I really enjoyed the author’s previous thriller and also loved her books written in a more historical/ family drama genre. One Dark Night is a thriller based around Sally in the Woods- woods near Bath, a place I know well and I enjoyed this gothic setting, steeped in legend. When a teenage girl from the local private school is found murdered in the woods after a student party both students and teachers come under suspicion.
It took me a while to become immersed in this novel, the build up was slow and I felt that too many characters were introduced too quickly and it was sometimes difficult to differentiate between them. The author writes well and the pacing and tension did pick up so overall this was an enjoyable read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
3.5 stars

I enjoyed this book, the first I have read by this author. Perhaps I read too much of this genre but was able to pick the twists as they came and had an idea of the final reveal.
Told from 3 narrators points of view it centres around a local school girl , from a posh school, found dead in the woods. Local legend has it that the woods are haunted by a ghost called Sally in the Woods. And indeed on the night in question an Uber/taxi driver nearly hit a white shape as it ran across in front of him.
I liked the narrators, Rachel, Ben and Ellie. Rachel is a counsellor at the school the deceased girl was from, Ben is her ex and he is in charge of the investigation into the murder, Ellie is their daughter and has secrets about that night she isn’t willing to share. There is an array of side characters that were well written and added to the twists in the story.
Apart from the murder aspect of the novel it also shines a light on bullying and catfishing and the hidden dangers of this digital age.

#OneDarkNight. #NetGalley

What a thriller. Rachel, recently separated from her husband Ben, is a counsellor at a private school which her daughter attends. The death of one of the girls from the school at a nearby folly causes consternation among staff and pupils alike. It was murder. Fast paced and exciting. A brilliantly written book. Read it!!

This was a brilliant book! Keeping you hooked in from the very beginning, lots of guessing as to what is going on only to be hit by multiple curveballs along the way!

A fabulously written gripping story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

An absolute cracker of a story, kept me up way past my bedtime. It took a little while to get the characters sorted in the first few pages - there's a lot introduced quickly. This is a Kindle thing, rather than the writing; unlike with a physical book, it's difficult to do a quick flick back to remind yourself. The characters are all so well drawn, and the relationships are very relatable.

#NoSpoilers, the plot and twists are real gotchas. This is my first read of this author, loved it and will be looking out for more.

Highly recommend

Not for me trudged through, felt long drawn out with unnecessary conversation and repetitive descriptions. Didn't like it even though read 50%

"One Dark Night" is an exciting psychological murder mystery thriller that drew me in right from the start! The story follows a group of teenagers from a local private school as they throw a secret Halloween party in a spooky wood that's said to be haunted. Everything takes a dark turn when a student is found murdered the morning after their celebration, which certainly gets the adrenaline pumping!

I really enjoyed this book; it’s filled with unexpected twists that kept me guessing. Just when I thought I had figured out who the killer was, I was completely off track! The way the story is told from different characters' points of view added so much depth and kept the tension high, making it hard to put down. The spooky descriptions of the woods added to the creepy vibe, making it all the more atmospheric.

The characters are fantastic! They felt so real and relatable, and the tension between them made the story even more engaging. I found myself really caring about what happened to each of them.

This was the first book I've read by this author, and now I can’t wait to check out more of their work!

Overall, "One Dark Night" is a wonderfully atmospheric murder mystery that's perfect for getting into the Halloween spirit. I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller!

A big thank you to Simon and Schuster UK for sharing a digital review copy with me! All the thoughts I’ve shared here in this review are truly my own, and I am sharing them voluntarily.

Lots of twists and turns in this, just when you think you've worked out whodunit it twists again. Love it when you get a surprise ending without even thinking of that as a possibility!
Ellie becomes drawn in to a murder investigation in the local area, but surely she's just like any other moody teenager?! Ben (her dad) is on the investigation team but soon gets sidelined when it becomes clear that Ellie is a suspect. Having lied about where she was on the night in question to both her mum and dad they start to have doubts about her innocence.
Loved the twists in the plot of this novel and will definitely be recommending. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this.

I downloaded this book thinking it looked like a gripping read - and I wasn’t wrong. But I was very pleasantly surprised to find it set in a place I know very well - Sally in the Woods near Bath. This added an extra level of enjoyment for me, and I can confirm the descriptions of the road and the references to local legend are all very realistic!

I was further drawn in by the school setting - again, very realistic, with staff members and students I could picture and imagine clearly.

This is a really well crafted crime novel with few holes. I thought the ending was particularly effective. A twist that makes perfect sense but you don’t see coming is very rare in my experience!

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

Rachel, Ben and Ellie were once a tight knit family, but then a family tragedy proved too much for Rachel and Ben’s marriage to bear, and Ellie seems to have turned into a distant, moody teenager who neither of them can quite connect with. But, when a body is found in the woods all three are drawn in - can they trust each other enough to share the secrets which might allow the truth to be uncovered.

An enjoyable story. The plotting relies more on the strength of Rachel, Ben and Ellie’s characters than the core mystery, but they are all well developed enough to carry it forward. The focus on character before plot does make some story moments seem to fade out without resolution or come out of the blue, but there’s still enough to make for a compelling whodunnit. The twists, though signalled, are satisfy too. I’d definitely recommend for a holiday read if your tastes run to thrillers that aren’t too challenging.

I was sucked right into this book. I loved the different points of view and the twists were amazing. I thought I’d figured it all out but I was definitely wrong. Didn’t want this book to end!

The most striking thing about Hannah Richell's thriller One Dark Night, from my point of view, is that it's set in a very specific, small area close to where I grew up on the B&NES/Wiltshire border. The patch of woodland known locally as Sally-in-the-woods is real, as are Brown's Folly and the labyrinthine tunnels of Box Quarry, although the village and private school in this novel are fictional (despite the school having some similarities to Prior Park). Richell makes good use of these locations, though I did wish she had stuck a bit more closely to the real geography; in particular, I didn't see why the fictional village was necessary. Apart from this, One Dark Night unfolds in pretty standard form; a teenage girl is found dead up at the folly with strange writing on her legs and arms, and the police investigate. There's a nice twist near the end that saves the novel from being completely predictable, although on the other hand, there's also some incredibly awkward dialogue in the final few pages, where Richell seems to feel she has to spell out every aspect of the motivation of certain characters in case readers find their behaviour implausible. This 'Cinema Sins' style of writing, where authors try to plug every supposed 'plot-hole', is spreading, and it's so damaging for fiction. Nevertheless, a solid, readable thriller. 3.5 stars.

A really well written and perfectly paced thriller. Why do foresty teen murder dramas never grow old?!

I really enjoyed this. A tangle of teenagers. Sally in the Wood is a local spooky legend and at Halloween a group of teenagers are in the woods with a Ouija board. When one is later found dead, the connection to Sally is scary and tragic. Sarah's body is found below a menacing folly and she is arranged in a particular way invoking the spirit of Sally. But what unfolds is nothing supernatural, pointers to the nearby private schools art teacher, Edward, the counsellor Rachel's own daughter as her ex husband Ben races to find a killer. At the centre of this is Olivia, Sarah's cousin and her whole family. The story twists and turns, builds and hold suspense, until the end is a surprise and shock.
Very good story, clear characters, twists and hints of otherworldly touches. the only part I am not comfortable with is it being in present tense. Just doesn't work for me. Stories to me are told, are retrospective and anything else just feels jolting and uncomfortable. I still enjoyed it, just not as much as I could have.

One Dark Night by Hannah Richell is a gripping and atmospheric book that begins with a Halloween party and ends with a murder. When the body of a young woman is found in the woods, posed in a chilling and deliberate way, fear spreads rapidly through the community.

Ellie, a teenager with secrets of her own, finds herself at the heart of the mystery. Her mother Rachel, who is both the school counsellor and a protective parent, is forced to confront the growing suspicion surrounding her daughter. Meanwhile, detective Ben Chase must unpick a web of lies and tensions, all while trying to support his struggling family.

This is a tense and layered book with a strong emotional core. The pacing builds steadily, with twists that keep the reader guessing until the very end. A compelling and cleverly plotted read.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Hannah Richell delivers an atmospheric and emotionally charged mystery in One Dark Night, a novel that skillfully blends coming-of-age tension, family drama, and a haunting sense of foreboding. This was my first time reading Hannah Richell.
Set in a small British town still haunted—both literally and figuratively—by its past, the story begins with a chilling Halloween night gathering in the woods near "Sally in the Wood," a road shrouded in local legend. What starts as teenage mischief quickly spirals into tragedy when a student ends up dead. The incident sends shockwaves through the community, unearthing buried tensions, fears, and secrets that no one is prepared to face.
At the heart of the novel is Rachel, the school’s guidance counselor, who’s juggling her professional responsibilities with a growing unease about her teenage daughter, Ellie. The dynamic between Rachel, her ex-husband Ben (the detective investigating the case), and their daughter is one of the most compelling aspects of the novel. Richell excels at capturing the friction and vulnerability within fractured families. The emotional weight of parenting a teenager—especially one hiding something—felt achingly real.
This isn’t a high-octane thriller with nonstop twists; rather, it's a slow-burning, character-driven mystery that takes its time revealing the truth. I appreciated the atmospheric writing and the way Richell weaves in themes of grief, guilt, and fractured trust. The ghost story element, while subtle, adds a chilling backdrop that enhances the story’s mood without ever feeling overdone.
The novel kept me guessing, not just about who was responsible for the death, but also about how far the ripples of one dark night could extend into the lives of everyone involved. Ellie’s secrets, in particular, had me constantly reassessing what I thought I knew.
One Dark Night is a moody, introspective mystery perfect for readers who enjoy suspense grounded in emotional realism. It’s less about jump scares and more about the scars left by secrets, both old and new.

Loved this crime novel. This is a new author to me and I highly recommend anything by her going forward. Loved all the characters and POVs

Here we have a sleuthing mystery where a student at a fancy private school dies after partying Halloween away in the woods which, according to local legend, are haunted, or cursed, or some such urban legend. A nice creepy story there. Straight away there's a fun hand drawn map showing the area. Maps are always a good sign. I got comfy to enjoy this dark, detailed mystery that would draw me in and have me hooked as I devoured each page like the horrors lurking in those dark woods.

And it was pleasant. It felt like the book version of those mid-week crime dramas the TV hypes up for ages, the kind with that actor who was in that thing and is starring in this to remind you they are still around and/or they do serious drama too. And you watch them and enjoy them, but the next night you secretly appreciate the "Previously on..." intro as you realise you forgot half of what happened while debating what to eat for lunch earlier in the day. And you watch every night because it's good enough to engage you for an hour. But you likely won't remember much about it next month.

That was reading this book. If I concentrated too much I got a bit irked by the weird and too often vague details. The map I loved at the start seemed to raise more questions than it answered. An old man can apparently limp a journey faster than cars can race frantically between the same spots for example. Too much of the story just lacked emotion. There were some glimmers around the middle but most of it felt hollow and routine - like it was written as an assignment rather than with passion. I know that sounds harsh, but I felt this whole thing promised so much more than I can't help feel a little disappointed by something that was just "good enough".

Despite being set at Halloween this feels like a summer holiday read. It's good enough to pass a flight or to find a shady spot and relax a bit. It's just not a dense, spooky mystery. Enjoy it for what it is.

This is a new author for me and what a story! Definitely one you keep forging through as the plot takes you on a variety of journeys through suspects and suspicious behaviours. The final few chapters are totally thrilling with a very satisfying conclusion which wraps up nicely and makes perfect sense. A bit of romance thrown in for good measure always helps soften the plot during a thriller too. Thoroughly recommend

Thank you to Netgalley the author and publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review