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.

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.

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!

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.