Into the Dark

By: Fiona Cummins

Narrated by: Helen Keeley

Shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2023

Into the Dark is the new dark and gripping crime thriller from Fiona Cummins about revenge, greed, ambition and the true cost of friendship.

'Complex. Inventive. Twisting. Unsettling.' - Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal

The Place: Seawings, a beautiful Art Deco home overlooking the sweep of the bay in Midtown-on-Sea.

The Crime: The gilded Holden family - Piper and Gray and their two teenage children, Riva and Artie - has vanished from the house without a trace.

The Detective: DS Saul Anguish, brilliant but with a dark past, treads the narrow line between light and shade.

One late autumn morning, Piper’s best friend arrives at Seawings to discover an eerie scene – the kettle is still warm, all the family’s phones are charging on the worktop, the cars are in the garage. But the house is deserted.

In fifteen-year-old Riva Holden’s bedroom, scrawled across the mirror in blood, are three words:

Make
Them
Stop.

What happens next?

Critic reviews

Breathless plotting and twist after twist (Ian Rankin, bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus series)

This kept me reading well Into The Dark last night – so many layers of darkness and twisty complexity (Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of Blood Orange)

An absolute BELTER of a thriller. A superb plot, brilliantly executed and beautifully written. (Joanna Cannon, bestselling author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep)

An absolute masterclass in misdirection. Trust NO ONE. I loved it. (Sarah Hilary)

Classy, complex, filled with twists and dizzying reveals and TOTALLY addictive. (Chris Ewan, author of The Interview)

Gripping. Twisty. Complex. No one does 'dark with heart' better than Fiona Cummins. (Tammy Cohen)

So begins one of the most strikingly original police procedurals this year, whose serpentine twists and turns leave the reader gasping. It is breathtakingly good. (Geoffrey Wansell)

Fiona Cummins evokes the dark arts of journalism and politics with an insider’s relish in this rich, intricately woven novel of childhood crime and adult redemption. I finished it with my heart in my mouth. Highly recommend (Louise Candlish on When I Was Ten)

Grips like a vice (Val McDermid on When I Was Ten)

Absorbing, tense and beautifully paced (Daily Mail on When I Was Ten)

Dark, creepy and ultimately compassionate . . . a chilling look at the consequences of a childhood gone wrong (J. P. Delaney on When I Was Ten)

Utterly compelling; a true just-one-more-chapter thriller (Clare Mackintosh on When I Was Ten)

Trust me – Cummins is a keeper (Lee Child on The Collector)

A Lukewarm thriller

This book didn’t live up to my expectations. Although containing several plot twists, the plot fell flat at the end of the book. There were so many threads left loose and hanging.