Halloween Night - Slayton

Five girls go to Blackhall Manor (Yes! The Blackhall Manor!) to play the midnight game. They write their names on paper, soak it in their blood and knock (not three times) twenty-two times - thus, inviting in the Midnight Man!

"If you open your door to the Midnight Man, Hide with a candle whenever you can. Try not to scream as he draws near, because one of you won't be leaving here..."

Remember, he is not Candyman - he is the midnight man. Five entered the Manor - only four will go home! Some game, huh?

Detective Sarah Noble has just returned to the force, and she knows a very painful thing or two about Blackhall Manor. This new case will not be a welcomed blast from the past. In fact, it is going to be a nightmare!

Intriguing, dark, atmospheric, and deadly. This is the beginning to the Slayton Thrillers and what a first installment! I enjoyed this intriguing and tension filled book. It kept me on my toes, guessing and doing my own detective work. I was way off with my guess and though the reveal was a little out of left field, but at the same time didn't mind too much. I hope future books dive a little more into Sarah's past and her character is fleshed out a little more. There were times when I read this that I felt as if I had missed something. But I have a feeling the next book will fill in some gaps and dazzle me even more.

Enjoyably dark and sinister.

Thank you to Embla books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

🕯 BOOK TOUR REVIEW 🕯

The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5⭐️s

Thank you to Embla Books for my gifted e-copy of the book via Netgalley and for having me along in the tour.

𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕟
ℍ𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟
𝕋𝕣𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕒𝕤 𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕨𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣
𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖...

Woah 🤯 this book makes you think you know exactly where it’s heading, but no!

The opening of The Midnight Man is one of the most Fantastic I’ve read.

The eerieness of Blackhall Manor lifts right off the pages and weaves around you. As does the claustrophobic town of Slayton. Everyone knows everyone.

But the people of Slayton don’t seem to know who Sarah Nobel is, beyond her most recent shame.

I loved the alternating perspectives of Sarah, Elsie, Elliot, and others. Small pieces of the puzzle are shared but trust me, you will definitely miss pieces that are essential.

The suspense and atmosphere is kept at the forefront of the story and gives the slow creeping feeling of something coming.

This book is definitely one you want to read this spooky season. I do t want to spoil the plot of this book but each chapter pulled me into the next.

#BookReview #BookTour #ReadAndReview #TheMidnightMan #EmblaBooks #SpookyReads #OctoberReads

Hugest of thanks to Embla Books for approving my request to read one of their first titles, 'The Midnight Man' by Caroline Mitchell, which, I am calling it now, could make the village of Slayton as integral to Caroline's fiction as Castle Rock is to Stephen King's. It is a town where even the people living there feel is cursed, that there is a darkness, a fog which hangs over it and, having read this series opener, I can see why.

Overlooking the town is Blackhall Manor, scene of a family massacre which casts a pall over the entire place. Locals are desperate to knock it down, it stands as an emblem of entitlement , the epitome of the haves versus the have nots, as is echoed by the social divide between Upper and Lower Slayton. There has been blood spilt in the construction of the house, unaccountable deaths, and the mythology of the Midnight Man game which occurs on Halloween.

Signing your name in blood on a card will bring an invite to the Midnight Game, no one knows who put the cards and instructions in the 5 school girls bags, it seems like any other Halloween night prank, survive until 3.33 a.m and win kudos from all around.

So they think nothing of it as they turn up to the dilapidated mansion, with their candles and lighters, knocking 22 times and repeating the poem-

''If you open your door to the Midnight Man,
Hide with a candle wherever you can.
Try not to scream as he draws near,
Because one of you won’t leave here.”

But this is no ordinary house. And it is all fun and games until one of the girls vanishes....

Running parallel to this story is that of Sarah Noble, about to return to her police job after a year on the sick for unspecified mental health issues. Her husband, also a police officer, won't leave her alone despite them having split up prior to the start of the book, and he has quite clearly done something or been involved in something which has tainted Sarah's fellow officers perception of her. To say they don't welcome her back with open arms is an understatement.

Tied to a desk under the watchful eye of her superior, she is on restricted duty and told to take witness statements in the community. Until she is called off this task to a missing person report from the mother of one of the girls who went to Blackhall Manor, and never came home...

Threaded through these plots are the first person killer narratives, giving you glimpses inside this tortured psyche, as the town of Slayton desperately searches for the missing Anjelica. The Midnight Man is here and ready to play...

I found the mix of paranormal, and police procedural, really engaging, there is a realism to the police scenes which is reminiscent of Lynda La Plante, and the author's own experiences as a long serving, female, police officer. She nails the dynamics of the squad room, and so when the supernatural elements are introduced into the narrative, you have absolutely no issue with them.

Hugely engaging and genuinely scary, I think this is a brilliant read for autumn/winter, and recommend it to any thriller fan.

From the first powerful chapter, I was hooked into this story. A spine-chilling police procedural, the characters are well-drawn and developed nicely as the book progressed. Detective Sarah Noble is an interesting and relatable protagonist that I look forward to reading more about. The story had plenty of surprises and different threads which the author brought expertly together and kept me wanting to learn more. The Midnight Man was twisty, tense and creepy as hell! Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This was a fantastic albeit terryfying story. I absolutely loved it. If you love police procedure, chasing a vicious creepy serial killer then you will love this book xxx

Thoroughly enjoyable police thriller/horror.

The premise is good and I liked the way the main character was connected, it added to the story.

If you open your door to the Midnight Man, Hide with a candle wherever you can. Try not to scream as he draws near, Because one of you won’t be leaving here…

What a spine chilling rhyme to kick things off closely followed by an equally sinster opening chapter. You know what? These were two back to back signs I was in for a real treat!!

So the story centres round a creepy empty house, a group of girls who play a creepy game and a detective trying to stay in the shadows. How are these three things tied together I hear you cry…. By the faceless Midnight Man.

I really liked Sarah. She’s a tenacious woman who has had the real rough end of life’s presents. She’s been dealt a crappy hand from a young age and now she is trying to find this enigmatic killer. Will she find him before he kills again or worse still catches up with her?!

This is a dark and twisted read just as I have come to expect from Mitchell but there is a whole lot more sinsterness to The Midnight Man. Mitchell mixed her crime fiction with the supernatural in her Jennifer Knight books but this is a step above that. The Midnight Man seems to be everywhere and yet elusive to capture.

The Midnight Man kept me covered in goosebumps throughout. I was chilled to the bone from the off by Mitchell’s latest novel and I loved it!! If you want a creepy read for this creepy month, you can’t go wrong with The Midnight Man. The question is, dare you read it by candlelight??

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy and Caroline Mitchell.

I really enjoyed this. I flew right through the book.

If you open your door to the Midnight Man, hide with a candle wherever you can. Try not to scream as he draws near. Because one of you won’t be leaving here…😱

At 11.45pm on Halloween, 5 girls go into Blackhall Manor to play The Midnight Man game. It was only supposed to be a game, but only four girls came home.

Detective Sarah Noble knows Blackhall Manor like the back of her hand but is she ready to play and meet The Midnight Man? 

The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell literally freaked me out. It has come out just before Halloween, making it the perfect book to read on fright night. I love that the novel is a mix between horror and thriller.

I also felt a bit nostalgic reading this book. When I was in year 5, a group of friends and myself played a game of "Bloody Mary". Even though I knew those legends only happened in movies, I was still fearful about it actually happening. That feeling was exactly how I felt with this book, legends aren't real but what if they are real?

And in a fiction book you honestly don't know where the story was going to go. 

Thank you @netgalley for gifting me the book to read and review and an extended thanks to @emblabooks and @caroline_writes for having me on this book tour. 💕

2.5 stars

I had high hopes for this ones, especially after reading the explosive first chapter, but ultimately I was left wanting more. I never felt the dark and creepy atmosphere that should have surrounded the Midnight Man game and Blackhall Manor. There were a lot of characters whose points of view and subplots felt unnecessary and the ending reveals were disappointing. The ending seemed to leave things open for a sequel, and it appears this is going to be the first in a series, but I have no interest in continuing with this story or characters.

I'm a huge fan of Caroline Mitchell's Detective Amy Winters series, so when I read the synopsis for Midnight Man, I knew I had to read it.

Midnight Man is a police procedural with a creepy edge to it. It was a perfect read for this time of year, especially as the nights are drawing in and it's getting colder.

There are a couple of horror tropes throughout, like the abandoned and possibly haunted mansion and the urban legend of the midnight man. They both added another dimension to the story, and I especially loved the chilling rhyme that warned against invoking the midnight man.

Detective Sarah Noble was a flawed and believable character. After a hellish year, you can't help but root for her to get her life back on track. Another interesting character was seven-year-old Elliot. I can't tell you too much about him, but he was a bit of a scene stealer.

I'll be honest, when I read the blurb I was expecting more of a horror novel than the police procedural that it turned out to be. It didn't spoil my overall enjoyment, but I was hoping for a little more creepiness/spookiness.

The Midnight Man is a decent start to this series and I'll be looking forward to seeing more of these characters.

I got 25% into this, I really wanted to like this, but I didn't. There are too many pov's to keep up with. And only 2 of them were particularly interesting.

The Midnight Man - Caroline Mitchell

𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒹𝑜𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑀𝒾𝒹𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝑀𝒶𝓃, 𝒽𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃. 𝒯𝓇𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓌𝓈 𝓃𝑒𝒶𝓇, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒...

𝕆𝕟 ℍ𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝕗𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕘𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕤 𝕘𝕠 𝕥𝕠 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕒 𝕡𝕚𝕖𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕠𝕒𝕜 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕. 𝔸𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕞𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕔𝕜 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕪-𝕥𝕨𝕠 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤 - 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟.

𝕀𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕘𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖.

𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕙 ℕ𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕠 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕣. 𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕙 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕖.

𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕟?

Well a massive ooh!! I was totally sucked in from the start, gripping, thrilling and I couldn’t stop reading. This had a creep factor 10 and is the sort of thing that would have freaked me out as a teen. There used to a rumour about our local sanatorium, as was, that kids used to try to get into, much in the same way this group of girls do, but without the murder.

The threads were a bit disparate to start with we are led along with some brilliant moments dropped in to make you think. I got fixated on one of the characters being The Midnight Man and was found to be utterly clueless ! Heart thumping stuff, I was totally enthralled with this one and want to read more by this author!

✩✩✩✩

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This book was a good spooky read that I would classify under the haunted house trope. The first half of the story was super eerie and chilling. I loved the setting in a spooky little town called Slayton and the whole idea of the haunted BlackHall Manor. The story definitely starts with a bang, but unfortunately the second half fell flat for me. I was so underwhelmed by the ending and the big reveal of who “The Midnight Man” really was. I also personally feel like this story should have been left as a stand-alone without the open ending for a book two. At this point I’m not entirely sure I will pick up the next Slayton novel, but we will see!

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Midnight Man but that has in no way influenced my review.

I'm a huge fan of Caroline Mitchell's books and have read a fair few over the years. When I heard she was returning to her spooky roots with a creepy pre-Halloween offering, I jumped at the chance to read it. The first book in the Slayton Thriller series, The Midnight Man, is a perfectly pitched police procedural which worms its way under the readers skin.

After a traumatic and devastating year, DC Sarah Noble has decided to return to the force and get on with her life. Things will never be the same again but Sarah knows she can't mope at home with her cat forever. The welcome the team offer her is less than enthusiastic and she's handed only menial tasks, such as statement taking, to keep her busy. But when a big case hits Slayton, the disappearance of a teenage girl, Sarah unwittingly becomes embroiled in a case that brings back terrifying memories she'd rather forget. A decaying, spooky manor house, a local legend and the utterly terrifying Midnight Man...

The Midnight Man is a great start to what promises to be a fantastic series. A smart, well-written police procedural with a spooky edge, which this author does so well. Using local legends, a perfect eerie setting in a dilapidated old house and the unrelenting fear of your average fourteen year old, the author creates a chilling backdrop on which to set her haunting tale. Things certainly do go bump in the night at Blackhall Manor! Add to this a Detective Constable who, through no fault of her own, has suffered from crippling humiliation and heartbreak over the last year, only to return to her police colleagues for them to belittle and taunt her, and you have an intriguing page-turner.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Halloween on the horizon or not, The Midnight Man is the perfect pick if you're looking for a story to give you chills. At the time of picking this book up I was looking for a police procedural that offered something a bit different. And The Midnight Man did exactly that. It gave me a different take, which I really appreciated and it ticked a lot of boxes for me. Mitchell is a superb writer who time and time again entertains her readers with excellent stories and fascinating characters. I look forward to finding out where the author will take the Slayton Thriller series next! Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Midnight Man. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Wow! This book is a brilliantly dark and nail-biting thriller that combines gothic horror with elements of police procedural and the paranormal. Beginning on Halloween, five girls visit the local manor, that previously housed a family who was slaughtered inside, to take part in a midnight game. The girls write their names on paper, soak it in their bool and knock 22 times, inviting The Midnight Man in. The setting is all the right kinds of chilling and spooky, and when one girl doesn’t come back outside alive, we know we are in for a mysterious and compelling whodunnit.

Switching perspectives of different families whose lives all entwine we meet a range of characters including Sarah, a detective, a loner and a survivor of trauma and Elliot who can predict the future. I was gripped as we learnt more about the characters and their backstories as the truth begins to unravel.

Admittedly, there are a couple of off-putting elements, but the story is an easy read and the eerie atmosphere makes up for it. It is perfect for an October thrill as the nights begin to draw in.

This thriller follows multiple people in the small town of Slayton. A family massacre at Blackhall Manor rocked the town 25 years earlier and the building has stood abandoned ever since. Halloween night 2019 - a group of girls sneak away and meet at Blackhall Manor to play the Midnight Game: where they light candles and invite the Midnight Man to come into the house and then evade him and keep their candles lit until morning. However, one of the girls never returns home. Police detective Sarah Noble has just returned to duty after a scandal and in her investigation into the disappearance of the girl Sarah finds older and more sinister truths are ready to be revealed whether she likes it or not.

TW/CW: child death, child sexual abuse, grooming, religious abuse, weight/food talk, PTSD, suicide

The main part of the blurb that really grabbed my attention was the Midnight Game and what an interesting layer to a thriller that would be. I've never heard of the Midnight Game until this book, but where I grew up people would play Bloody Mary which is a similar enough concept that I was onboard with this concept. I loved that we get the game from the perspective of these 14ish year old girls who initially don't entirely believe but as they start to play the game, their imaginations get the better of them and by the end of the night, they pretty much believe the Midnight Man is real. Because of these children, there was a part of me who also questioned if the Midnight Man was real and if this thriller would go off in a supernatural direction. I also enjoyed how the lore of the Midnight Man was a thread through the whole story, not just a brief kick-off point in the beginning. We do get a few chapters from the various children in the book and they didn't exactly, to me, read as young as they should have (I know this is a pretty common issue in many books but I still wanted to give it a brief mention) and it did break my immersion a tiny amount.

We do alternate POV between a few characters but Sarah, the police detective, is who I would call our protagonist. The other POVs really exist to give the reader extra details that Sarah doesn't know yet - they don't really have their own plot lines in the way some multi-POV thrillers do. This does help increase the tension and pacing in the book because the reader is getting the juicy tidbits early on and then we get to see how/if Sarah finds out about that same information. I think the multi-POV also did help give the reader a better sense of the town as a whole and what some of the different struggles people face while living there. These other POV scenes were usually pretty short which was good so that we didn't lose track of the main narrative thread with Sarah. Small town secrets are one of my favorite thriller tropes and Mitchell does a great job of giving us a good amount of secrets that may or may not be related to the case at hand. This is the first book in a new series called Slayton Thrillers and it seems like Sarah may be the recurring character in that series (but I couldn't find any other details about future books at this time).

I really enjoyed the character development we saw with Sarah. She's coming back to work after almost a year away due to a scandal and resulting mental health issues. There's some animosity from a few of her coworkers and she isn't sure if she made the right decision. Through the investigation, she is able to reconnect with some friends she knew from school which seemed to ground her in this new time in her life and give her the stability she needed in order to work through the issues she's facing at work. As I mentioned above, this is the first book in a new series. However, there were times where some mentions were made about the scandal and Sarah's absence that were phrased in a way that made me think I should know what they're referring to. I think I got this feeling because pretty much everyone in this town knows about the scandal so they don't need to spell it out on page and thus their little knowing side remarks are vague enough to be mysterious but specific enough that other characters know what they're talking about. We do, around the 70% mark, find out what the scandal exactly was and that does show us a new side of Sarah but I wish the reader could have been in on the news earlier in the book and see Sarah overcome these whispers. I do hope we see some of the characters in this book show up in later books, even just as brief mentions because I think Mitchell did a good job at really endearing these characters to the reader (even if the characters weren't entirely likeable).

The investigation and reveals were great - all the way until the ending. Literally during the first 85% of the book, it was a 5 star read for me. I really loved the way Sarah's investigation wove through the town and how the other character POVs were integrated in that. We got a lot of secrets revealed and some of those reveals ended up being directly related to the current case. I thought the investigation was logical but not overly-dry like some detective thrillers can be. There was good tension building throughout the whole book, especially with the POV choices and how certain information was revealed. There were so many times where I was sure it was X and then the plot would take what I was thinking and twist it just enough to be something new entirely that I didn't see coming. There was a fantastic build up and escalation of events leading up to the ending and I was expecting a big twisty reveal ... but I disappointed. So I wouldn't say the ending was bad, but I was disappointed enough to knock down a whole star. I don't feel like the reveal was hinted about at all during the rest of the book so it felt like it came a little out of left field. Looking back, there were a number of characters who would have known parts of the reveal but they never spoke about those aspects on page so the reader didn't have any breadcrumbs to follow. I generally don't like these kind of blind-gotcha endings because it just feels like it almost cheapens the reading experience for me. I love reading thrillers partly because of the guessing game and trying to put the pieces together so with no crumbs to follow, I'm overall left disappointed. Also, the ending was pretty anti-climatic as far as pacing goes. We get a villain monologue (which I think is necessary given the lack of breadcrumbs for the reader to follow) and then it is pretty much done in just a few pages. Given the way the last few chapters are written, the ending reveal obviously impacts the characters greatly but as the reader, I didn't feel any emotional connection to the reveal because of the lack of foundation in the earlier story. All that aside, the ending did tie up all the loose ends and answer the questions I had up to that point so it was satisfying from that perspective.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I would love to read more thriller/horror stories involving the spooky games kids play at sleepovers. I thought this was a really good introduction to a new series and I hope we get to see some of the characters from this book as the series progresses. I was disappointed by the lack of breadcrumbs for the ending, but it did tie everything together so I can't be too mad about it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Embla Books for the ARC in exchange for review

Expected publication date is October 13, 2021.

“If you tell, you'll go to hell”

Five girls go to Blackhall Manor to play the Midnight Game on Halloween night. Only four of them return. Detective Sarah Noble is called in to investigate and finds herself immersed in the folklore, rumours and suspicions that have haunted Blackhall Manor ever since that Halloween Night in 1994. Is she ready to meet the Midnight Man? And can she stop him claiming more victims?

Tense, eerie, atmospheric and addictive, The Midnight Man is perfect for the spooky season. The story takes lots of unexpected twists and turns and was actually quite different to what I was expecting. But I loved the direction the author took instead, keeping me guessing the whole time with her multilayered and intricately woven tale. Expertly written, she held me hostage from beginning to end. I couldn’t stop reading and inhaled it like it was oxygen. It was my first foray into Caroline Mitchell’s books and I can’t wait to read more from her, including returning to the community she created for this novel.

Told by multiple narrators, this book is bursting with great characters who are richly drawn and memorable. Sometimes having a lot of narrators can be confusing or take away from the atmosphere of a book, but Ms. Mitchell does it so well that they add to the mystery and suspense. Each one is so compelling that you don’t question why she needed to give them a voice and I loved getting to know them all.

One of my favourite tropes is when the antagonist is a narrator, so I loved the elusive Midnight Man’s chapters in this book; his murderous intentions chillingly laid bare while his victims remained unaware. It cranked up the tension and had me looking for clues as to his identity in every sentence. I liked Sarah and thought the author represented the effects of trauma and PTSD really well through her character. She was easy to connect with and a great choice for the main protagonist. But it was Elliott, the sweet young psychic boy, who was my favourite of all the characters. He stole my heart, and any scene he was in. I challenge anyone who reads this book not to fall in love with him.

Blackhall Manor was also like a character in it’s own right. Eerily looming behind the gates and casting a shadow over all of Slayton since the murders that occured on Halloween 1994. Talk of it being haunted, rumours of the Midnight Man and kids playing the midnight game all play into the atmosphere that surrounds the dilapidated house. But what was the truth? I loved how the author was able to keep me guessing right up until the big reveal and surprised me despite all my hypotheses.

So if you’re looking for a book that will send shivers down your spine and make your heart race then this is for you. Just make sure you read it with the lights on.

Are YOU ready to meet the Midnight Man?

Twenty-five years ago, shot and killed his wife, their two children and then turned the gun on himself. The large house they lived in still stands and has become one of those places that kids like to visit on Halloween.

Five teenage girls brave visiting the Blackhall Manor to play the Midnight Game. They write their names on a piece of paper and prick their fingers to soak it in blood. At exactly midnight they knock on the door twenty-two times - they have invited the Midnight Man in.

But only four girls return that night.

Detective Sarah Noble has just returned to the police force, having been gone for a year due to personal issues. She's only working limited hours, taking witness statements for various police reports received. She knows more about Blackhall Manor than anyone ... but then Sarah harbors a secret... and this case will take Sarah to places in her head she just doesn't want to go.

Who is the Midnight Man? And what does he ultimately want?

This is a well-thought out plot with an intriguing story line. There are several elements that are compelling, even riveting. Elements of a haunted house mystery, a bit of crime fiction, a little of the paranormal... makes this the perfect read for Halloween. There is a cat.. but not a black one. No witches, goblins, etc ... just pure suspense from start to finish.

Many thanks to the author / Embla Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this paranormal suspense. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Years ago a man walked through Blackwell Manor and killed his four year old son, father, mother, wife, and then his 14 year old daughter. The house still stands in Slaythorn, making it the perfect haunted house.

Years later, five young girls are invited to the house to play the Midnight Game. They must write their names on a piece of paper and then put their own blood on it. At midnight they knock 22 times, and this invites the Midnight Man in. Each girl must always have a lit candle with them, or else the Midnight Man can get them, While five girls go into the game, only four come out.

This was a great thriller and spooky tale. There are a few different mysteries to solve along the way, and many characters that all have their secrets about the night the family was killed, and about the night of the Midnight Game. Each time I thought I had a handle on what was going on, I was pulled into a different direction.

I recommend it as a great book for the suspense novel lover!

Thanks so much to Embla books and Caroline Mitchell for sending me this eArc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!