A teenage Halloween party in spooky woods with a local legend attached. A body that echoes the ghostly presence of “Sally in the Woods” a young girl murdered long ago and a mystery that can only be solved when complex relationships are teased out and examined. As motives emerge and possible suspects arise we are kept guessing until the very end which is just the way it should be.
Hannah Richell has created a moody novel full of tension, suspicion and red herrings. The locations and characters are richly described and draw the reader in.
A private school, dark woods at Halloween, teenagers with typical angsts and secrets, a school counsellor whose daughter attends the school as part of a package, her ex, a police detective investigating the murder and various others that revolve around these three.
Thanks to NetGalley for the copy to review. I enjoyed this creepy read!

One Dark Night is captivating and suspenseful. I enjoyed Hannah Ritchells writing style, they created a chilling atmosphere with vivid imagery and spooky elements.

The twists and turns kept me guessing throughout, and the intriguing characters added depth to the story. I recommend this book to fans of suspense and thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. I'm eager to read more from Hannah Ritchell

Hannah Richells' One Dark Night is a gripping, atmospheric tale that masterfully intertwines excitement and emotional depth. Set against the backdrop of a stormy evening, the story explores themes of fear, resilience, and human connection, capturing readers with its vivid imagery and suspenseful pacing. Richells' prose is haunting yet tender, bringing her complex characters to life with authenticity. Her ability to balance tension and heart makes this a standout work, leaving a lasting impression on fans of psychological thrillers.
I loved this book and found the characters fully engaging, it kept me gripped to the final moments never managing to guess the perpetrator.
Thank you @netgalley for a copy of this book.

Hannah Richell knows how to write a great thriller. I have read and loved her previous books, so it was with great anticipation that I opened One Dark Night that was released earlier this month. Instantly I was transported to a haunted wood with every shadow making you slightly jumpy. This is a well written and atmospheric story that is sure to have you frantically turning pages to a drama filled ending. The woods referred to is in fact a curved stretch of road on the Somerset-Wiltshire border that cuts through dense woodland near Bath. Hannah’s novel is loosely inspired by this locale and the nearby stone folly.

‘You’d think by now he’d have a healthy grasp on how quickly life can change, how all it takes is one single moment to shatter a life or send it veering off course.’

The story centres around the gruesome death of a young girl when a Halloween party goes wrong. Hannah has written such a well plotted story with a cast of characters and a sinister setting that will lure you in from the very first page. There is a list of suspects with the police conducting investigations to find the killer. The lies and secrets weave a web that leave you guessing so just when you think you’ve worked it out .... boom! Hannah throws in a curve ball you did not see coming. Fantastic!

One Dark Night is a suspenseful and entertaining read you will definitely find hard to put down. There are dramas with unfolding layers that will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing to a suspenseful conclusion.

‘Everything is so jumbled, so heightened, it’s hard to know what’s real, and what’s being magnified or manipulated through the lens of stress and anxiety.’





This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of One Dark Night to review.

This was a compelling mystery thriller that had me devouring the pages. Full of drama, secrets and lies and quite spooky at times..

Highly recommended.

Hannah Richell certainly knows how to hook the reader from the start and keep you guessing right up to the end. Her characters are well drawn and with the plot twists and turns it’s impossible to pick ´who dunnit ´. A thoroughly enjoyable tale about a teenager who is found dead after a Halloween party in the local woods. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an early review copy of this book.

*3.5-4 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

It took me a little while to get into this one, but I as interested enough to keep going. The story had me very curious as to what had actually happened that night up at that folly - there were plenty of twists and turns and I thought I had it figured out and then was totally thrown for who was actually the culprit and what the truth was. Was an interesting read by the end that definitely had me wanting to know what had happened.

Content warning: Death, homicide, rituals, ghost stories, drugs, car accident, grooming, mental health challenges, stalking, grief

On Halloween night, after a teenage party telling ghost stories in the woods, a girl, niece of a local property developer, is found dead. Lying at the base of the imposing tower known as The Folly, her body is arranged in such a way to appear "non-accidental". Who did it, and will they strike again?

17yo Ellie, daughter of school psychologist Rachel and detective Ben, knows her behaviour is suspicious, as she lied to both to attend the party. And with an unexplained blood stain on her jumper, all fingers are pointing at her. But she didn't do it. Did she?

As the local school and property developers spiral into damage control for the "image", the police net closes in on the suspect. But have they got the right person?

This was a captivating novel that had me guessing until the very end. Full of twists and turns and red herrings, with just the right amount of spookiness without veering into horror territory. The book is told primarily from the 3rd person POV of Ellie, Rachel and Ben, three key players in the story, and right up until the end we are kept in the dark along with these three.

This was an excellent read that had me up until the wee small hours

~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

“If you go down the woods today..”

One Dark Night is a haunting story full of small town secrets. The small village in England – Thorcombe home to a private school and the spooky woods where a young woman was murdered and left for the crows. Sally in the wood is now and old wives tale. But when a Halloween party goes incredibly wrong, nothing adds up. A student and friend who was dressed up as “Sally” has been found murdered in the woods.

I found this to be one creepy atmospheric and well written read. The location was great and the use of the old wives tale made the story. It does have a lot of characters to keep a track of but once you remember everyone it is easy to follow along. I did not see that ending coming at all!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Australia and Netgalley for the gifted copy of this e-book for my honest book review.

I’ve been a long-time fan of Hannah Richell’s books and have enjoyed all of them, but I’m particularly loving her recent shift into the suspense-thriller genre. Last year’s The Search Party was a standout, and now One Dark Night has cemented her talent in this new direction.

Set in the small town of Thorncombe, the story begins with the discovery of a teenage girl’s body at the bottom of an old stone folly in the nearby woods after a Halloween party. The town is immediately buzzing with whispers of haunted woods and rumours about what could have happened. Police Detective Ben Chase is assigned to the case, and with a teenage daughter of his own, he feels immense pressure to solve the crime quickly. However, as he digs deeper, he discovers that no one in this town is who they seem to be—and the truth may be closer to home than he ever imagined.

I absolutely loved the atmospheric and claustrophobic small-town setting for this story, which felt like the perfect backdrop for the mystery to unfold. (I also loved the map at the front of the book—it made it easy to visualise the locations.) The story was well-crafted, with intriguing old folk tale excerpts woven in, adding an eerie touch. There were several red herrings that completely threw me off the trail of the real killer, which made the final reveal all the more satisfying.

If you’re looking for a murder mystery you can truly lose yourself in, one that keeps you guessing until the very end, I highly recommend One Dark Night.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Gripped right from the start.
The setting was so well presented, I could feel the creepiness of it all - the woods, the school, the damp and the fog.
I thought I had it figured out, but was completely tricked! Very hard to put down, really enjoyed it.

Thanks NetGalley for my advanced copy.
Hannah Richell has made a wonderful transition to suspenseful, mystery thrill rides.
One dark night keeps you guessing. Who murdered the girl? A classmate, an acquaintance or a stranger? As with most small towns there are secrets everywhere. The team have to explore and work their way through them, even if they touch close to home, in order to sort through the clues and find their way to a killer.

EXCERPT: Saturday, 10 p.m.
They crowd beside the bonfire, faces cast in flickering orange light, backs turned to the card unknown.
'It's not true. Sally wasn't real.'
'It is true,' insists the boy. 'Sally was here. Her name's scratched on the walls of the old hunting lodge.'
They lean into the story, his words holding them captive.
'She was a local girl. Engaged to be married, until her fiancé caught her cheating. He murdered her at the folly on their wedding day, left her body for the crows. They say she haunts the woods now, a girl in a white dress, luring people to their deaths.'
'Like I said, just a stupid story.'
'There's one way to find out . . .'
They circle the board, hands reaching for the glass jar. The boy waits until the only sounds are the crackle of the fire and the soft breeze whispering through the trees.
'Is there anyone out there?'

ABOUT 'ONE DARK NIGHT': One night in the woods
A party gone wrong
A body discovered at sunrise

He murdered her at the folly on their wedding day, left her body for the crows. They say she haunts the woods now, a girl in a white dress …

Everyone in the small town of Thorncombe knows the tales of the haunted woods where the birds don’t sing and a girl in a white dress roams, luring people to their deaths. But when a girl in white is found dead the morning after Halloween, her body carefully arranged at the bottom of an old stone folly, the community is thrown into turmoil.

With a teenage daughter of his own, police detective Ben Chase knows how high the stakes are. Was the girl the victim of a party prank gone wrong, or does her death represent something more sinister and ritualistic?

As the investigation unfolds and the noose tightens around Chase’s own family, the only thing anyone can be sure of is that no one is safe until this violent killer is caught.

MY THOUGHTS: Save this one for Halloween! The final chapters had my heart racing and my pulse pounding. Talk about thrilling . . .

The plot is a good one - one I could easily believe and could envisage happening. There's no need to suspend belief here. The characters are also believable and relatable. Teenagers are renowned for doing dumb things - I was an expert at them! - and these teens from a posh school are no exception.

Carefully (or not) mix a bunch of teenagers with raging hormones, Halloween, a ghost story, and a manipulative catfisher with alcohol and drugs and watch what happens. It may not be pretty, but it makes darned good reading.

I have been a firm fan of Hannah Richell from the first book I read by her - The Secrets of the Tides - which remains firmly on my 'forever' shelf. She is a very versatile writer. I love her vivid imagination, and her creativity. My head whipped back and forth with each twist and turn as I attempted to solve the mystery of who was behind the killing. I was not successful, but I was more than satisfied with the outcome.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#OneDarkNight #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR: Hello.

I’m Hannah, writer of suspenseful novels about families and friends tangled in secrets and lies. I’m drawn to buildings that creak with stories, to landscapes that shape the characters moving through them, and to the rich and often complex relationships between mothers, daughters and sisters.

While each of my novels is a stand-alone story, what connects them is my fascination with families and secrets, my desire to dive below the surface and explore the darker recesses of the human experience, the weight of grief and the echoes of loss, the light and resilience that can be found in unexpected places, combined with my ambition to tell you a story that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.

I am a dual citizen of the UK and Australia and currently live just outside Bath in England with my two children, my partner, three step-children, a fluffy cat and a crazy Cocker Spaniel. (Source: hannahrichell.com)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of One Dark Night by Hannah Richell for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

A haunting tale of mystery, small-town secrets, and chilling suspense awaits. When a girl’s body is discovered in a notorious, haunted woodland after Halloween night, the investigation spirals into dark and dangerous territory. Is it a deadly prank or something far more sinister? Detective Ben Chase must race against time to uncover the truth – and protect his own family in the process.

✨ Perfect for fans of atmospheric thrillers, twists, and hidden secrets!

In a small English village and where your teenage friends enjoy talking about old spooky tales from the past and scare you and this is happening in Thorncombe, on the border of Somerset and Wiltshire. The woods near the tall stone folly and old mining sight are said to be haunted by the ghost of a young woman dressed in a white dress, and she lures people to their deaths and there’s been a few fatal car accidents on the stretch of road and it's adds fodder to the eerie myth.

A group of teenagers meet in the woods for Halloween, it’s the perfect place to tell ghost stories, and scare each other and the next day a girl’s body is found near the bottom of the folly, the local police are in charge of solving the case. Detective Ben Case is assigned to the possible murder investigation, he discovers three things, his teenage daughters the same age the victim and attends Folly View College a private school and where his ex-wife works as a counsellor.

Everyone in the girl’s family and the school are questioned, including the headmistress and her husband, teachers and staff, students and those who were in the woods that night and their alibis need to be followed up and verified. You assume teenagers wouldn’t sneak out at night, pull pranks each other and participate in odd dares and they would have more sense and some of the parents are in for a reality check and a big shock.

I received a copy of One Dark Night by Hannah Richell from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia in exchange for an unbiased review. If you enjoy a thriller with lots of twists and turns, it keeps you guessing who the killer is, you think you have worked it out and find out you’re completely wrong and I highly recommend reading this novel.

Ms. Richell delivers a compelling read every time and I have been a big fan of hers since 2018, this one explores teenagers, their secrets, actions, feelings, fears, vulnerabilities, what’s happening at home and school, what they think of their peers and how no one wants to be the odd one out or even worse be a dobber and a sinister local legend that has been added to over time and has someone decided to use this as a basis to commit a crime and five stars from me.

This is a well told story with a lot of twists. There is an urban legend about a ghost called 'Sally in the Wood' that is told amongst teenagers at a halloween party held in the woods where 'Sally' supposedly died. However, when one of the partygoers is found dead in the woods the next day, an ill wanted spotlight falls on the private school next to the woods, where the students who were at the party attend. Ellie is one of those students, and she needs to figure out a way to hide her part in it from her divorced parents. Her mother, Rachel, is a counsellor at the school, and her father Ben is a detective working on the death.
There are quite a few 'shady' characters and red herrings in the book but there was a genuine twist in the story that I didn't see coming. An intriguing story, but perhaps one too many coincidences.
Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

This is the first book I've read by this author
and it certainly won't be my last!

The story follows the aftermath of the death of a teen girl on Halloween night dressed like the girl in a local tale of ‘Sally in the Woods’, a girl that roams the woods and lures people to their death.

As the police try to determine the truth of the night of the girls death, multiple circumstances and suspects come to light, secrets are revealed and shocking truths are found. Was her death an accident or something more sinister?

Such an unputdownable read loaded with red herrings to keep you guessing! I had my suspicions along the way with multiple characters and was right in some ways, but not others! However, I certainly did not see that ending coming and hooley dooley what an ending! What a twist! Wrapped up nicely! Well played Hannah Richell, well played 👏

A spooky crime novel set around Halloween when a teenage party ends with the death of a girl from the local school. This brings separated parents Rachel, as the school counsellor, and Ben, a local DCI, into contact with each other as their daughter Ellie had attended the party.

It was a good story, well told with lots of suspects and a very surprising ending. I must admit to being occasionally cranky when Ben did not reply at once to Rachel's phone calls. I realise the author was using this as a strategy to prolong the story but I felt she overused it.

Still a good read and one I recommend especially if you like your crime with a touch of spookiness.

He murdered her at the folly on their wedding day, left her body for the crows. They say she haunts the woods now, a girl in a white dress …

Everyone in the small town of Thorncombe knows the tales of the haunted woods where the birds don’t sing and a girl in a white dress roams, luring people to their deaths. But when a girl in white is found dead the morning after Halloween, her body carefully arranged at the bottom of an old stone folly, the community is thrown into turmoil. Police Detective Ben Chase leads the investigation and they begin to question whether it was an accident or something more sinister. The stakes are high, as he has a teenage daughter himself.

What a fabulous novel by the author! I thoroughly enjoyed this and the tension was high throughout. There was a cast of suspicious characters and a few very clever twists. This one drew me in from the beginning and really kept me guessing. I also loved the small town setting and the woods with the haunting. 4.5*
This author has fast become one of my favourites and this is one I highly recommend.

WOW I never saw the twist coming at the end of this one, this is a fabulous mystery, suspense story that kept my brain working and me turning the pages, so many fabulous characters, what happens when it is Halloween and a group of high school students go to the haunted woods for a party and at the end of the night one girl is lying at the bottom of the folly, you will need to read this one to find out.

The small village of Thorcombe is in the woods and there is a private school there, there is also a very tall folly in the woods where apparently a young woman was murdered and left for the crows, her name was Sally is it a wives tale or truth if you listen to the drivers on the road it is true, when some of the students organize a Halloween party they dress up and the party is rife with games and dares but come morning there is a girl missing, one of the students and when her body is found arranged at the bottom of the folly the investigation starts.

Police Detective Ben Chase’s daughter Ellie is a student at the school and his ex-wife and Ellie’s mother, Rachel is the councilor at the school and they are immediately worried was the death a prank gone wrong or was it murder and if so what made someone do this to a young girl?

As more evidence is uncovered and questions answered by the students, Ben is taken off the case because of his closeness to the situation but he does not give up easily and is soon finding more evidence and Rachel, is also doing her best to find clues, because until this person is found no one is safe.

This is a twisty mystery, and one that I highly recommend, I loved it and I loved the characters, you need to read this one and find out what happened and why it, will shock you I am sure as it did me. A fabulous story, Thank you MS Richell for another keeper.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster Australia and Netgalley for my copy to read and review