Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.
What a ride! I was hooked from the first page. Hannah Richell knows how to tell a story, and that ending— you think you know, but you know nothing! I loved it.

4.5 Stars

Release Date 1st January 2025

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced e-book in return for an honest review.

One Dark Night centers around the gruesome death of a schoolgirl and the police investigation to find the killer. With a beautifully written cast of characters and a foreboding setting, it had me hooked from the very first page, till the very last. Everyone takes the news of Sarah's death differently, but someone knows the truth of what happened and they will stop at nothing to keep their secret from surfacing, even if it means lying to the people they love the most. I thought I had it figured out at about the 70-80% point in the book, but the author threw a twist in that even I did not see coming—a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed this read. The characters were well drawn and there was an interesting plot.

Local teenagers from a posh school have a Halloween party in the woods, particularly a wood said to be haunted called Sally In The Woods. There was a sinister feeling built up about the wood that was very effective. Sarah, one of the girls, is found dead after the party. Ben Chase the dad of Ellie, Sarah’s friend, is the principal police officer investigating the death. He recently separated from Ellie’s mum Rachel who’s a welfare officer at the school. He’s in a new relationship and his girlfriend is pregnant.

The teenagers are keeping many secrets and police are struggling to find the killer. The suspense in the story was built up well and there were a lot of twists and turns in this engaging read.

There were lots of characters, including Olivia whose dad was engaged in a controversial project that some of the locals opposed. Ellie was strongly against it and was vocally public in her opposition. There’s also Edward, the art teacher who is attracted to Rachel, and invites her around for dinner. She likes him but then becomes suspicious of him.

Ellie is interviewed by police shortly after Sarah’s death. She’s shocked that she’s a suspect. Then there’s Danny, Sarah’s boyfriend and his older brother Connor who could be manipulative and a bit of a trouble maker. The police soon move away from Ellie as a suspect and arrest a man with a previous Manslaughter conviction.

The mystery continues. It was not an easy resolution to guess the identity of Sarah’s killer given the magnitude of the secrets being kept by Sarah and Olivia.

I found the book to be a quick absorbing read, albeit it being over 400 pages long. I recommend this book to others who enjoy crime and mystery reads.

Many thanks to Netgalley for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One Dark Night absolutely delivered on tension, intrigue and creepiness! It’s about the murder of a young girl, discovered the morning after a Halloween party in the woods. I found this book so well paced and well written, it was the absolute definition of “Couldn’t put it down”!! I had to slow myself down near the end, as my brain just wanted to skim ahead to see what the heck was happening. There was a part where I audibly gasped, and my daughter said “Mum! What’s wrong?” “It’s just my book…” I breathed, still demolishing the pages. I liked the balance between a little bit of the supernatural, and a lot of solid police work. This book is right up there in terms of favourite thrillers I’ve read. Loved it!

I really enjoyed this read! Great themes- gothic academic setting, untrustworthy characters and ghostly fables. Lots of twists and turns and an ending I didn’t see coming.

Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.
I read most of it in one sitting - unusual for me. While there were several very convincing red herrings, the resolution made sense and delivered some notion of a just world. I liked the construction of complex family lives, where people of all generations struggle to manage their work, feelings,, responsibilities and drives. The community is far from perfect but on the whole people are doing the best they can - sometimes with unintended consequences. This empathy with messiness came across strongly, but so did the need to find answers and ensure safety. The setting and relationships settled comfortably as context allowing the reader’s mind to focus on crime solving.
That’s good writing.

Wow.

This was so well done.

I was taken by surprise at the end and I LOVE THAT.
That’s not happened to me in a really long time.

The storyline was really well thought out.
The characters were well placed- purposeful and considerate.

The pacing was spot on. I didn’t feel bored or itching for it to hurry up at all!

I’ll be reading more of this authors work for sure!

Another great read from Hannah Richell. Last year I read and loved The Search Party so that is now 2 from 2 with this author. I did think that I had this one all worked out so I was really surprised by the ending. I was close but not quite.

A teenage Halloween party in the woods ends in tragedy. The kids are all keeping their secrets and police are desperate to find the killer. There were plenty of twists and unlikeable characters to keep you entertained and guessing.

There are quite a few characters and complex relationships to keep track of but I found it quite easy to do. For a longer book this was a quick, page turning read. I loved the Sally in the Woods stories as well,added to the creepiness of the woods.

Thanks so much to Simon and Schuster Australia for my early copy of this book to read. Publishes on New Years Day, 2025.

One Dark Night is a faced paced thriller based around the eerie death of a teenager on Halloween and bringing her killer to justice.

To begin with, I did find the story a little drawn out, and did get myself confused with all the different POV's. Once I go through about halfway through the book I did find it a little easier to remember who was who etc.

The last half of the book also did have me squirming in my seat trying to figure out just who the killer was, but did feel like the execution of the reveal a little lack luster. Definitely good for YA though.

This story had good premise and definitely would appeal more to a more younger reader.

Some books are deliciously chilling, wonderfully written and tell a brilliant story. “One dark night” is one of these stories, and manages to pull you in to the story and feed your fears about Sally in the woods, and guesses at who may have been behind the death of a young school girl.

A party goes badly wrong out in the woods near the follow one Halloween night. This was such perfect timing because I began reading on Halloween so had all the additional spooky vibes going on to capture my imagination. There is so much behind what takes place at the party, that it will take lots of twists and turns to reveal the truth.

At times tense, at times complicated by all the different relationships going on, and yet at all times enjoyable. It was great to be back in a story that had both a school setting, a police procedural element, a therapy environment and offered so much more. This story felt like it was just meant to be, for me … very much a comfort read. I am looking forward to now reading more by Hannah Richell. Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my review, and thanks to Hannah for this wonderful book.