The Woman in the Dark

By: Vanessa Savage

Narrated by: Siriol Jenkins

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

In the vein of The Couple Next Door, a debut psychological thriller about a woman who moves with her family to the Gothic seaside house where her husband grew up - and where 15 years ago, another family was brutally slaughtered.

Sarah and Patrick are happy. But after her mother's death, Sarah spirals into depression and overdoses on sleeping pills. While Sarah claims it was an accident, her teenage children aren't so sure. Patrick decides they all need a fresh start and he knows just the place, since the idyllic family home where he was raised has recently come up for sale. There's only one catch: for the past 15 years, it has become infamous as the "Murder House", standing empty after a family was stabbed to death within its walls.

Patrick believes they can bring the house back to its former glory, so Sarah, uprooted from everything she knows, pours her energy into painting, gardening, and giving the rotting old structure the warmth of home. But with locals hinting that the house is haunted, the news that the murderer has been paroled, strange writing on the walls, and creepy "gifts" arriving on the doorstep at odd hours, Sarah can't shake the feeling that something just isn't right. Not with the house, not with the town, or even with her own loving husband - whose stories about his perfect childhood suddenly aren't adding up.

Can Sarah uncover the secrets of the Murder House before another family is destroyed?

©2019 Vanessa Savage (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

A Cosmopolitan "15 Thriller Books That Will Pretty Much Guarantee You Never Get Another Good Night's Sleep" Pick
A Bustle New Gothic Books to Read This Spring If You Love The Suspenseful & Macabre
A Bookriot Highly Anticipated Crime Novels
A Bookriot Best Psychological Thrillers to Add to Your TBR in 2019
A Hello Giggles Best New Books to Read
A MarieClaire.com Best Beach Reads

"When a psychological thriller begins with a family moving into a home known as 'the Murder House,' you know it's going to be good. The Woman in the Dark will have you hooked from page one."—Hello Giggles, Best New Books of the Week

"I'm weirdly drawn to murder house stories--who isn't?--and this one takes the cake. Vanessa Savage's novel about family dysfunction is the quintessential psychological thriller, the story of a husband who moves his family into his childhood home...that also happens to be the site of a family massacre (casual). Based off that alone I was expecting the plot to be a typical whodunnit, but it's so much more: The story tackles elements of mental health and domestic abuse in a provocative way, while adding just the right dose of horror."—MarieClaire.com

"Atmospheric, creepy...Combines the intrigue of thrillers like The Wife Between Us and Behind Closed Doors, coupled with the delicious terror of a haunted house story."—Booklist

Wow!!!

This book gets you right from the start! Lots of twists and turns and no down time. Loved it!

Loved it!

I very much enjoyed this book! It was hard for me to turn off. The narrator did an excellent job of making the hairs on the back neck stand up!
It also does a good job in showing how people with debilitating depression act. Especially when they’re on heavy drugs. I love how she came around and found the courage to pull herself out of that space.
I just really enjoyed every part of it! ♥️

Decent story, "eh" narrator

The story was a nice little web, in the mind of Agatha Christie with a modern paranormal twist. The narrator doing male voices was almost comical, however. I fully understand that being a performer for a novel is by no means an easy task, but it takes away from the story and made it VERY difficult to finish.

Good story but way too drawn out

The story was compelling, but it should have been tightened up by a few chapters. The stupidity of Sarah made me so frustrated and it went on and on and on. I found myself shouting at my phone. What good mother would prolong such agony in their children?

Somewhat predictable and SLOWWWW

Narrator has a nice voice but I wanted to shove a hot iron in my ears every time she said MOM. There is not an ‘i’ in mom.
Story was too slow to develop, I think the author used the term “I’m sorry” about 600 times and it was predictable.

Great book!

I highly enjoyed this book. The narration added to the suspense. Beware of some spousal abuse. It was very cleverly written. I recommend it to mystery and thriller lovers.

spooky!

I loved this book. Gothic, spooky, a sense of building dread throughout. Great narration. Twists I didn't see coming.

well, that was quite the twist

It's a decent story. Nice and creepy. I don't wanna spoil anything, but it's nothing like one would expect, considering the title. The reading was excellent, even with one reader the consistency of the character voices was nice. The twist ending was good and I wasn't disappointed with the climax of the story. I only took away a star cuz the main character wasn't the one to....hmm...finish it all? All her pent up rage and sadness was never used in the way you'd expect so, I was disappointed there but other than that it's a worthy read.

Bummer

Super obvious and dragged on forevveerrr. I’m bummed I kept listening hoping it would get better but nope.......

Could not get past the first 3 hours

I had to stop, I can’t read any more books about abusive, gas-lighting husbands making their wives feel insane. And the narrator’s Patrick voice made me want to claw my own eyeballs out.