SOURCE: A Readers Group read.
It is bitter mid-winter when Katrine and Joakim Westin move with their children to an old manor house on the Swedish island of Oland. But their new home is no remote idyll. Just days later, a member of Joakim's family is found drowned off the rocks nearby.
While Joakim struggles to keep his sanity, Tilda Davidsson - a young policewoman fresh out of college - becomes convinced that there's a killer on the island.
Then, on Christmas Eve, a blizzard strikes.
Isolated by the snow, Joakim is unaware that visitors - unwelcome as they are terrifying - are making their way towards him.
For this is the darkest night of the year, the night when the living meet the dead ......
..... Outer back cover.
FIRST SENTENCE (Winter 1846): This is where my book begins.
MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 364): A room for the dead, with its own church benches.
MY THOUGHTS: An odd combination of crime thriller and 'ghost' story which the author describes as a 'dark mystery with some supernatural overtones'. The Darkest Room is book 2 in a quartet of books, one for each season of the year.
Though there are several threads to the novel (thankfully all of which eventually come together) this is essentially the story of the mystery surrounding the death of one of the Westin family and the even bigger mystery of the spooky goings on in their family home, an old manor house, the history of which is chronicled in The Book of the Blizzard which has been kept by various residents of the house since its building in the mid 1800's.
An interesting and enjoyable enough read which despite the sometimes incredulous and unbelievable actions of the father (Joakim) plus the fact that I'm not convinced by the crime/supernatural combination and certainly felt the story did not justify 471 pages I found oddly captivating.
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15 comments:
I like the sound of the mystery here, Tracy. Don't know how well the supernatural aspect will fit or complement it, but the mystery-thriller part of it sounds good.
Interesting that this book is part of a quartet! It sounds as if you truly enjoyed this odd but engaging book, Tracy.
Kind of sounds that you enjoyed it and yet there were parts that just didn't gel with you. I've had that happen too. At least you were captivated! :)
Interesting book, but I'm sooo afraid with mystery and supernatural. I have a lot of nightmares and I can't sleep anymore at night. And I'm 18 years old, like a little child :b :b
Hugs
hi tracy,
it sounds like an interesting read.
i love reading heart-stopping crime/thriller books. thank you for the great review!
big hugs! stay warm
xx
Love that it was oddly captivating for you, but think 471 pages is a little too much for me. I've been avoiding anything over 300 pages lately, as I've been a wimpy reader lately. *L*
While I do love the idea of the ghost story, I think this is one I would have to pass on. Sounds a little too Stephen King witht he blizzard and the murdered on the loose. But the synopsis from the back cover has one of my no no's. I don't like sentences starting with "For".
I loved the review, though.
Sounds like a good pick, Tracy. Old manor, supernatural happenings, dead meeting the live - I think I will enjoy this book. Thank you for your amazing review as always and also for the thumbs up, I am glad the book was interesting to you, should I get a chance I will also pick it up now.
Winter in a big house in a rural part of Sweden does sound so isolated that it should have lots of potential in terms of plot and atmosphere.
Too bad it seemed too long. I am thinking that can be a real problem in light of the fact that there are four books.
I'm not such a fan of scary stories any more - it's OK until its dark, I’m on my own, and the wind is howling around outside.... although this does sound intriguing.
This does sound intriguing. Are each of the four books stand alones? Do they all revolve around the same family/location? I may have to look into this one a little more closely.
Even though all of the books are set on this particular island and from what I can gather at least one of the characters appears in all four books they are all standalone reads Kelly.
Glad you enjoyed despite the unbelievable actions of the dad
This sounds like an interesting read. I am curious about the mystery and also wondering about the supernatural elements. Glad you enjoyed this one, even with all the pages. :)
I've read Johan's The Quarry and The Asylum, but I've not yet read this one. I really should check out his other books.
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