France, Russia, Iceland, and India. Some characters are more important than others, and obviously get more attention from Haughton. The treatment of the characters also helped me narrow down the killer- not because they were poorly written per se but mostly because it was obvious a character that Haughton spent a lot of time on would be important- that really cut the already limited potential suspect list in half by simply eliminating the characters Haughton spent as little time fleshing out as possible.

The ending was satisfying, but I would have liked a little more, some time skip after escaping the outpost to see how everyone fared would’ve been nice, but I think Haughton ended it at an appropriate, if not anticlimactic, moment.

The premise of this mystery is intriguing, especially since I like learning about living on the South Pole. However, the narrator had no personality beyond pining over her ex-boyfriend and being addicted to painkillers. Also, the action was incredibly slow. So much of the book was just the narrator thinking over and over about what was going on. Finally, it was so hard to keep the characters straight in my mind; eventually, I made a cheat sheet for myself and that helped. I skimmed the last 40% and was disappointed in the predictable end.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. A doctor for a isolated station in Antarctica that slowly starts to find out she is replacing someone who died under some suspicious circumstances. And then, mysterious things start happening. What would you do with minimal communication with the outside world and no one to truly trust? Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Dark, by Emma Haughton, is a mystery set in Antarctica. After a personal trauma, Dr. Kate North decides to leave everything behind and take a post wintering over as the station physician.  Not many researchers stay over the winter, through the 24-hour darkness and months without fresh supplies, but a few continue their work year-round.  Kate's ready for an extreme reset, where no one knows her past and where she can self-prescribe in peace.

Before arriving, Kate heard that the position is only open because the previous doctor died in an accident, but once she's living in the research station, she begins to hear other things.  Kate can't seem to leave this alone, asking nosy questions and peeking around, and I felt a real conflict as she started to look into what could have happened. She's a mess in her personal life, and maybe this project will distract her and pull her out of this? But then again, she's a mess, so maybe she's just going to make it all worse.

Once the mystery starts, it's fascinating. When there's a second tragic "accident" at the station, this becomes the best kind of locked-door mystery. There are only a limited number of suspects, and only a limited number of places where someone or something could be hidden. There can't be a last-minute rescue and there are no police to call, since any emergency services are on a different continent, separated by harsh weather.  But there are so many possible motivations!

There is a body and an emergency surgery in The Dark, but it's not gory at all. Seriously, there's only some blood, and there's more blood in an episode Call the Midwife which never grosses me out.

I enjoyed this novel so much. I loved the group of winter scientists, and their personalities and relationships. The international researchers felt like some of my best ESL classes, with a rotating list of food styles and any excuse for a party. Even the station manager, who's mysteriously harsh and negative to Kate from the start, felt realistic. Look, you don't have to be locked into a winter in Antarctica to feel trapped and harassed by a negative manager. And there's a question of whether the personality conflicts are just from coworkers trapped too closely, for too long or if someone is hiding something or if Kate's well-meant questions are actually the thing stirring up trouble.

There are some slower parts to this novel, but the parts that aren't a page-turning mystery are interesting descriptions of life in an Antarctic research station in the dark winter months. Overall, the winter research station made an ideal setting for the locked-door mystery.

Kate North is the new doctor for the UN research station in Antarctica, taking over for the previous doctor who mysteriously died.
She decided to take the job after being in an accident that left her personal life in ruins.
As her time at the station lengthens, she becomes more suspicious that the previous doctors death wasn’t an accident.

When I read the plot of this book on NetGalley, I knew I wanted to read it immediately. I love thrillers that rely on isolation a lot for the tension and atmosphere, this story taking place in Antarctica was absolutely perfect for anyone that loves isolated settings.
The main character, Kate, is definitely frustrating. I’m aware that this was probably the authors goal, which they definitely succeeded in doing, but it’s hard for me to read from perspectives like this one. I’m someone who tries hard not to judge characters *too* hard on their choices or actions. It’s easy to say “oh, I wouldn’t have done that” or “why would they do that instead of this.” However, I never know what I would do in certain situations. Plus, it’s a book. There’s gonna be certain things that you have to suspend disbelief for when reading certain stories.
I think my biggest issue with Kate is that it was hard to connect with her, I never felt anything remotely positive towards her.
I also found this book to be predictable. Kate’s past and personal issues that she’s running from aren’t knew or anything I haven’t seen before.
It wasn’t a shock or a surprise when Kate’s past was revealed to me.
I also guessed who the murderer was, I felt like it was kind of obvious. However, I do think the author did a good job of trying to keep the reader guessing and wondering what characters you could really trust. I’ve read a lot of thrillers like this though, so I think it was just easy for me to guess who the killer was.
My favorite thing about this book is the setting. It was very creepy, very atmospheric, and had a lot going for it because of the setting.
Overall, I felt like this was a pretty standard thriller. I would definitely recommend to thriller lovers and people who love an isolated setting. I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author.

I enjoyed this book! It was so atmospheric and creepy!

Dr. Kate North is sent to the United Nations Antarctic Station, as a replacement for Dr. Jean Luc, who dies in a tragic accident. Hoping for fresh start, she is in charge of caring for the 12 crew members.

What really happened to Jean Lucband why?

This book gets in your head. The isolation and almost claustrophobic feelings with stick with you long after you finish reading.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

MV Rating: 7/10. This book was a fantastic thriller.
* set in Antarctica in 24-hour night, this story tests all loyalties as murder ensues on a research base.
* our main character is troubled, but loveable, and we love a strong female lead.
* Haughton kept me guessing until the very last minute, which I appreciate in a thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy, now available for sale!

A very suspenseful and gripping novel. The plot and characters are well developed and will keep you on the edge of your seat! A great read!

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A chilling take on who dunnit...

This is a psychological thriller meant to have you questioning everything and everyone, while the execution was slightly off (the killer was quite obvious to me) the unfolding of the events were enjoyable to read. I didn't connect with every character, as there were quite a few and some got more 'time' than the others.

Set in Antarctica they are surrounded by ice and eventually as the sun sets for the last time, the dark. There was already suspicions to be had as Dr. North arrived at the station and things unfold rather quickly once she starts digging.

A few inconsistencies with the timeline but nothing that throws off the story as a whole.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mobius Books, Hodder & Stoughton for the review copy.

From beginning to end, I was riveted by this novel. Emma Haughton was able to create a world where the dark and cold wasn't just something you felt physically...her fantastic style of writing allowed you to feel those feelings emotionally - leaving you breathless at times while reading! The constant twists and turns - finding up you were routing for the "bad" person - wrapping myself in a blanket because she convinced me with her writing that I was cold the whole time I was reading. This novel definitely kept me guessing and gave me such a rush when at the end all was revealed. It was a magnificent thriller ride that had deep complex characters with back stories that easily created the connections with the reader. I am so looking forward to her next novel! A must read for thriller/mystery book lovers everywhere.

Good book! When I am reading a book to critique, I look at plot, characterization/dialog, setting and descriptive prose. The descriptive prose in The Dark is excellent. I found myself reading passages to my husband and daughter. Haughton beautifully captures Antarctica as a remote, ominous but beautiful place.

As an example, here is Haughton’s description of the sinking of the sun. “Each day it struggles to rise above the ice, each day giving up more quickly, turning the clouds orange and the snow purple as it sinks back down, smearing the sky with the colors of blood and bruises.”

Having The Dark set in Antarctica in the during its winter created a wonderful setting for what is basically a locked-room mystery. I liked the plot a lot. Kate is an ER doctor who, after suffering a personal trauma, applies to become a doctor for the U.N.’s station in Antarctica. She arrives to find the previous doctor had died in a climbing accident and that she will be responsible for the medical care of 12 other members of the base. Not everyone believes the doctor’s death was an accident. Kate also doesn’t understand why station chief Sandrine is so hostile towards her.

If there is a weak spot to The Dark, it is the characterization/dialog. Kate is an addict, which makes her a bit unsympathetic, and I really didn’t think I got to know other members of the base. The dialog is a bit wooden, and Kate’s internal narration can get aggravating.

But that beautiful, descriptive prose makes up for these deficiencies. If you liked “The Sanatorium,” “Shiver” or “One By One” then you will enjoy The Dark.

DNF - Did not finish. I decided not to keep reading this title because I did not connect with the writing or plot. Thank you, NetGalley and publisher for the early copy!

Antarctic thriller

I am a sucker for all kinds of stories - fiction and non-fiction - about Antarctica and the Arctic so this book definitely caught my eye.

It was a little light on the details about Antarctica that I enjoy but it was still a solid mystery thriller.

Kate is an English doctor sent to the (fictional) United Nations Antarctica station to replace a prior doctor that was killed in a tragic questionable accident.

She will be wintering over at the station with twelve other people and when tensions ramp up, there's no place to escape to.

I enjoyed this story as a sort of "locked room" mystery. For me, it was kind of Antarctica lite but still enjoyable and worth reading.

I received this book from Mobius Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.