A solid donestic thriller about teenagers gone awry and private schools. This is well written and will be well enjoyed!

A creepy whodunnit set in a small picturesque village. It kept me wanting to read “one more chapter” although I didn’t get on with all of the characters, some irritated me a lot, but this didn’t take away from the storyline and I kept on reading guessing to the end.

Ellie is in trouble Rachel is her Mum and Ben her Dad o and a detective investigating the murder of a school girl. Ellie was there but Mum and Dad think she with the other.

A fantastic murder mystery thriller when twists turns who is the dead girl, Ellie is a live wire campaigner or is it was? There are some other interesting characters Edward, Olivia, her Dad Chris the buisness mogul or ##### a better word to describe him. I liked Maxwell as well another detective. The action is swift gripping and I genuinely loved every page.

I highly recommend this book and can say I'm confident you're going to love it as well.

really wanted to like this book but really struggled.

I requested it through netgalley because I actually live locally and know the story of sally in the wood. I used to drive that stretch of road fairly frequently too.
The premise sounded perfect and really creepy!
Even the start of the book felt quite twin peeks so I was quite excited to read.

The book itself was quite slow paced and I felt some bits just seemed to go on and weren't necessary.
Sadly, the story seemed to go into a rather ordinary police detective drama despite its early promise.
The teenagers annoyed me and Rachel was just a calamity!

By the end, I didn't really care what had happened. Despite the many twists and turns in the final 20%, it felt too little too late!! I think I just wanted something special because it's local and this book wasn't it!
Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity but this was not a book for me.

Hannah Richell returns with a masterclass in psychological suspense in One Dark Night, a novel that grips from the very first page and refuses to let go. With a cleverly woven plot, spine-tingling atmosphere, and razor-sharp social insight, this is a standout thriller of the year.

In the small English town of Thorncombe, the legend of “Sally in the Wood” looms large—a ghostly figure in a white dress said to haunt the local woods, luring victims to their doom. On Halloween night, a group of students from the exclusive Folly View College venture into these woods for a party. By morning, one of them is found dead at the base of an old stone folly, her body eerily arranged to mirror the local legend. Detective Ben Chase, whose daughter attends the school, is assigned to the case, but as the investigation unfolds, it becomes entangled with his own family’s secrets and the school’s hidden dynamics.

Richell masterfully balances the rarefied privilege of the school’s inner circle with the raw, real-world issues affecting the nearby town, crafting a dual-layered narrative that’s both socially relatable and intensely suspenseful. The story is rich with twists and red herrings, and I was kept guessing until the final reveal—which landed with the perfect mix of surprise and satisfaction.

One Dark Night was creepy, atmospheric, and utterly immersive.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I can’t recommend One Dark Night enough. If you’re looking for a smart, layered thriller that keeps you up reading late into the night, this is it. Hannah Richell has delivered an absolute gem.

The discovery of a young woman's body. A group of teenagers up to no good. Family drama and dark secrets. All tied up with a surprise ending.

An atmospheric crime thriller, this story is set around Halloween, and is a great read. Inhabited by believable characters, it is littered with entertaining surprises, and well worth a read. It gets 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of One Dark Night by Hannah Richell. As a fan of crime dramas, this novel truly delivered. The pacing was spot-on, the characters were compelling, and the plot was filled with unexpected twists that kept me turning the pages. The ending caught me completely off guard—in the best way. I highly recommend this gripping read.

Thanks to #netgalley for allowing me to read this.

I enjoyed the authors writing style and it kept me engaged throughout.

When a young females body is found up at the folly, Ben Chase is the detective sent to find out who she is and who murdered her…. And why.

Full of red herrings so you change your mind as to whodunnit but it’s well worth a read. There’s a lot of “family life and family strife” in this story so it’s not all about the death of a young woman. It’s does show that you reap what you sow so should be careful of your actions!

A well written bump in the dark novel, written around a lovely spooky setting with added oomph from a bunch of highly hormoned students out for a scary giggle at Halloween. Of course it all goes deliciously wrong with following days filled with tension as people suspect one another of keeping secrets and telling lies. The author is a Queen of Red Herrings and must have been chortling madly to herself while writing. Well done ✔ gold star 🌟

Thorncombe, on the border of Somerset and Wiltshire is a small town, its nearby woods said to be haunted by Sally a girl who was murdered there on her wedding day. Occasional sightings of a white clothed figure running through the trees near the old folly fuel the local folklore and its become the place to hang out for local teenagers.

This well written thriller opens the morning after a Halloween party with a dead body, a police investigation and the area cordoned off.

The characters are well written, the multi-narrative works well and it moves along at a good pace with plenty of intrigue, drama and atmosphere in bucketloads.

Easy to get into and hard to put down this is the perfect novel to take on holiday with you.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster UK and NetGalley for the early read, all opinions expressed are my own.

This was a great multi perspective thriller featuring a mother, father and daughter who are caught up in a local murder. The setting for this was eerie and the family dynamics was really good as it impacted how the parents dealt with their concerns about their daughter. There was a good balance of characters including some that you couldn’t tell if they might play apart or if they’re just red herrings however it’s all quite a tangled web. I loved the ending and was nicely surprised with the direction it went and it had a great balance of domestic drama and thriller.

Just when i thought i knew where the book was going massive a massive twist blows me away wow. One dark night is jam packed full of secrets, twists and turns, mystery and murder.

Everybody in the small English town of Thorncombe know of Sally, she is a young girl who haunts the woods by the folly, you may see her wearing a long white dress. Students of the private school host a halloween party, playing truth or dare and drinking in the woods having a fun time with no adult supervision but what should be a fun night turns into something nobody could of expected. A body of a young girl is found dead wearing a costume of Sally in the woods with words written on her skin with dirt and posed with a mask. What happened that night at the party and who killed her as this is no accident.

The town is spooked by the death of one of their students, an investigation starts and students alike are questioned on what happened prior to this event. There is secrets, mystery and suspense. The characters were portrayed well and i kept thinking i knew who the murderer was when each time a massive twist got in the way. I definitely was not expecting the ending and who the real perpetrator was. Characters you will like and some you will dislike especially the actions they go about will have you feeling suspicious.

Would highly recommend, a must for those who enjoy a good mystery and suspense read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Simon and Schuster UK for the copy of this arc in exchange of my full honest review.

This is a really good thriller and I could easily see it being a movie. It had all the usual tropes but it still packed a punch and was an enjoyable read. Full of secrets and lies, I really enjoyed it.

Halloween and a group of private school pupils meet in the woods, woods where there allegedly is a ghost, There's drink, drugs, bad boys and sex plus is someone spying on them? The next morning a body is found and the community is thrown into disarray,

I enjoyed this thriller. It had enough twists and turns to hold attention throughout and the characters were believable if not always likeable. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

What can I say except for this is a must read for anyone that loves a good murder story that will keep
You on your toes from start to finish.
Excellent characters and good police procedural writing with a storyline that hooked me from the start. Having been granted access as an arc to read and review this book from a previously unknown author I was pleasantly surprised and now have someone new to recommend on reviews for people to go and visit their books.
I will definitely be reading more by Hannah Richell and i would recommend highly.

4/5 stars! This book felt like it should have a made-for-tv episodic based after it. It had a thrilling energy and just the right amount of twists. This is a small town horror story with a haunted woods storyline. This is definitely a spooky and creepy read. I really liked it. Did wish some of the characters had a bit more depth.

One Dark Night by @hannahrichell is an atmospheric, eerie thriller set in a quiet English town, where a Halloween party in the woods ends in tragedy. As the investigation unfolds, we follow detective Ben, his ex-wife Rachel, and their teenage daughter Ellie, each navigating the emotional fallout and unsettling secrets that come to light. I loved the folk tale of Sally in the Woods and the creepy depth it added to the story.’

I was really drawn to the premise, and the novel offers a satisfying web of possible suspects—everyone seems to have something to hide, which keeps the tension high throughout. Richell also captures the challenges of being a teenager under pressure, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the mistakes that can spiral out of control.

There are some well-executed twists and turns, although I did predict the ending before it was revealed. Even so, the journey was gripping, and I remained invested in the characters and their choices until the final page.

Overall, One Dark Night is a well-written, layered thriller that balances suspense with emotional depth. A great choice for readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries with a dark edge.

4.5 stars

Thank you to @netgalley @simonschusteruk @hannahrichell for the ARC.

I found this an enjoyable read. The story focuses on the staff and senior pupils at a school as a Halloween night goes wrong. The investigation moves between police work and relationships as the victims and perpetrators are revealed.
As is frequently the case in today’s novels, technology takes centre stage at times in the final chapters.
I enjoyed the read but i was not hugely engaged with any of the characters, just read to discover the truth at the end of the book.
Recommended

This is a very enjoyable murder mystery. It is not particularly original in its characters and plot but it is well-written and definitely worth a read.

Wow! Just WOW. This is my first book by this author and let me tell you it won’t be my last! I was completely blown away it was sheer brilliance. I didn’t want to put the book down but life kept getting in the way it was pure awesomeness!

I was hooked from the start and couldn’t stop turning pages long into the night. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me holding on… truly wonderful. Once you pick this book up, you won’t want to put it down!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars!