Darkrooms - January 2026 Crime Collective

About the book

Two girls went into the Hanging Woods. Only one returned.

Twenty years ago Caitlin vowed never to return to her small Irish hometown. Now she drifts from temporary jobs to temporary men, trying to escape memories of the Hanging Woods. Of what happened to Roisin there.

But with news of her estranged mother's sudden death, Caitlin is forced to return home, back to the town where everyone knows each other's business and old resentments run deep.

Roisin's sister Deedee, now a Garda, has never given up on finding the truth of what happened in those woods. And Caitlin's return makes old wounds fresh, threatening to exhume secrets that have lain buried for two decades - while the Hanging Woods begin their siren call to Caitlin and Deedee once more . . .

PRAISE FOR DARKROOMS

'A chilling mystery about damaged people and the secrets they keep' Peter Swanson, author of KILL YOUR DARLINGS
'A masterful, menacing debut . . . A powerful new voice' Anna Bailey, author of TALL BONES
'It is, in a single word, astonishing' Lucy Rose, author of THE LAMB
'Tense, atmospheric and unforgettable' B. P. Walter, author of THE GARDEN PARTY
'Beautifully written and claustrophobic' Trevor Wood, author of THE INSIDE MAN
'A simmering literary thriller that got under my skin' Nicci Cloke, author of CLOSE YOUR EYES
'The grittiness of Colin Walsh's Kala meets the otherworldliness of Tana French' Emma Van Straaten, author of THIS IMMACULATE BODY
'An intricate, twisted thriller where secrets can't stay buried' Clémence Michallon, author of THE QUIET TENANT
'An arresting and atmospheric debut from a striking new voice' Emma Styles, author of NO COUNTRY FOR GIRLS
'A perfectly executed and exquisitely layered piece of literary crime fiction' Chris Bridges, author of SICK TO DEATH