At first I didn't enjoy this book and stopped reading within the first 30% of the book. But recently I came back to it and I'm glad I did! I'll seek out more from this author.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I really enjoyed this book and it well worth the award.


Will b looking for more this author. Sarah and Patrick move to a house that Patrick grow up in.

This is an excellent psychological thriller from a new-to-me author. It was a bit slow to get going, but I’m glad I stuck with it. A tense plot, and well written characters. I’ll be looking out for more Vanessa Savage.

A creepy psychological thriller about a family moving into a house where a murder was committed. I loved this, it was atmospheric and many of the characters had hidden depths. One of those ones that keeps you guessing and although I guessed a few things towards the end it worked well.

This is a five star modern family thriller. I could not put the book down as the story is quite compulsive. Really good.

Sarah has been struggling with life since her mother died and after a suspected overdose, she finally agrees to move. Patrick has already found the place, his family home but it's a murder house. A family was murdered in it. People say the house is cursed and Sarah soon starts to realize it just might be true and her family is now in danger.

This was an interesting story but it did seem to drag in the middle. I found myself wanting to skip to the end. There was lots of mystery and intrigue in the story. The ending was really good though, some brilliantly clever twists though I did figure some things out. A good thriller .

I struggled with Sarah and never truly warmed to her. I think Joe was my favourite character in the story.

A truly haunting story - the characters are still in my head several days after reaching the end of the book. It is cleverly written and Sarah is a character to warm to, caught in a situation beyond comprehension as she tries to make a home with her family at the seaside, away from all she has known in the city. Her husband is desperate to return to the house which accommodated his idyllic childhood and, although she is not keen, she wants to make him happy. Then strange things begin to happen and Sarah feels threatened. Is she suffering a relapse of mental illness? Is the house haunted? How well does she know the people she loves? A pleasing thriller and a jolly good read.

Ooooo I wasn’t too sure about this one to be honest but it’s a total creep fest! Who would want to live in a house called the “murder house” anyway, geez!

Loved it, had me seriously reading with the light on lol the baby booties hanging from a tree, locks on cellar doors and in general the “murder house” itself, I liked Sarah and Joe but couldn’t stand Mia she enraged me as she was vile to her mother!

Lots of twists and turns which is always a bonus and I usually guess a few but not this time, blindsided sometimes and it was a pleasant surprise, I really got stuck into this book and read it in two sittings and it was fab, more please!!!!

really good thriller, kept me on my toes until the end, tense, gripping ...
I strongly recommend this thriller

Just how much can someone lie to those that love them and get away with it?

Once upon a time, a queen lived with a king in a castle. Except the king was not really a king and the castle was not really a castle. The king was a dragon wearing a man suit who put the queen under a spell so that she did not realise he was a dragon and the castle was a dungeon. She was a woman in the dark, and she didn't even know it.

Sarah's father walked out on her and her mother when she was young, and her mother waited in limbo for him to return for 24 years before she died. After he left their roles became reversed, Sarah having to look after her mother until it all became too much for her and she left to go to college. After Sarah married Patrick visits home became fewer and fewer, until they stopped. When Sarah's mother died, alone in her flat, found by a neighbour, two days dead the guilt reshaped Sarah into a new, broken Sarah with a raw wound that would not heal. Because of her breakdown, she had become a stranger to her family, so when her husband said he wanted to buy the Victorian house he grew up in it seemed like an opportunity to move away and make a fresh start; to get better, to be better.

But the house has a history, much darker and more profound than just being the "Murder House" where three members of a family were killed. Its history is far from the idyllic history that Patrick sells to Sarah to get her to move. Sarah soon finds out that things are not as they seem and Patrick is not who he seems, and she realises that she needs to move out of the dark for the sake of her children.

Saphira

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This book was utterly unnerving right from the beginning. It felt like the whole world was against Sarah (which is who we were following) which gave it a claustrophobic feel. I had no idea who I could trust and as the book went on I trusted everyone less and less; by the end Sarah didn't even trust herself, and neither did I. I thought it really interesting that it wasn't the main character that the 'villain' so-to-speak was focused on but I realise now that the ending was cleverly foreshadowed from early on in the book. I found it terrifying that Sarah's fragile state of mind was being manipulated and further damaged by the people around her and I never knew what to think or believe; I could never have guessed the direction this book went in, and that is by no means a bad thing!
As the book went on it got more and more intense and I was truly gripped as the plot reached a crescendo, however unfortunately I ultimately felt that the ending was sadly a little incohesive. I can't pin-point exactly what made the ending just feel off but I definitely think it could have been stronger. Despite this however I cannot deny that I did enjoy this book and I would definitely recommend it to thriller lovers - the atmosphere in this book was creepy throughout and I thought it was really special that the centre of everyone's fear was the house; in that way it was really well-done.

This is a very dark thriller which I throughly enjoyed, I loved the way the story unfolded. A very compelling read indeed. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Vanessa Savage fir the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

A book of thirds, it took at least just over 30% of the start of this novel for my mind to be hooked. But once hooked I read in one sitting. Very creepy and scary especially if read after dark!

I enjoyed this story immensely, although I couldn't help comparing it in my mind to The Shining - which isn't necessarily a bad thing and I think the author did a very good job of building the tension and I actually liked the conclusion of the story. I found Sarah to be a bit pathetic to be honest - I couldn't believe she didn't leave the house with the children and I didn't like the way the children sometimes treated her - but I accept that that was the influence of the house on the family. Very good - recommended.

Many thanks to Vanessa Savage, Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere and NetGalley for an ARC of The Woman in the Dark. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, one of the best psychological books I have read. Creepy, scary and definitely unputdownable. Recommended.

Sarah and Patrick are having troubles. Sarah is grieving the loss of her mother and this resulted in a breakdown so Patrick and their children, Joe and Mia, are on eggshells. Patrick suggests a fresh start in a new town in the house that he always wanted to buy. His childhood home which is known as the murder house after a family were murdered there but nothing is what it seems.

While this is a good read I didn’t really enjoy it as it seemed reminiscent of the amityville films and the whole possessed by anger from a house wasn’t what I expected. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was s very exciting read. Not so much the first 30% but after that it became unputdownable!
Lots of creepiness, mystery and twists here!

Thanks to Net Galley and Little Brown Book Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
A psychological thriller which really only needs one word to review it - BRILLIANT.
A twisty dark tale featuring Tne Murder house, where a family were brutally murdered 15 years ago, only one son, Tom, survived.
Sarah and Patrick have recently bought the house as their new family home, it’s to be a fresh start for them and their two teenage children.
Sarah is recovering from an overdose and her mother’s death., she has given Patrick the money her mother left her to enable him to buy back the home he grew up in , he wants everything to be perfect, he has painted a picture of a perfect happy childhood.
Everything starts to change as soon as they move in, the Murder House and the town have many secrets to reveal. This dark twisty story has lots of surprises and keeps the reader engrossed from start to finish. I could feel the chill of the house as the pages turned.