This book is very deep. The story of the past is told throughout the book. Witchcraft is seen as evil and those accused of being a witch were so unfairly treated. This injustice ripples through time. Tales of wildlings unsettles a community, weird occurrences and missing people who reappear far much younger than they should be. The question behind who these people are hangs unanswered. Are they wildlings? Are they really who they say they are? The stories that are told in this book are magical, some things can’t be explained, these things turn in to the stories communities tell, they become local myths or legends.
A very enjoyable book

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Lighthouse Witches’ by C.J. Cooke in exchange for an honest review. I did purchase my own copy on the day of publication.

This was an outstanding literary gothic thriller and one that I would suggest reading without too much prior information. I had loved her 2020 novel, ‘The Nesting’, so this was a must read for me. Therefore, I will only say a little about the plot in order to avoid spoilers.

It is primarily set on a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven. In 1998 Liv had come to Lòn Haven with her three daughters. She had been commissioned by the wealthy owner of a weathered lighthouse to paint an elaborate mural in its interior. There are plenty of unsettling incidents and the most of the islanders are very insular. Definitely ‘Wicker Man’ vibes.

Throughout the years mysterious and terrible events have happened on the island including disappearances. They began with a witch hunt in 1662…. Liv doesn’t believe in witches, curses and hauntings but when has scepticism ever protected a character in a spooky novel? Never.

The narrative is split between events in 1998 and 2021, when one of Liv’s daughters, now an adult, returns to the island seeking answers to what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago. There is also the occasional flashback to historical events.

This is the kind of gothic horror that I love. It is well written with vivid descriptions and strong characterisations. In addition, its author is respectful towards the subject of witchcraft and the occult, seeking to educate as well as penning a cracking genre-spanning tale.

In her Author’s Note C.J. Cooke writes about her interest in the history of the Scottish witch hunts and includes some research sources for anyone wishing to learn more about the subject. Also, she notes the justice initiative seeking a posthumous legal pardon, apology, and national monument for the approximate 4,000 people, overwhelmingly women, who were accused, tortured and executed in Scotland under the Witchcraft Act. That number genuinely shocked me.

Overall, ‘The Lighthouse Witches’ was an atmospheric, gothic novel that also served to highlight the tragedy of the Scottish witch hunts. It had me completely hooked from start to finish.

Highly recommended.

The Lighthouse Witches caught my attention during a browsing session on Netgalley. It sounded pretty intriguing and I’m glad my request got accepted. As I’m not familiar with the author, I had no expectations beyond a natural curiosity. I knew it could go either way according to my hit or miss track record with Netgalley requests. For a while, it seemed like The Lighthouse Witches would go into the miss column, but there was something that made me stuck with it and it’s a good thing I did. Eventually, it grew on me, and practically inhaled the last 40% or so. Still, I have some mixed feelings overall, which prevents me from giving it the highest rating. But first things first.

The events in The Lighthouse Witches unfold in three timelines with three main POV characters running parallel to each other, making a cohesive storyline overall once all the puzzles get into place. Firstly, we have Liv, who can be considered one of the main characters. She and her three daughters arrive at Lón Haven in 1998, as she takes a commission to paint a mural in the Scottish island’s lighthouse called The Longing. Lón Haven’s history is full of sorrow and pain and legends about witches and wildlings. All of which is connected with the lighthouse, landing Liv and her family in danger they have never seen coming. I kinda liked Liv, she is desperate and wants to give everything to her daughters even if sometimes she seems distant and unreasonable to them. But when it comes to her daughters, she would give anything for them. Probably would have liked it if we’ve got to see more of how she interacts with the locals and develops friendships with Isla and Finn particularly. For me, there was something missing that prevented me from connecting with her.

The other main POV is Liv’s middle daughter, Luna, who, 22 years later in 2021 tries to figure out what really happened on the island after her whole family disappeared. A strange encounter takes her back to the place of her nightmares and she’ll have to come to grips with her past and the choices all of them made. Luna is in her early thirties by then and was only 9 when she lost her family. I found her character a bit unlikeable, but I can’t quite put my finger on the why. In the beginning, she comes off a bit selfish and for someone whose profession is to work with kids, she sure doesn’t really know how to handle the one who ends up in her care. I don’t think I ever really warmed up to her, but she nonetheless had an interesting arc within the book.

Liv’s eldest daughter, Saffy also gets some POV chapters. She is 15 years old at the time the bulk of the story takes part, adding a layer of teenage angst and a different generational angle to the whole mystery. She is also the one who eventually figures out what’s going on. I’m a bit torn on whether her chapters were necessary plot-wise, but it adds some bits and pieces and layers to what’s happening which otherwise would have been harder to add otherwise I guess. I would have liked her if not for her stupid decisions regarding Brodie. And the sad thing about it is that although I found it cringy, the truth is, there are probably hundreds or more teenagers who would act the exact same way. Girls who only want a bit of love and attention and are too naive or scared to acknowledge (sometimes even to themselves) that they are being manipulated and abused.

And last but not least the last layer (or probably more accurate to say the base) is given by the memoirs of Patrick Roberts, who provides accounts about the witch trials in 1662 taking place in Lón Haven right next to where The Longing stands. Passages from his book are woven through the other POV chapters, providing an interesting background. I admit, these parts were my favorites, and wished there were more of this. I was more engaged with the historical fiction bits than any other parts – cue in the history buff, duh.


“Maybe we always move exactly to where and when we belong, even without realizing it. It certainly feels like that for me. As though everything in my whole life has led me to where I am now.”

All the characters also represent different kinds of love. We have parental love, sisterly love, gentle love between two people who know loss and pain, teen love that comes with heavy burdens, love that knows no boundaries and which can make people do desperate things they might not do otherwise. But with love also comes the ugly side, the jealousy, the controlling, the fear. Cooke deftly includes a wide palette of human experience spread over the generations, weaving them together through time.

The Lighthouse Witches has an interesting mix of historical fiction, folklore, mystery, and thriller elements, but at times it feels like less would be more, and more would be more. Yes, I know I don’t make sense. For example, I would have liked more about the witches and the folklore. Giving credits where it’s due, though, mixing witches and wildlings is definitely an intriguing choice and within the story, it eventually makes sense and works quite well. The beginning of the book is a bit rocky, it takes a while to find its footing. There are repetitions and the characters take a while to worm their ways into your heart. Although they didn’t really manage to do that for me. I never connected with any of them, but as I said at the beginning of my review, I practically inhaled the last 40% and that’s definitely something. Cooke‘s writing is undoubtedly very engaging.

This book made me realize that I’m not a huge fan of time jumps between the different POV chapters. But it might have been the fact that the different POVs come with different tenses and, well, points of view. Liv’s chapters are in 1st person past (which in hindsight makes sense by the end), while Luna and Saffy’s chapters are in 3rd person present, and Patrick Robert’s passages are in 1st person present again. Once I would really start to get into one character’s arc, I was wrenched out again finding myself in a different age. For me, it took a bit of getting used to for sure.

At the end of the day, I’m glad I picked up The Lighthouse Witches. Secluded places with interesting folklore and a lot of superstitious people always tend to provide a very enjoyable read. If you are curious what’s the connection between witches and wildlings, how generations of women come together, like an atmospheric setting with a lighthouse and not afraid of a good mix of genres, I’m sure you’ll find The Lighthouse Witches an excellent read for the spooky season.

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cook is the perfect atmospheric read for a dark and stormy night, and ideal for this time of year.
Liv Stay flees with her three daughters to a remote Scottish island where she has been hired to paint a mysterious mural on the walls of a crumbling lighthouse. While her younger two daughters, Luna and Clover are excited for a new adventure, eldest daughter Sapphire is struggling, she is grieving for her stepdad and misses her friends. At first the island seems like a pleasant place, but the warm welcome soon gives way to warnings about curses and witches and changeling children. Liv dismisses these warnings as folktales and nonsense but when the whole family except Luna disappears, it seems like she would have been wise to heed the warnings. Twenty years later Luna is expecting a child of her own, and is called back to the island by a shocking discovery. Determined to find out the truth about what happened all those years ago, she will uncover a truth more shocking and surprising than anything she could have imagined with an origin that stretches back to the 1600's.
I was completely gripped by this book, intrigued by the story, disturbed by some of the scenes, engaged by the characters and their struggles, in short I could not put it down. It was a masterful blend of magic and mystery with a hint of the macabre to add a little spice. The idea of changeling children has always disturbed me, and this book took it to the next level. I was keen to see how the author would resolve the mystery and I was pleasantly surprised by how they did it, it was not what I was expecting but it absolutely made sense in context of the rest of the story.

“We are not just made of blood and bone - we are made of stories”

Liv is an artist who is commissioned to paint a mural in a lighthouse on a remote Scottish island. It’s the perfect opportunity to run away from a situation she doesn’t want to face, so she heads to Lòn Haven with her three daughters, Saffie, Luna and Clover. When she arrives on the island, she finds a community steeped in superstition, a unnerving history and a sinister, decrepit lighthouse called The Longing. Twenty years later, Luna is the only family member left with a haze of memories and a list of unanswered questions about what happened to her family at The Longing. Not for long though as one phone call is all it takes to rake up the past - can Luna face the truth of her time on Lòn Haven?

This is the perfect read for spooky season in the lead up to Halloween. Thrillers are my go to genre and because I read so many of them, I find not much creeps me out these days.
But “The Lighthouse Witches” is the exception to that! It’s a deeply atmospheric and unnerving read. Whether it’s the diary from the past illustrating the ruthless witch hunt that occurred on the island , or Liv discovering the cruel and sinister traditions of the island community or Luna encountering someone 20 years younger than they should be, the reader is guaranteed something within the pages which will send chills down their spine.
I really enjoyed reading the book and the brilliant writing which managed to dip and out of three genres and always kept me guessing until the end.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC of The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke in exchange for my honest review.

From the start this book has been totally consuming, immersing me in a story steeped in mystery, tension and chills galore, with a menacing and fearful atmosphere that sent chills down my spine.

The Lighthouse Witches and weaves themes witchcraft, folklore, and supernatural with complicated and intense familial relationships. Told across multiple timelines, set against the background of the Scottish Highlands and the historic Scottish witch trials, this story is both artfully complex with a strong narrative that I couldn’t pull away from.

There are some themes of violence (mainly implied,) and abuse, but these are well written and intrinsic to the story.

A superb read, that is perfect for the spooky season!

I was attracted to this book by the absolutely beautiful cover, and then I remembered that I had read and enjoyed the author's previous book, The Nesting. While The Nesting was definitely a ghost story, The Lighthouse Witches is a mash-up of several difference genres: gothic mystery, psychological thriller, there is even a dash of science fiction. Although I started the story with an idea of where I thought it was going (apparently I've watched too many 70's folk horror movies), the twist at the end is astounding - and extremely clever.

The Lighthouse Witches takes place over several timelines. In the 1600s, Patrick watches helplessly as those he loves are accused of witchcraft - the penalty is death; in the 1990s, Liv escapes her problems by fleeing to a remote Scottish island, Lon Haven, where the inhabitants are a superstitious lot, obsessed with witches and curses; and in the present day, Luna travels back to Lon Haven hoping to discover the truth about what happened to her family, twenty-two years previously.

Although I found the constant switching between timelines confusing at first (despite the helpfully labelled chapters and changes of font - yes, I know, I'm an idiot) I was soon gripped by the story and read the book in two days flat. The sinister islanders, the atmospheric setting, the general creepiness of the story, all make for a fabulous autumn read. I loved it!



Thank you to C.J. Cooke and HarperCollins for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

This is a completely immersive and enthralling read suffused with mystery, tension and chills aplenty. It is set against an atmosphere of menace and fear. I was gripped from the beginning.

The Lighthouse Witches is very well written drawing together themes of folklore, witchcraft, family dynamics and the supernatural. The characters are so well drawn and developed. The background is skillfully described and supports the narrative beautifully.

The story is told through three points of view; the past, the recent past and the present. This creates a solid background for the plot. This is a Gothic novel which introduced me to the history of Scottish witch trials which I hadn't come across before.

This is a superb read which I recommend very highly.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Recently, for some random reason, I have read a lot of novels set on remote Scottish islands. Of which The Lighthouse Witches is one. A tantalising Gothic mystery, yes there are equal parts lighthouse and witches in the story – both things that appeal to me and can really work to create an evocative story, as they did here.

So, the fictional Lon Haven is the remote Scottish island in question where, in 1998, one of our lead characters, Liv (an artist) goes on a commission – to paint a striking mural inside an old and derelict lighthouse evocatively named the Longing.

She arrives with her three daughters: Sapphire (Saffy), Luna and Clover and is shown around by housekeeper, Isla. The man who hired her is a mysterious character and not immediately around.

As Liv and her daughters try to settle into island life they face coming to terms with the isolated setting, moody weather, local tales of witchcraft, superstition and, yes, a little romance. However, something strange happens: Liv, Saffy and Clover going missing and are never found…

This only leaves Luna; we get chapters from her as an adult in 2021. She is pregnant and still holds out hope of finding her missing family. Then one day, it’s reported that a girl matching Clover’s description has been found. But that’s the problem: a girl has been found. Clover hasn’t aged a day, she remains the 9 year old child she was when she went missing 20 years ago….

Just what is going on and is witchcraft at play?

Witchcraft, obviously, plays a key part in the story. Liv’s oldest daughter, teenager Saffy finds a diary aka Grimoire aka a book of spells. It’s from 1662 and gives us the POV of a man called Patrick, who lived on the island and whose story connects to the present.

I love reading books like The Lighthouse Witches as it had thematic tie backs to a lot of others I have enjoyed reading. There are mentions of Icelandic runes, which appeared in The Glass Woman and the myth of the wildlings that features so heavily here reminds me of the changelings that appear in Little Darlings.

I will admit that this book took a step into fantasy that I wasn’t expecting and threw me a little at the end, but I still really enjoyed the story that kept me hooked, challenged the history of witchcraft as a way to control women and gave me a little hit of Gothic.

I loved the author’s last book The Nesting and couldn’t wait to read The Lighthouse Witches. I knew I was going to love the book after only reading a few pages. The book is so well written and engaging I couldn’t stop reading and had to know what happened in the next chapter and the next one and the one after that and so on and so forth. The book is a perfect blend of fantasy and contemporary fiction with some mystery and a little horror thrown in. The jaw-dropping moment comes when Luna goes to be reunited with her sister Clover and the bottom falls out of her world. This is the kind of book you read that leaves you with more questions than answers. I loved it so much.

The Lighthouse Witches is a scintillating, inventive and thoroughly enthralling gothic thriller full of chills, twists and family drama and is a story steeped in a rich and unsettling atmosphere in which two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared, and it appears that the secrets of the witches have managed to reach across the centuries. When in 1998 single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a somewhat dilapidated 100-year-old lighthouse known as The Longing on the remote Scottish island of Lòn Haven, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. But when two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed. Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she's initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers--except she's still only seven years old, the age she was when she vanished.

Luna is worried Clover is a wildling and has very few memories of her time on the island, but she'll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. However, she doesn't realise just how much the truth will change her. This is a riveting, absorbing and unputdownable thriller, teeming with originality and tinged with both occultism and the haunting traces of past lives that continue to come to the fore. The timeline is split into three distinct parts representing past and present - with one story strand set in the 17th century surrounding a grimoire book of spells and invocations, another from the perspective of the family in 1998 when drama abounds and the third and final, in present-day with Luna. An ideal read for the autumn days when the light nights are diminishing and the dark envelops us faster than ever, this is a tale rich in history, mystery, folklore, superstition, magic, myth and legends of old, made all the eerier by the isolated and deeply evocative setting which becomes a character in its own right and is brought to life as the pages turn through the vivid descriptions. Woven in a beautiful yet terrifying fashion, the narrative bursts at the seams with palpable tension, a seething menace and creepy, insidious and darkly ominous overtones making this an intense, compulsive and heart-thumping read from beginning to denouement. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Gothic thrillers are often my go-to books for colder months and I was delighted to be accepted for this one. I loved The Nesting last year, so I was looking forward to another suspenseful mystery from C. J. Cooke.

Liv is a single mother ,who has been commissioned to paint a mural on the inside wall of an old lighthouse on Lon Haven, a remote Scottish island. It’s the perfect chance to get away from York and start again with her three daughters Sapphire, Luna and Clover. But Lon Haven has a rich history of burning witches, missing children and the presence of wildlings -fae creatures who are hell-bent on destroying human bloodlines. Then two of Liv’s daughters go missing. 22 years later, Luna has spent her life searching for her mother and sisters. When she gets a call to say that Clover has been found, she can barely contain her excitement and pictures catching up with her now adult sister over wine and gossip sessions. So imagine her confusion when Clover is apparently still a seven-year-old.

Lon Haven has the Gothic look nailed. In the 1998 thread, it appears to be completely frozen in time and surrounded by nothing but unforgiving, endless water. In the 2021 thread, the town has changed physically but it has retained its unwelcoming, harsh energy that Liv and her girls were met with decades before and that the women accused of witchcraft faced centuries before.

The lighthouse is known as the Longing. The origin of its name is mentioned and it’s actually quite a heartbreaking story. To say I was ridiculously uneasy any time that anyone spent time in the Longing is an understatement. It’s dark, cold, quiet and unshakeably creepy.

We know from the beginning that Luna is a live and well adult in 2021. So, while we’re watching the strange events of 1998 pan out, we are comforted by the knowledge that somehow at least some of the characters survived them. Although I had my suspicions for parts of the what was really going on, I didn’t grasp the full extent of it until it was revealed and I think it would have been a miracle if I had. The truth has so many moving parts and watching them all come together was so much fun.

Sapphire, or Saffy, is 15 and just wants to be left alone with the grimoire she discovered in the house. This book contains the story of Patrick Roberts, a young boy who lived on Lon Haven in the 17th century during the infamous witch trials. But then Saffy falls for Brodie, a handsome boy in her class, and she falls prey to the perils of young love and the desire to be wanted. Bad vibes circle this situation as soon as it starts and I spent the whole time wracked with worry about Saffy’s fate.

In the 1998 thread, there are a group of women on Lon Haven who act very much like a coven and Liv shows some interest in joining them. A lot of remote places still have communities of women who are very involved in local activities and business. These women are almost a staple of small town life and I couldn’t help but draw the parallels between them and the women who walked the same streets hundreds of years before.

Patrick Roberts’ life in the 1600s details the truth of the Lon Haven witch trials quite graphically. I can only assume that these sections were crafted after a lot of careful research on Cooke’s part because they certainly ring true. Patrick’s account also features a tragic, doomed love story that stretches across the boundaries of time and that calls across the centuries like a ghostly cry.

I wasn’t expecting a certain aspect of the plot to be present but it was certainly a welcome curveball. It was woven into the chilling mystery very well and it didn’t really feel like a convenient solution, which I think it could have done if it hadn’t been executed well.

The Lighthouse Witches is an addictive, thoughtful and heart-wrenching thriller that is coated in ethereal atmosphere and spectral shadows. I have a lot of admiration for any author who manages to juggle multiple timelines and stories and still have everything add up. The ending is a happy one and I think I would have loved a final brutal jab of a twist on the last page, but I was satisfied with how it all turned out. For an immersive, imaginative tale full of dark folklore and a deep, biting chill, look no further than this beautifully covered. witch book!

I have to admit that it took me a while before I managed to get into the story, but it the end it's worth it.
In the beginning I just couldn't get in the mood .. nothing to do with the book, it was just not the right time. But, on my second try, I made it and it was great!
I loved the story and the creepy and eerie vibes! It got too creepy and some points, but I avoided reading in the dark.. The characters were very interesting and from the first time I read about the lighthouse, I could see it in my mind.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this e-arc, in exchange for my honest review.

Cooke weaves together two intricate timelines, Liv in 1998 and Luna in 2021. Together they craft a heavy atmosphere of tension as we learn about the island’s dark past through Liv’s perspective and we learn about the reappearance of Clover through Luna. Liv is a melancholy character who has lived through hardships and never feels good enough especially as a parent. We are positioned to feel her pain and loneliness echoed by the isolated wilderness around her. Meanwhile her grown-up daughter Luna is deeply traumatised by her childhood experiences and has blocked them out of her memory. She has only her social services file to work from and snippets of flashbacks. Liv uses a pertinent metaphor for her tragic life that encapsulates the novel’s mood; she talks about how limpets create a home scar. Limpets move around over the rocks when the tide is in, but always return to their own favourite spot when the tide goes out, following the mucus trail that they have deposited. This ‘home scar’ helps the limpet to better attach to the rock, stopping it drying out until the next tide comes in. It seems that Lon Haven is the home scar for Luna as she is drawn to return to the island to face the fears of her childhood and to find answers in order to finally rest.

Cooke leaves little crumbs like Hansel and Gretel that hint at the truth of what happened on Lon Haven. The breadcrumbs are harrowing such as Luna and her girl guide friends practising tying knots by tying each other to trees only for her to be triggered and vomit all over the guide leader. This leaves the reader wondering what the hell happened in Luna’s past in order for her to be triggered in such a violent way. Liv reads a history pamphlet that explains why the lighthouse is called the longing because people used to visit their lost loved ones who were burned at the stake. This leaves the reader burning to know how the history of Lon Haven is entangled with Luna’s family and their mysterious, vanishing past.

Overall, this novel is an exhilarating, thrilling, gothic read that was a fast page turner for me, I absolutely loved it!

What an absolute fantastically creepy book to read at this time of year. I needed a good witchy story and this DID NOT disappoint. You want a good creepy engaging book to read in these upcoming darker nights? Pick this up now!

4.5****

This book was creepy and atmospheric in the first couple of chapters... and this continued through out. In 1998, Liv is commissioned to do a mural for “The Longing” a decommissioned lighthouse, she ups and moves herself and her three children to the island of Lon Haven. She is commissioned by the mysterious Patrick Roberts and the mural contains strange symbols and signs.
In 2021, Luna (Liv’s daughter) is now grown up with so few memories of Lon Haven- other than it being the place where her mother and sisters suddenly disappeared. She’s got Facebook pages set up for information which have lain dormant for many years, until one day she gets a call from social to say that they’ve found her sister, Clover.... but how is it possible that Clover is still 7 years old.? The same age she was when she went missing over two decades ago!? To answer these questions, Luna must recount what happened on that island many years ago.

The book flickers back and forth from largely Liv’s POV in 1998 (some fo Saffy) and Luna’s POV in 2021. This also contains some excerpts from Patrick Roberts grimoire recounting his past. Through these we uncover the bloody history of the island.

This book is the perfect fall read and had everything I loved- witches, curses, secrets, mysterious symbols, and had quite a few horror elements too! This book was eerie through out and was a page Turner- my adrenaline was pumping while turning the pages, needing to find out the answers.

Some things are typical for a horror- a creepy forest, abandoned places, a random hut in the middle of the woods- but CJ Cooke makes this work. I’ve seen this advertised as a “gothic thriller” but it was definitely more of a horror/mystery with a tiny bit of sci-do chucked in.

A highly enjoyable and atmospheric creepy read- I loved it!
My only issue is of personal preference where I try to avoid books where children play a large role... as I find them annoying usually.

The Lighthouse Witches is a story about a woman, Liv Stay trying to start afresh with her three daughters, Luna, Clover and Saffy, on a remote island in the north of Scotland. But the island has a complicated and violent past. A witch trial, wrongly accused women paying the ultimate price, and what fear can do to a community, with consequences rippling through time.
Coming to Lon Haven for a new beginning, Liv and her family get tangled into someone else's past, until one event unravels and changes their life forever.
Inspired by witches trials which occured in Scotland in the 16th century, C.J Cooke creates an incredibly immersive and atmospheric tale, with elements of history, magic and nordic folklore. The story effortlessly navigates between three different timelines. We follow the arrivals of the Stay family and the aftermath decades later, with some flashbacks to the 16th century and the events surrounding the witches trials, slowly piecing things back together.
Rich descriptions of the island provides gothic vibes and the perfect amount of spooky. The characters are engaging, the story is suspenseful and perfectly paced, with a finish that ties all the different timelines together in a sastifying end.
A perfect read for Halloween season or any time of the year you feel like gothic atmosphere, mystery and witches.

This is the perfect book to read around Halloween.

The author drew inspiration for this novel from the Scottish witch trials.

It is written along multiple timelines 1998 and 2021 and also goes back to the Scottish witch trials of the 1600’s. It is set on the fictional Scottish island of Lòn Haven

In 1998 Liv receives a strange commission to paint a mural inside a derelict lighthouse and travels there with her three young daughters Saffy, Clover and Luna. They will stay in the lighthouse keepers bothy for the time it will take to complete the work. The Longings lighthouse and the caves beneath are said to be cursed by the witches who were imprisoned and executed there. Children have disappeared from the island and the locals believe wildlings are responsible, appearing on the island as lost children.

In 2020 Luna, now a grown woman, receives a phone call which will take her back to Lòn Haven to confront her past and the disappearance of her family over 20 years earlier.

This is such a clever story with many intertwined threads culminating in a completely unexpected revelation. I loved the dark, atmospheric, gothic tale and will be reading more from this author.

Thank you Harper Collins for an advance copy to read and review.

This book is dreamy combination of Nordic folklore, Iceland mythology, witch trials or let’s say it’s Fear Street Part three- 1666 meets German Netflix original series “Dark” with a new form of changeling ( human like creature found in folklore throughout Europe) vibes as wildling. This was a terrifically creepy, ominous and engaging read, dark, intense, and highly suspenseful, with great characters, holding my interest from start to finish.

It’s the season for spooky reads, and this atmospheric new thriller by C.J. Cooke definitely fits the bill.

In 1998, Liv Stay and her three daughters move to the island of Lòn Haven, where she has been commissioned to paint a mural inside the lighthouse. Before the project is completed, the mother and two of the girls vanish. Twenty-two years later Luna, the last one of the Stay girls, returns to the island where her family vanished in pursuit of the truth behind their mysterious disappearances.

The Lighthouse Witches is best enjoyed with little prior knowledge, so I won’t elaborate more on the plot. There are three different timelines and multiple perspectives to the narrative, which I found straightforward to navigate. The story has a dark and eerie feel, enhanced by the remote island setting. I was drawn to this gothic novel because of the element of witchcraft, as well as the setting in the Scottish Highlands. This haunting and at times chilling tale kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing at plot twist until the very end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.