Darkrooms

Haunting, fast-paced and unforgettable – Karin Slaughter, author of WE ARE ALL GUILTY HEREImpressive … A well paced story of shame, guilt, misplaced loyalty and generational trauma, the conclusion of which has a heartbreaking inevitability * Guardian *Darkrooms is a powerful firecracker of a debut. It’s an unflinching and brutal thriller, but a rare, bleeding and cadenced feminist story lurks just beneath. It is, in a single word, astonishing – Lucy Rose, author of THE LAMBA creepy, imaginative, and moody thriller that explores the rippling effects of a young girl’s disappearance in the woods near a small Irish village. A chilling mystery about damaged people and the secrets they keep – Peter Swanson, author of KILL YOUR DARLINGSA masterful, menacing debut, which neither flinches from its own integral darkness nor succumbs to it. Rebecca Hannigan is a powerful new voice in literary thriller fiction – Anna Bailey, author of TALL BONESDarkrooms possesses some of the most piercing, haunting character work since Tana French – Tom Benn, author of OXBLOODThe plot’s slow burn heats up at just the right pace, and the twists excite without straining plausibility. Readers will look forward to Hannigan’s next outing * Publishers Weekly *Rebecca Hannigan is a brilliant new voice and I loved Darkrooms. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel because the story is so assured, sophisticated and complex, with brilliant characters and a really cleverly constructed plot that had me hooked from the first chapter. It also felt really fresh and contemporary, while also having all of the elements I love in a mystery novel. An utterly gripping and modern novel * Edel Coffey, author of BREAKING POINT *Tense, atmospheric and unforgettable. Darkrooms is an enthralling and haunting novel, beautifully written and skilfully plotted. And the ending will leave you gasping – B. P. Walter, author of THE GARDEN PARTYA lush, moody mystery. Darkrooms is gripping and atmospheric, as two women wrestle with guilt and injustice – Flynn Berry, author of TRUST HERI adored this simmering, tense novel. Both gripping and propulsive, yet somehow still slow burning and intensely atmospheric, it is as disorientating as a double exposure, with layers of shifting timelines, viewpoints, secrets, memories. In it, I saw the grittiness of Colin Walsh’s Kala meeting the otherworldliness of Tana French, but it forges its own dark path in its twisting uneasiness … Haunting and brilliant – Emma Van Straaten, author of THIS IMMACULATE BODYA finely plotted mystery, two complicated young women and a dark, dark wood, what’s not to like? I could not get enough of these characters, their unease with each other, with themselves and their small town. Darkrooms is an arresting and atmospheric debut from a striking new voice – Emma Styles, author of NO COUNTRY FOR GIRLSIn this complex and riveting debut, Hannigan brings an almost unbearable angst and growing sense of menace in a narrative that goes back and forth in time in alternating voices * Booklist *Darkrooms is a twisting, shifting kaleidoscope of Irish noir … A real page-turner that immersed me in the very dark, claustrophobic world of policing small communities – Nina Bhadreshwar, author of THE DAY OF THE ROARINGElegant, unsettling and evocative, Darkrooms is a simmering literary thriller that got under my skin. A haunting exploration of the ties that bind us to the past, and the danger of secrets long buried - I loved it. The last chapter made me cry – Nicci Cloke, author of CLOSE YOUR EYESA thrilling revelation: a complex look at the mythologies we create surrounding much-loved people and places * BookPage *A perfectly executed and exquisitely layered piece of literary crime fiction with two relatable and flawed protagonists. The setting shows a rural Ireland that’s far from the leprechauns and Guiness clichés but instead is something darker and more visceral. I was completely absorbed into this accomplished debut – Chris Bridges, author of SICK TO DEATHHannigan’s first novel is equal parts engrossing character study and moody thriller … This brooding, atmospheric suspense novel explores the grim underbelly of a small Irish town; perfect for fans of Tana French and Liz Nugent * Library Journal *An intricate, twisted thriller where secrets can’t stay buried - and will forever haunt a small Irish town and its inhabitants. Moody and evocative, it’s a dark, layered tale and a powerful debut – Clémence Michallon, author of THE QUIET TENANTBeautifully written and claustrophobic … Hannigan does a brilliant job of making us empathise with her two morally-dubious main characters – Trevor Wood, author of THE INSIDE MANUnforgettably unsettling … Hannigan’s beguiling debut offers the reader so much more than merely a superbly-crafted mystery; it is an elegy to childhood trauma, beckoning us deeper and deeper into her Hanging Woods with every step, every whispered lie – Nicolás Obregón, author of THE IWATA SERIESRebecca Hannigan’s debut is deeply impressive. Skilful and unexpected, Darkrooms slowly builds dread in the stomach, takes the reader through a small town, and leads them to a horrifying conclusion – Bonnie Burke-Patel, author of I DIED AT FALLOW HALLWith an explosive ending, this Irish noir explores the insidious effects of the past on the present, and asks whether some secrets should be buried forever * Candis *Twisty, dark and utterly compulsive * Irish Examiner *An ambitious debut thriller … Told across two timelines, it nails the complex tapestry of small town life and reminds us that festering secrets never stay hidden forever … A page turner * Sunday Independent *

Rebecca Hannigan was born in London but raised in Sunderland by Irish immigrant parents, and therefore never quite fit in anywhere. She has worked in marketing in London for ten years and DARKROOMS is her first novel. Hannigan is based in South-East England, where she lives with her husband, cat, and far too many books.

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