This debut crime thriller follows a retired police detective who must face down a vicious killer and the memories that haunt her, thirty years after bringing down one of Ireland’s most prolific serial killers! Great read!! This book had great suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, a great who done it and a few crazy twists and turns. The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

To me, this is a rounded up 2.5 stars. I should just stop reading contemporary mystery/thriller novels, and it is on me to continue delving into the genre that usually (always?) leaves me cold. I can see that plenty of people like this book, so take this review with a grain of salt.

If this were not an ARC, it would have been a DNF at about 25%. The book actually grew on me around 70% in, but it has been a struggle to get there. I did not like the protagonist Julia, or any of the other people (especially her husband Phil). To be fair to Julia, she was greatly improved in the last third of the book, mostly because 1994 plot wrapped up before the 2024 one, and the older Julia was much more palatable. Don't get me wrong, I think Julia was a very realistic character, just not one I liked personally.

The two antagonists (1994 and 2024) were both obvious from the get-go, which made for a dull read from that perspective. It didn't feel like the protagonists should have guessed that (they weren't behaving stupidly like protagonists do in some other books in the genre), but it did mean that the book was sufficiently tropey for the reader to be able to see immediately who the killer was.

If you like twisty thrillers with dual timelines, this one is for you! I thought I had the ending figured out but I was wrong, which was delightful! Most thrillers are predictable by the end.

This book kept my interest because I had to know what happens next. It was a twisty thriller and the time jumps to 1994 from 2024 were easy to follow. I liked how all the ends tied up together and it was a fun read.
The writing felt clear and concise while also giving enough detail to describe the characters, crimes, and story. This is a book I would recommend to others.

Julia has retired from the Garde to a quiet town,Cuan Beag on the coast of Ireland. She receives a call, alerting her to the possibility of a copycat killer. We then leave the present and return to when Julia was young and solved a major case. Julia lost an awful lot due to this case, which will gradually unfold as the story is told.
I enjoyed both timelines equally. Something that is rare for me. There was nothing wrong with how it ended, except that I was sure someone else was the bad guy. That’s my bad, not the authors.
The Dark Hours kept me guessing and flipping pages. A new author to me and one that I hope to read again.