"LThe Shape of Darkness is a chilling and atmospheric Gothic mystery that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the final page. Set in Victorian England, the novel follows silhouette artist Agnes Darken as she becomes entangled in a series of gruesome murders that bear an uncanny resemblance to the subjects of her shadow portraits.

Purcell masterfully weaves together elements of historical fiction, psychological suspense, and the supernatural.

Purcell's prose is elegant and evocative, drawing readers into Agnes's world with vivid descriptions and richly drawn characters. The narrative unfolds at a brisk pace, with plenty of twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very end.

I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

I love this authors gothic historical fiction
There are interwoven narratives that link together well
This are many twists and turns and the book is so compelling
I did feel that the pacing was a bit off in this book

I loved the Silent Companions but none of Laura Purcell’s later novels have quite managed to capture the same gothic terror. As with The Corset, the paranormal aspect of the Shape of Darkness is just a little…Silly. It’s also inconsistent, appearing to be linked to the silhouettes of Agnes and then switching, without real resolution to mediums and seances. The latter would have been fine on its own, perfectly valid within the Spiritualist movement of the time period, the silhouettes are odd and it stretches belief too far for Agnes to suspect that her cut-outs are somehow causing people’s deaths. The story never quite recovers from this. The characters are also oddly presented, we are shown only snippets for the sake of maintaining mystery but the effect is that they never become fully formed and their voices tend to merge into one another even though one (Agnes) is in her 50s and the other (Pearl) is 11. Despite this attempt to keep the reader in the dark it is no great struggle to work out the truth behind the story.

As a long time fan of Laura Purcell, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this book. "The Shape of Darkness" is no less spooky and atmospheric than her other work, and will not disappoint her fans or new readers. The story follows a silhouette artist with a traumatic past, whose few clients seem to be dying after visiting her studio. Will Agnes be able to rely on the help of a spirit medium to find out how and why her clients keep ending up dead? You'll have to read to find out!

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.

Personally I wasn't a fan of this one - the writing was wooden, the plot was too over exaggerated and odd, and it just felt like it took itself too seriously.

I’m a big fan of Laura Purcell and her latest title is no exception.
Laura does a great job of setting the scene, I can still imagine poor Pearls dad in my mind.
Good twists too. Once again another enjoyable read. My only criticism is that the pacing felt a bit off in places.

Laura Purcell smashes it once again. This historical fiction is up there with the likes of The Silent Companions, The Corset and Bone China.

The only thing keeping me from giving this a 5 stars was that I didn't quite fall in love with any of the characters. I did not see the ending coming at all!

Once again Laura Purcell transports us to Victorian England in an atmospheric gothic tale. I enjoyed this book and the fascinating worlds of silhouette artistry and mesmerism and Laura writes so beautifully but, for me, it does not hold a candle to The Silent Companions which is one of my all time favourite reads in this genre. Having said that I will be first in line for the next Laura Purcell book as her books have become my October ritual.

The shape of darkness by Laura Puriell.
Silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another...
Desperately seeking an answer, Agnes approaches Pearl, a child spirit medium lodging in Bath with her older half-sister and her ailing father, hoping that if Pearl can make contact with those who died, they might reveal who killed them. But Agnes and Pearl quickly discover that instead they may have opened the door to something that they can never put back...
A good read. Slow but readable. Likeable characters. 3*.

i heard lots of good things about The Shape of Darkness, but i found it quite slow and struggled to really settle into the story or like the characters. The descriptions and writing are beautiful, but I found one of the leads so frustrating which was a large part of the problem.

Having read and loved The Corset and The Silent Companions, this is yet another fantastic gothic thriller from Laura Purcell.

Set in 1850's Bath, with photography still in its infancy, Agnes creates silhouettes for clients, a shadow outline of their face - only every client who sits for her dies gruesomely at the hands of an unknown assailant. Pearl is an 11 year old child who can speak to the dead, but Pearl only wants to speak to her mother who died giving birth to her. When Agnes and Pearl's paths cross, Agnes thinks that Pearl may be able to help her find out who is murdering her clients.

Laura Purcell has really excelled herself with this book. Immersive, evocative, yet dark and sinister, her writing really captures the era. Bath comes to life as does the Victorians obsession with all things spiritual - mesmerism, seances, ghosts. It is so well done and so brilliantly written, that I could hardly put the book down once I had started. I loved the character development - it is quite the haunting story, yet not scary, and will stay with me for some time to come. With a really unexpected twist in the final chapters, this is one of my favourite books of the year so far. Loved it.

The Shape of Darkness is a delightfully dark tale that has really stayed with me since I read it.

I’ve read quite a few historical fictions but this one felt more original than most. Set in 19th Century Bath, this book features two crazes of the Victorian era, the declining art of silhouette portraiture and the ongoing fascination with the supernatural. However, Purcell doesn't romanticise these elements and she doesn’t shy away from the reality of life in Victorian England.

Agnes creates silhouette portraits but with the invention of the photograph and declines in her health continuing with this is becoming increasingly difficult. The book starts slowly but grips you from the start, opening with the death of one of her clients. As the story unfolds, more of her clients end up dead and Agnes turns to a young girl named Pearl, a renowned spirit medium. Both Agnes and Pearl have intriguing backgrounds and as the story progresses their lives become more and more intertwined.

This gothic tale is brilliantly atmospheric and with a murder mystery at the centre of the plot there is plenty of intrigue and tension. The pace builds and towards the end there are some great twists and reveals.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

I’m a massive fan of Laura Purcell - she manages to bring horror to any historical setting, and it always works.

Her writing and plot were just as impeccable in this newest novel as with her previous and I will be reading anything she publishes.

Highly recommend for anyone who loves Shirley Jackson and gothic thrillers.

Loved this book. Absolutely fantastic read. I love Laura Purcell and always look forward to reading her books. Highly recommend her books.

Written beautifully but not for me unfortunately. I really struggled to get into it and found myself not wanting to continue

If you favour sinister and creepy Gothic tales then The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell is a must-read!

The novel is set in Bath in 1854 and the reader follows Miss Agnes Darken, a silhouette artist who struggles to make ends meet whilst living with her elderly ailing mother, and young nephew, Cedric. When her clients are being murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, she turns to an 11-year-old albino spiritualist, Pearl Meers, a girl with her own issues who has a dominating half-sister, mesmerist Myrtle West.

Laura Purcell is definitely a magnificent storyteller. Her rich descriptions make this location and this period of history come to vibrant life. In this character-driven tale of secrets, deception, grief and loss, every page was filled with menacing, creepy and eerie narrative, and I was beguiled and completely engrossed.

I alternated between reading and listening to this book, and the narrator of the audiobook, Sophie Aldred really brought the characters to life effectively. The different voice intonations were noticeable and the ranges of emotion in the voices were great.

I loved that Laura Purcell included a clever, unguessable ending. Once started, The Shape of Darkness was a novel that demanded to be finished and I was only too happy to oblige. This was such a terribly good, compulsive, historical supernatural mystery that I have no hesitation in recommending it.

I received complimentary digital copies of this novel, at my own request, from Bloomsbury UK Audio and Raven Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Another great novel from Laura Purcell. I really like the hints of supernatural throughout, leaving the reader confused as to what is happening and whether the characters can be believed.

This novel is set in Bath, as so many good historical novels are, but it is set slightly later than most. Instead of its Regency heyday this is a slightly run-down Bath in the early years of the Victorian era - which is great, I love seeing things in a slightly new context - and the story centres around Agnes Darken, whose skills as a silhouette artists is being replaced by the spangly new Victorian art of photography. Agnes lives with her aged mother and nephew and tries to earn money through her increasingly unfashionable art-form but suffers with both ill-health and the loss of her sweetheart. When her few clients start to become murder victims Agnes starts to worry that she is being targeted but it is the death of an unknown naval officer which drives her to seek help from a medium - she needs to know if this officer is her missing sweetheart. This medium, a young girl called Pearl, and her forthright sister are what really crank up the level of mystery - the descriptions of the seances are quite thrilling (and give away quite a few trade secrets too).

This is a dark and disturbing tale with many, many twists. Agnes is a character full of mysteries and she is, in many ways, haunted by her own dead sister. Pearl, the eleven year old albino medium, is heart-breaking - her fears, her physical disabilities which prevent her from even looking out of the window in daylight, her love for her father who is slowly dying from the effects of phosphorus poisoning and her battles against her single-minded sister - and will haunt me for a long time. Honestly, this is so good and so spooky that you really should not wait until 31st October to dive into this one!