Tense, twisty and atmospheric. The poem in the blurb sets the scene perfectly for those five girls who prepare to play The Midnight Game. It’s legendary in Slayton, and something of a rite of passage for teens to seek out an abandoned building and dare to knock 22 times and let the Midnight Man in.

Blackhall Manor is something of legend itself, home to a series of deaths 25 years ago when the father of the household killed his family – parents, wife and children – before turning the gun on himself. Ever since, the house has been considered cursed, making it the perfect setting for The Midnight Man.

Unfortunately for the five girls invited to Blackhall Manor that Halloween, this is a game with deadly consequences. It begins as spooky fun, superstitious nonsense … until one girl goes missing. Now, you might expect the four remaining girls to ‘fess up and tell their parents where they’ve been, but no. The power of the message on their invitation – if you tell, you’ll go to hell – is so strong that they’re too scared of what might happen if they admit where they’ve been.

Detective Sarah Noble has just gone back to work after extended leave. Her backstory is complicated and multi-faceted, both elements that inject her personally into the case of the missing girl, and not merely in her role as a police officer. It affects how she is treated by her peers, and also how she feels about Blackhall Manor.

Her friend’s son, 7-year-old Elliot, is a kindred spirit. He’s been having visions of the hooded man in his nightmares. These visions extend to the missing girl, and later to others caught up in the game. He finds Sarah to be a safe haven, someone to whom he can reveal what he’s seen and who, as a police officer, can actually help. Elliot is the sweetest boy but he’s not easily fobbed off. He is per-cep-tive in every sense (as his teacher has told him) and he not only sees the Midnight Man, but he also sees through adults trying to use his abilities for their own end.

As evidence comes in, the police think they’ve found their man … but have they? Sarah has her doubts, but doesn’t feel able to share them at work. If she is going to prove herself capable as a detective, she’s going to have to revisit her past. Dun, dun, duuuuunnn …

I’ve not read anything by this author before, and I was super excited to get my hands on this one (Thank you Embla, Netgalley & Caroline). I’ll admit to being wary, as horror (the gory stuff) is so not my thing, but I’ll categorise this as creepy horror blended with twisty suspense and aspects of a police procedural. I’ll definitely be back for more.

Wow! Such a creepy and thrilling read! I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for more by author!

Creeping, Foreboding Suspense…
A crossing of genres in this creeping, foreboding suspense. What secrets does Blackhall Manor hold and what of the Midnight Game? Does the legend hold any truth or is it truly simply a rumour mill gone awry? Tense and twisted with a credible cast and a compelling narrative. A compulsive, one sitting read.

Thank you to the author, publishers Embla Books and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

Part crime thriller part spooky suspense The Midnight Man starts as a group of young teenage girls take part in the midnight man game, a Candyman-esque game in a house with a tragic past. As one girl after another goes missing police detective Sarah gets drawn into the mystery. She has her own ties to the darkness at the heart of Blackhall Manor and she meets a young boy who knows more about what happened to the girls than seems to be possible.

This story has some good bones. The urban myth with unexpectedly real consequences. The young boy with prophetic dreams, and the detective with a secret past. Unfortunately it quickly becomes so twisted up in sub-plots and red herrings that it loses the cohesion needed to make it all work.

Part of the plot hinges on Sarah’s links to Blackhall Manor’s past being a secret, yet it’s a small town and almost everyone knows who she is. The timeline for when she returned to town also seems messed up, and there’s no clear explanation for how someone who left at age 14 and only returned a year ago somehow kept in contact with her teen sweetheart and married him.

There were too many subplots to really do them justice and I was left feeling like there wasn’t really a solid substance to this story. Or, at least not enough substance to be really enjoyable.

I love Caroline Mitchell’s books and was very pleased to receive an early copy via Netgalley.

This cleverly plotted story builds to a thrilling and shocking climax that I didn’t see coming. Tense and deliciously creepy, I could not put it down.

The Midnight Man is expertly written, with characters that jump off the page. This is her best yet! Very highly recommended.

I really enjoyed The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell. It was just the right mix of part police thriller and part supernatural chiller beginning on Halloween night. Five girls go to Blackhall Manor to play The Midnight Game. It’s supposed to be a game, but only four girls return home. Detective Sarah Noble has recently returned to the police. She knows more about Blackhall Manor than anyone else and it seems this case will take her back to the very place she’s been running from. Gripping and thrilling this book will have you hooked from the start to the end. Thank you to NetGalley, Embla Books and the author for the chance to review.

On Halloween night in Slayton a group of girls go to Blackhall Manor to play a creepy game that teenagers have been playing in the town for decades called The Midnight Game. The game consists of writing your name on a piece of paper and putting a drop of your blood on it, then knocking on the door twenty-two times at midnight to invite The Midnight Man in. You then must survive until 3:33am. Five girls go in, only four come out. Detective Sarah Noble recently rejoined the force and is assigned to the case. Sarah is very familiar with Blackhall Manor, but can she face her fears inside the manor before time runs out?

If you are looking for a spooky Halloween read then look no further! Caroline Mitchell creates a perfectly chilling atmosphere with a haunted house, a creepy game, and the lurking Midnight Man. There is a good amount of characters introduced in this book, and I did have a hard time keeping them straight for the first few chapters, but one I did I enjoyed reading about their background stories and how the author worked them all together. I thought I had the ending figured out but I was still wrong! If you are looking for a suspenseful read that will keep you guessing, then this is for you!

Thank you NetGalley, Embla Books and Caroline Mitchell for the opportunity to read this advance copy!

Creepy, creepy, creepy. Didn’t disappoint in suspense. A new spin on an old urban legend.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

Wow, just wow this is absolutely brilliant. I dont want to really give anything away about the plotline but I was on tenderhooks trying to work out who the Midnight Man was and I didnt guess until it was revealed.

I enjoyed the fast flow of the book as it gave glimpses of the past. I felt like I couldn't trust anyone who lived there and that anyone could have been the midnight man. Great cast of characters and a good, strong plotline. Although the story was wrapped up there is still a chance of a follow up book and I really hope there is. I loved it.

The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell
I give this book 4 stars


On Halloween night in Slayton, 5 girls go to Blackhall Manor to summon the Midnight Man.
It was supposed to be a game, but only four girls come home.
Detective Sarah Noble has just returned to the force, and no one knows more about Blackhall Manor than her. It's a case that will take Sarah back to everything she's been running from!

This well written book combines detective with 2 mysteries 1 present and 1 past and adds a touch of paranormal (which l loved)
lnvolving characters that have depth. this creepy crime thriller flowed at an even pace. I loved Blackhall Manor,Sarah’s background story and trying to figure out ( unsuccessfully) who the Midnight Man was from his narrative. interspersed between chapters.
If you open your door to the Midnight Man, hide with a candle wherever you can. Try not to scream as he draws near, because one of you won't be leaving here.……

With thanks to Netgalley,Caroline Mitchell and Embla books for my chance to read and review this book

Well I don't fancy going to Blackhall Manor anytime soon!

Sarah has to investigate when some local youths start to go missing after a night of trying to summon ...... THE MIDNIGHT MAN! She has her own demons to conquer in regards to the location of the event - having had her own family heartbreakingly perish at the very same place. But conquer she does and she must find the kids before they turn up dead!

With hints of THE WHISPER MAN and possibly THE HOLLOW MAN urban legend, this one is a slightly paranormal, thriller - perfect for an October Halloween read. I would recommend this one to anyone who likes a thrill, a scare and a bit of a mystery to solve.

Recommended to fans of horror, supernatural thriller and urban legends!

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: October 13, 2021
“If you open your door to the Midnight Man, hide with a candle wherever you can. Try not to scream as he draws near, because one of you won't be leaving here...” begins the urban legend of “The Midnight Man”. For years, young people have participated in the game, gathering together in vacant buildings and calling on the Midnight Man, who, if he finds you, will gut you and display your insides. When a new group of children try out the game at Blackhall Manor, an abandoned home in Slayton, things immediately go wrong as one-by-one, the participants start to vanish. Sarah Noble is back on the job as a detective, after taking a leave, and only she knows how dangerous Blackhall Manor can be; after all, her entire family was killed within its walls. Sarah must use her knowledge of Blackhall Manor even though her history with the house has been a well-kept secret, to find the missing girls before they turn up dead.
Caroline Mitchell’s newest novel, “The Midnight Man” is a haunting and terrifying story of an urban legend come to life. Similar to “The Whisper Man” with a little bit of “The Amityville Horror”, Mitchell’s “Midnight Man” is the perfect freaky fall read.
Although Mitchell has many novels under her belt, I have only read those that belong in her murder mystery Ruby Preston series (which I also thoroughly enjoyed). “Midnight Man” has some police procedural components to its plot as well, yet Mitchell takes it one step farther, combining all of her talents into one creepy thriller.
Mitchell’s characters are all equally suspicious and likable, and the “Midnight Man” himself is completely unexpected, bringing a shocking final twist to the satisfyingly delicious ending.
The novel is told from varying perspectives of characters in the novel; Sarah, of course, but also a few more of Slayton’s key players. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to see the plot from varying angles, and this writing style only added to the “who-dunnit” part of the story.
I adore urban legend stories, and I’m so glad that Mitchell chose to share “The Midnight Man”. It has all the elements of a horror novel, mixed with a detective story and just a little snippet of the paranormal. A hands-down success for Mitchell!

Thank you to Embla Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell is an unputdownable serial killer thriller set in a haunted location. Just like that, this book contains two of my favorite thriller tropes: (1) hunting a serial killer and (2) a creepy location. The story revolves around Detective Sarah Noble. She's just returned to work following a year off for mental health, and it's not going well. On Halloween, five girls go to Blackhall Manor to summon the Midnight Man, and only four girls go home. What happened to the fifth girl? Who is the MIdnight Man terrorizing the town? And what secrets in her past has Sarah been hiding from everyone else?

Here is a chilling excerpt from the Prologue that introduces the spooky setting:

"My spirits sank as Blackhall Manor came into view. The dilapidated building was perched in solitude on its hilltop, surrounded by a thick white mist which rolled in off the fields. It wasn't the lifeless trees standing sentry that gave me the creeps as we navigated the winding path. Nor was it the ravens perched on the barbed wire fence. It wasn't the sound of the wind howling through the galvanised outbuildings, or the creatures scurrying in the thick undergrowth. All those things would have frightened me once, but they paled in comparison to the tall brick building looming ahead. It came with a history fit for any ghost story. None of my friends visited. Neither would I, given a choice. In Blackhall Manor, it was Halloween all year long."

Overall, The Midnight Man is an absolutely amazing thriller that is sure to become a bestseller. It will appeal to fans of the Unsub series by Meg Gardiner, which is my absolute favorite thriller series, as well as books by C. J. Tudor like The Chalk Man. I seriously could not put this book down and finished it in a day. One highlight of the book is the "hunting a serial killer" trope. I love how The Midnight Man sends Sarah notes and how we also get some creepy chapters from his perspective. Another highlight of the book is the creepy setting of Blackhall Manor, which added a lot of suspense to this plot. Because this book contained my two favorite tropes, I enjoyed reading it so much, and I am giving it 5 explosive stars! If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in October!

So I’m pretty conflicted about this book. It was definitely a creepy horror/thriller novel that was great at keeping my attention…at times. I think this was mostly due to me not clicking with the author’s writing style, but there were also some pacing issues with the plot that had me skimming entire passages out of sheer boredom.

A fast paced thriller, with a small town feel. Told from multiple narrators (my actual only downfall as there were more than 8 different voices), we follow the main characters in a game of past treachery, procedural and a reminder that not always do we know our neighbors.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Embla Books for approving me for an ARC of this book.

This book grabbed my attention from the start, that prologue was absolutely terrifying but I wanted to keep reading and know what happens next.

Twenty five years after a family was brutally murdered we are back at Blackhall Manor and to say the house is haunted would be an understatement. Blackhall Manor was described so vividly that I felt I was in that house with the school girls. Every creak and whisper had me terrified for what would happen next but I could not stop reading.

Sarah Noble was an interesting main character and I really liked her back story. She had been dealt a rough hand but I admired her determination to get back to work and solve this case. I will admit I did find her frustrating at times with how she dealt with her colleagues and the case but I soon got pass that. One of my favourite secondary characters was Elliot and in particular how his relationship with Sarah developed.

The Midnight Man was intense, gripping and full of mystery. Like Sarah I didn’t know who to trust and who was out to get her, I questioned everyone’s motives. The momentum builds with an expected showdown but I was shocked with the final revelation.

Who is the Midnight Man? You’ll have to read it to find out but be prepared to be spooked and haunted as you play the Midnight Game!

I received an E-ARC copy of ‘The Midnight Man’ by Caroline Mitchell through NetGalley from Embla Books. After being involved with the cover reveal and reading an excerpt, I was super excited to start reading.

‘If you open your door to the Midnight Man, hide with a candle wherever you can. Try not to scream as he draws near, because one of you won't be leaving here...’

This book follows Sarah Noble, a detective who after an extended leave is returning to work on restricted duties.

Five teenagers go to Blackhall Manor on Halloween night to play ‘The Midnight Man’ game. The game is:

Write your names on a piece of paper and prick your finger to leave a drop of blood on the paper.
At exactly midnight knock on the door twenty-two times.
You have invited the midnight man.

When only four girls come home that night, Sarah starts to help with the investigation. She gets drawn into the investigation as things start to become too close to home. Putting her past behind her she must try to solve the case before anyone else goes missing.

‘Will she be ready to meet the Midnight Man’

This book is so creepy, these types of games really freak me out. The idea that someone will be after you is definitely up there on my top horror scares.

Caroline has done an amazing job at keeping a eerie atmosphere throughout, not only with the Midnight Man Game but with the night terror visions of Elliott.

This book also kept me in suspense and guessing who, if anyone may be behind the midnight man. I had so many suspects in my mind throughout, and I was still wrong.

I noticed that on Amazon it says this is the first Slayton thriller, so I am hoping there will be more in this series. Not only would I love to hear more about the characters in this story, but I love the scary feeling that runs through the book.

Overall, an amazing spine-chilling thriller leaving the question, would you be brave enough to meet the Midnight Man?

Another stellar book from Caroline Mitchell!!
This was creepy, interesting and another book where I happily read until my eyes hurt but the book was finished!

This was such a good read. It is suspenseful and chilling and I didn't want to put it down. I loved the story line and how captivating each chapter was, it made me want to keep reading on. The story is about five girls that go to Blackhall Manor which is a run down disused house and they go there to play the Midnight Game, they have to do certain things to make sure the Midnight Man comes in. When only four girls come home, they know something dreadful has happened. The story then concentrates on the Detective who has just come back to the force and she knows more about Blackhall Manor than anyone else. The twists and turns keep coming and the ending was absolutely brilliant. Caroline is an author that I will be looking out for in the future.

I had such a high hopes for this book. The premise was such an intriguing one and I was hooked from the opening lines. With such a shocking start to the novel, I fully expected the book to take me on a tense journey. The first 50% of the book continued to intrigue me, I was hanging on each page, looking for clues and was shocked by a very early twist that I did not see coming. The dark gothic atmosphere was perfectly done and I was fully immersed in the gritty world.

However, it all went downhill after the halfway mark. I began to get bored in the second half of the book and concerned that the plot wasn't going anywhere good. I found myself reading purely to finish the book, rather than being genuinely interested in what was to come. As for the ending, I was so disappointed. For me, the murderer's reasons for their actions made absolutely no sense and included some bad mental health representation. This was a particularly disappointing read because the beginning started off so strong.