One Dark Night is a very well structured and atmospheric thriller. A great read for anyone looking for a murder mystery with lots of twists and turns.

One Dark Night is detective drama with a twist. What would you do if your own daughter was a suspect in your murder investigation? That's what is facing Ben Chase, when private school student Sarah Lawson turns up dead. He's also got to contend with the fact this his ex-wife Rachel is the school counsellor.

One Dark Night is an enjoyable read, with some excellent twists at the end, and a great journey to get there.

One Dark Night is a layered, atmospheric thriller that begins with a girl’s death in the woods and unravels into something much deeper. What looks like a tragic accident is anything but - the victim has been posed, her face hidden behind a mask, and the scene bears an eerie resemblance to a ghost story rooted in the town’s past.

Detective Ben Chase is brought in to assist, but his connection to the case runs deeper than expected. The victim attended his daughter’s school. His ex-wife works there. And the woods - known locally for the legend of a ghost named Sally - have a long history of secrets and tragedy.

Richell takes her time setting the scene, with a story that slowly pulls you into its tangled core. The multiple POVs and shifting timelines add complexity, though at times the narrative feels a touch overextended. Still, the central mystery is gripping, the emotional stakes are well drawn, and I was constantly second-guessing myself as new information emerged.

The writing has a fluid, immersive quality, and the setting - foggy roads, haunted woods, an elite school full of simmering tensions - creates just the right amount of unease. While the ghost element remains more of a backdrop than a true thread, it adds to the novel’s mood in subtle, unsettling ways.

This one surprised me. A thoughtful, cleverly constructed mystery with enough red herrings to keep you guessing, and enough heart to make you care.

A tense thriller set around a private school in the countryside. I loved that it was focused on teenagers after the body of a young woman is found in the woods.

There was ritualistic elements to the killing and some of the main characters were hiding secrets. It was tense, there was strands of the police investigation which seemed to bring the case to a close and then twists and turns, all with a ghostly element in the background.

There is great family dynamics in this book, parents balancing work demands against emotional issues and trying to support the pupils of the school. It was a fast paced book which was full of mystery, fear and thrills.
Would recommend and I will read more of her books.

This is such an easy 5 star for me. I was looking for a twisty, dark, thriller and this is exactly what I got.

More twists than a bit of fusilli pasta!

The characters are so incredibly well thought out, the plot exceptional, and just overall a really really excellent read.

I must pick up more by this author!

My thanks to Netgalley and Rachel Quinn Marketing for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect read when you want a thriller that you can't dive into and not stop till the end. It has a the right ingredients - Halloween, party of kids from a posh private school, separated couple who are a policeman and school counsellor ( and have a teenage daughter who was at the party), local ghost stories.
Hannah Richell expertly brings these together to weave a page turning story with plenty of twists and red herrings. I absolutely thought I knew what was going on till the last chapter, how wrong I was!
Clever book, well written with some strong characters. Thoroughly entertaining.

This book seemed to have it all - teenagers in the woods at Halloween. Yes, drink and drugs were available.

Good story with many twists, well written with plenty of emphasis on the 'creepy'.

I found Ben and Rachel a bit boring, and some stereotypes crept in - the headteacher at the local private school for one.

However, an above average murder mystery.

Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster UK for the chance to read and review.

On Halloween, a group of teenage students meet in the woods near Sally in the Wood, a road steeped in local lore and rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a murder girl. By the end of the night, one student will be dead. Rachel, the school guidance councillor, is trying to keep a handle on her increasingly distant teenage daughter, Ellie, while students and parents panic and mourn. Her ex-husband and detective Ben, dealing with a personal crisis of his own, has concerns about his daughter safety as he investigates the death of one of the classmates. Meanwhile, Ellie is keeping secrets from both her parents, including one about where she was that night.

This is a tense, dark read that held my attention throughout. It's told from multiple points of view and I was quickly pulled into this story. It has also been descriptively written, filled with twists, and suspense. There were plenty of suspects to choose from.

Published 3rd July 2025

I would like to thank #NetGalley #SimonSchuster and the author #HannahRichell for my ARC of #OneDarkNight in exchange for an honest review.

Going into this I didnt really know what to expect.
But I was captivated throught. Wanting to figure out what happened and why.
This was dark and mysterious. With some suspense at times.
I found myself unable to put it down.

After a Halloween party in the woods takes a tragic turn, the body of a teenage girl is discovered the next morning—laid out in a disturbingly ritualistic manner. Detective Ben Chase is tasked with uncovering the truth, but things become even more complicated when he and his estranged wife Rachel realise their daughter Ellie was at the same party. As tensions rise and time runs out, they must piece together what really happened that night to protect their daughter and uncover the killer.

This was my first book by Hannah Richell, and what an introduction! The story is completely absorbing, with well-developed, believable characters, each carrying secrets and personal struggles that unfold gradually. The narrative is smartly layered, offering subtle clues throughout that only reveal their significance when everything clicks into place at the end. With its emotionally charged plot and suspenseful pacing, this novel had me hooked from the very first page. A brilliant, twisty read that kept me guessing until the final reveal.

It's Halloween and a group of teenagers from a local private school meet up in the woods, rumoured to be haunted by a ghost. After a night of drinking, and creepy games, one of them will be found dead. The next morning at the base of a tower. Detective Ben Chase will be called in to investigate how she died.

Ben is the ex-husband of Rachel, the school counsellor and their daughter Ellie, a pupil at the school, knows more than she is telling about what happened in the woods, keeping quiet to protect her own secrets. Ben is soon torn between protecting his daughter and finding the dead girl’s killer, even though he is ordered to distance himself from the investigation once It’s discovered Ellie was at the party in the woods that night. With a great cast of characters the and full of twists and false turns, I totally failed to pick the killer in this suspenseful and atmospheric murder mystery.

A fascinating and twisty story that will keep you gripped. Teenagers partying in the local wood harmless and fun until one of them does not return home.
Her body found the following morning. Suspects are few but pan out.
A story that will keep you guessing and still not come up with the correct outcome.
Enjoy I did and I am hoping there will be more stories to come.

A somewhat lengthy , drawn out read but filled with ‘spookiness’ as befits a book set at Halloween. The story it told from many points of view and these can add or detract from the story depending on the individual reader

A great read I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Likeable characters and the story had lots of twists and turns along the way to keep you hooked. Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC.

A cast of characters all fighting their own devils and fears. The husband, successful policeman though failing as a husband and father ricocheting into an unsuitable relationship. The wife, successful school counsellor struggling to deal with a wayward daughter and failed marriage. The teenage daughter fighting inadequacies of separated parents and an outsider at a private boarding school . One night of tragedy dragging the family into a maelstrom of deceptions that result in a tangled web of confusion and danger leading to a conclusion that defies expectations.

Rating: 4.0/5

This is my first experience of Hannah Richell's work, but it is unlikely to be my last. It is a well-executed mix of a police procedural and domestic drama. A teenaged girl's dead body is found in the woods after a Hallowe'en party attended by students from the local high profile, fee paying school. Her corpse is also covered in strange markings. Who is responsible for her death? And does the local "Sally in the Wood" legend have anything to do with the events that have transpired?

The writing is very filmic throughout, with the author evoking a suitably dark atmosphere and painting a convincing backdrop against which the events can play out. It is very easy to imagine this being developed for television. The interweaving of the drama of the murder investigation and that of the personal lives of the key protagonists is skilfully handled and the fraught nature of each of the strands of the story make for compelling reading as a consequence.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately I found this book a bit underwhelming. It’s very slow at times, and it all seems a bit stereotypical. To be honest, I lost interest very quickly in the spoiled teenagers from the nearby private school, it all read a bit YA fiction.
This was a wrong choice for me, and a DNF after 40%.
I’m sure it will be more enjoyed by readers who know the area well, and can relate to it. Sadly I couldn’t.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

The second book I have read by author Hannah Richell. An absorbing tale with many twists and turns to follow. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Atmospheric and creepy, this well written story delivers a terrifying ordeal that happens to a group of teenagers at Halloween. Attending a party deep in dark woods, near a disused folly, the youngsters drink and use drugs, wear bizarre costumes and argue about their love lives. The following morning one of them is found dead at the foot of the folly, positioned in an unnatural way, with writing on their skin and a bird mask over their face. This doesn’t seem like a teenage prank gone wrong but something far more sinister. Ellie, a student was at the party unbeknown to her estranged parents. Her mother is a student counsellor at the private school most of the teenagers attend and her father a detective so knew they would disapprove of her attendance. The fear that a dangerous killer is amongst them sends everyone at the school into panic and dread. The story twists and escalates as the net closes on the perpetrator but will there be further victims before they are brought to justice? A great story that flowed well with an ending that I didn’t see coming.

The body of a young woman is discovered in the woods the morning after Halloween, and it looks as if it was a ritualistic killing. The same woods that a group of teens from the nearby private school had a party Halloween night. The police have the body, but no suspects, and none of the teens claim to know anything. Rachel, the school's new guidance counselor is ready to assist. She is worried about her daughter Ellie, who seems to be keeping secrets, and she is worried Ellie isn't fitting in well at her new school. Police detective Ben Chase is determined to find the killer, but he keeps getting distracted by his daughter Ellie, and his newly pregnant girlfriend that he recently moved in with. Will he be able to catch the killer before they strike again?

This murder mystery kept me guessing until the very end. It was full of twists and turns, and I loved that there were lots of relationship dynamics in play as well that kept everything interesting. I also enjoyed the ghost story of a girl named Sally who was supposed to haunt the woods in a white dress, and the way they incorporated that into everything. This is perfect for fans of Shari Lapena and Ruth Ware.