A good premise and I was intrigued to see who the perpetrator was but I wasn't as gripped as I normally am with this type of plot. I felt there wasn't enough character development to make me truly gripped.

A good psychological thriller keeps me guessing until the end, and this did not disappoint! My only issue was with the switching viewpoints and lack of full character development before switching between characters... it made it hard to follow sometimes.

Clara Pascal, a barrister, has been kidnapped in front of her daughter's school. She is chained in a damp basement with little light and little food. But why?

Was it the organized crime boss she was prosecuting? Did he arrange for her kidnapping from behind bars to delay his trial? Was it the man who she defended who she really hoped would have ended up in jail? As her kidnapper slowly feeds her clues as to his identity, she comes to realize that she may know nothing at all.

Darkness Falls by Margaret Murphy was an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Told from Clara's, various police officers, her husband and a known killer's point of view, this book will make you lose sleep with its chilling writing and events.

I see this is the first book in the Clara Pascal series - I'm definitely looking forward to reading more. Great book!

DARKNESS FALLS
A psychological crime thriller with two of the most deranged characters ever, a grieved vengeful father turn criminal and an equally deranged monster serial rapist-murderer. To top that off you have a mafia family who wanted prominent DA Clara pascal to sway to their way and they would do anything to get what they wanted. Poor Clara found herself in the hands of a madman kidnapped and fighting against time to escape. The police had their hands full of these maniacs all wanting to control things to their favor by death and any means possible. There is a saying that your past will come back to haunt you, but for Clara, it would kidnap torment and torture her almost to death. Minus the foul words this was absolutely gripping and nail-biting, it captivates you with its mind games and puzzling twist holding you prisoner to its pages. 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

I hate it when a synopsis pulls me in and then I am disappointed because I know the book has so much potential. This is what happened in this story. It really has a lot of potential but there was so much extra wordage that I skipped a lot of pages and only read the dialogue which gave me all the information I needed.

To me there was just too much female bashing. I do not mean physically. Just that it seemed in the mind of these characters (and hopefully not the author) women are just useless. There were also a lot of police procedures. I mean we have all read or seen cop stories. We really do not need every detail. But that is what it felt like.

Just not an enjoyable read for me.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

When a Barrister is kidnapped after taking her child into school it appears that the case against a major criminal brings him , her husband and several other people under suspicion. But where is she? Then a woman's body is found in the river Dee and a major police team is formed to help find Clara Pascal if she is still alive.
I found this book by Margaret Murphy compulsive as it gave all the characters points of view and in the end was surprised by how many scenarios were involved. Totally enjoyed this read and would recommend it.

Intriguing book. A lot of characters to get to grips with so sometimes it was difficult to follow. Readable and enjoyable but didn't have me gripped.

My thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for the opportunity to read and review honestly.

A clever, well written plot that reads well and has some interesting characters. But there's little to no introduction to those characters, gaping holes in the plot and a lot of questions left unanswered

Clara is a defence lawyer happy with life living with her husband and young daughter, Pippa. It isn't a normal day it is Pippa's birthday and also the start of a big case. Clara doesn't have time to take Pippa to school but she has reckoned without a child's emotional blackmail. So in a rush off she goes to take Pippa to school. That was a big mistake because after saying goodbye to her daughter she finds herself being bundled into a van and later wakes up to find herself locked in a dark cellar.

Why has Clara been abducted and who is her abducter?

This is a gripping story that gets down into the emotions and problems of a family facing the unknown, trying to function with too many questions each trying to deal with things in their own way.

As the story progresses there are many twists and turns along with red herrings to keep the mind working trying to work out who has abducted Clara and if it is the same unsub who has abducted others.

The ending WOW as all the strands come together we are left reeling with a conclusion we never expected.

I look forward to more from this author

I will rate When Darkness Falls by Margaret Murphy 2/5 stars. What started out as a thrilling book soon became utterly boring. Sigh, the police and detective jargon was awful. I was only minorly interested in Clara and her abductor's encounters. I will not be able to recommend this book.

Clara Pascal is a successful barrister, mother, and wife to Pippa. On Pippa’s birthday Clara agrees to take her to school, where she is kidnapped in broad daylight.

Clara awakens in a dark, cold cellar where she is chained to the wall without food or water.

With Pippa being the only witness to the kidnapping, the police try to find out who took Clara Pascal.

Who would do this? and why?

This novel was originally published in 2002 although for some reason it didn’t make the headlines, which is strange because it such a good book! I don’t even know where to start.

First of all, if you enjoy novels with a lot of different characters, then you will love Darkness Falls. We get to know Clara, her husband, their nanny, the policemen investigating and of course the many suspects. It’s as if the reader was part of the investigation.

The story line is clever and skillfully plotted, with the main story lines that are interlinked and fall into place for a majestic ending: the investigation, the criminal and the one with the big twist which you will not see coming… or will you?

Disclosure: I would like to thank Joffe Books for an ARC of Darkness Falls. This is my honest review

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Clara Pascal, a barrister of a high profile case, is abducted right in front of her daughter. The story is about her experience as well as the efforts to find her. The book alternates between Clara's horrible experience and the investigation. Although the situation was terrifying, I didn't connect with the characters. I couldn't get a read on her husband and numerous interactions between the police and her colleagues seemed superficial.

In my opinion, there were too many characters on the police force, and it took me quite a while to keep them straight. Although the book picked up considerably during the last half of so, overall it needed more oomph to pull me in sooner. I would rate the second half 4 stars.

Thank you Joffe Books and NetGalley for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

I really was excited to start this book after reading the blurb. It sounded like a really good psychological thriller. From the onset I struggled to absorb the plot, I found it very jumbled and characters being thrown in left, right and centre too fast, too early. The characters didn't come to life, I really struggled to connect with any of them. Some were just really unlikeable. The characters really need fleshing out and given some depth.

Sometimes less is more. Show not tell. I got bored in the overuse of descriptions and paragraphs. Lots could have been shorter and sharper, making much more impact. I tried really hard to dig into this book but it had no grip. I read a lot in this genre and this really has the makings of a good book but it didn't cut the mustard compared to so many great books on the market (many from new and indie authors).

I got bored and skimmed pages, which for me is really rare. Two stars from me. Oodles of potential but didn't deliver with the snappy pace and clarity this genre needs to hold the reader. It seems this book has been published a few times with different publishers since 2002 according to Goodreads. I didn't realise that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own and totally unbiased.

This one had the potential to be a fantastic story - what bogged it down was the simple fact that there were just too many people to keep track of. Aside from Clara and her captor, there was also her husband, daughter and their "childminder", which aren't bad, but then you add in the 5 cops that I can remember off the top of my head (I'm sure there are more), their families, the other bad guys, and the numerous other people either interviewed or directly involved?

Not only is it overwhelming, but it all jumbled together until it reached a point where I no longer cared. Sadly, there was an officer injured at one point and it had absolutely no effect on me whatsoever because I had no idea who they were. It would have been much better, in my opinion, to focus on only a couple of officers and let us get to know them and make them integral to the plot without adding all these other ones who each maybe brought in one or two things each.

What makes this all the worse is that buried underneath the abundance of people, there were some good story-lines. I'm a little confused on the why when it comes to some of them (for example we don't really learn why one person does what they do), and when we find out why another person has taken action it doesn't make sense because they are not the only person to have been wronged by Clara. This was a classic example of "too many cooks in the kitchen".

And speaking of Clara, I'm not really sure what to make of her and how she and her family came out of the entire ordeal. I would have thought it would give anyone pause, but then I saw this is the first in a series of books about HER instead of any of the other numerous officers we met throughout this, and I just have no interest in continuing.

All things considered, I'm sure this book will appeal to others. In fact if the four and five-star reviews are anything to go by, I'm in the minority with my thoughts. However, I have enough books in my to-be-read pile that I can forget about this one easily enough.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

A lawyer is snatched in broad daylight while bringing her daughter to school. Who has taken her and why? I didn’t like abducted lawyer, Clara Pascal, or her husband, so finding out who and why she was kidnapped wasn’t something I cared about. This book was not my cup of tea, but there will be others that will enjoy it.

this book was ok, interesting enough in the moment but forgettable. It was somewhat predictable and one note.

For a British police procedural, this book has a very good pace. The story is well written and the characters are believable. The plot, however, is not that believable, but this is fiction and good entertainment.

This! This book kept me up wayyyy past bedtime! Detectives working around the clock for an abducted attorney, I. Couldn’t wait to get to the end! Definitely will look for more from this author!

crime-fiction, thriller, suspense, British-detective

Intense psychological thriller filled with suspense and some really good writing. The publisher's blurb is really good, but the story is even better. My only complaint is that it kept me up reading until almost morning!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Joffe Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is the first installment of the Clara Pascal series who gets kidnapped in front of her daughter.
The twists and turns will keep you guessing.
Worth a read