Darkrooms

By: Hannigan, Rebecca

"Haunting, fast-paced, and unforgettable." -- Karin Slaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Guilty Here

"A lush, moody mystery. Darkrooms is gripping and atmospheric, as two women wrestle with guilt and injustice." -- Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of Northern Spy

Two unforgettable women investigate the disappearance of a missing girl in a small Irish town brimming with secrets--in this haunting debut from a new crime writing talent, perfect for fans of Tana French and Flynn Berry.

What secrets lurk in the Hanging Woods? On the night of the Summer Solstice in 1999, nine-year-old Roisin O'Halloran marched into the Hanging Woods, the mysterious copse that had inspired fear in decades of children in the small Irish town of Bannakilduf. She was never seen again. Twenty years later, two women are drawn together to discover the truth of what happened to Roisin: Roisin's older sister Deedee, a rookie cop who's barely hanging on to the appearance of keeping it all together, and Roisin's childhood best friend Caitlin, a petty criminal who was the last person to see the young girl before she disappeared, now returned to her hometown after her mother's death. With old wounds made fresh after decades of mistrust, Caitlin and Deedee must reckon with their shadowy pasts, the monsters that still haunt them, and the role they each may have played in Roisin's disappearance. The secrets of that long-ago summer rise to the surface, and they will expose the truth that many in the small town are desperate to keep buried. The siren of the Hanging Woods rings out once more. After all, nothing can stay hidden forever.

• Format: MP3 CD
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FZGK38MR
• ISBN13: 9798228691032
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Length: 1 Pages

Customer Reviews

Dark past revealed

This story was a slow creep of dark things, secrets buried for too long and one women looking for the truth to a her sister's disappearance when another woman comes back to town after her mother's death 20 years later. I was impressed how it unfolded, especially as I did not like either Deedee or Caitlin as they were self destructive via alcoholism, and petty thievery among other vices plus being unreliable narrators (sometimes changing the story as it happened) but their stories were still compelling and I had to find out what was going on in the town of Bannakilduf both twenty years ago and what was coming to light in the present day. I liked how it unfolded in many layers to shine upon the crimes of the past and what actually happened to Roisin but also how that knowledge could heal what was broken in Deedee and Caitlin. I found it impressive, especially as this is a debut novel. I got the chance to listen to this as an audiobook and I must say the narrator, Clare Harte, did a great job in bringing Caitlin and Deedee's stories to life and the town where it all happened. It was well done and I am glad I got to listen to this dark story.