The Cruel Dark cover art

The Cruel Dark

Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Cruel Dark

By: Bea Northwick
Narrated by: Madison Mitts, Theodore Zephyr
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £13.26

Buy Now for £13.26

Millicent Foxboro is haunted.

Not by ghosts, but by the anguish of her past and the uncertainty of her future. After all, even in the progressive year of 1928, most people would balk at hiring a woman who’d spent two months in a mental ward for traumatic amnesia. So when an uncommon assistantship to a reclusive Professor of mythology falls into her lap with an ungodly salary attached, her desperation for stability overrides her cautious nature.

To Millie’s dismay, the widowed Professor Callum Hughes and his estate, Willowfield, are more than she bargained for. The once magnificent home, known for its sprawling gardens and dazzling parties, is falling to pieces after the death of the professor’s fragile wife. What’s more, the staff has been reduced to the only three people not frightened away by rumors of ghosts, leaving the halls empty and languishing in bitter memories.

The professor himself is a grim, intense man with unclear expectations, unpredictable moods, and hungry eyes that ignite Millie’s own dormant passions. The closer she finds herself drawn to Professor Hughes and his strange world of flowers and folklore, the more the house closes in, threatening to reveal her secrets. But the professor is keeping secrets of his own and the most dangerous of all is hers to discover.

©2023 Bea Northwick (P)2024 Bea Northwick
Gothic Historical Historical Fiction Horror Romantic Suspense Haunted
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
A proper gothic novel with lots of branching leads that allude to a variety of outcomes in the readers mind. But I never predicted the ending even though it made so many things make sense! The horror elements were actually scary and not just supernatural. The nods to celtic mythology were lovely too.

Ending made me re-read the book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was such an easy book to get into, and I found myself settling into the story really quickly. Although it’s set in 1928, it still had enough of that gothic feel and atmosphere that I love, without the historical setting making it feel heavy or difficult to read.

I really liked the characters and found them believable, particularly Millie and Callum. Their romance felt natural rather than forced, and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop alongside everything else that was happening.

The pacing worked really well for me at the beginning and picked up again towards the end, although I did find the middle section a little slower in places. It wasn’t enough to stop me enjoying the story, but I did feel it lost some of its momentum there.

There’s also a twist towards the end that I genuinely wasn’t expecting, which is always a bonus because I do love being surprised!

For a debut novel, I thought this was really well done. It was atmospheric, easy to read and had a lovely mixture of gothic mystery and romance. I’d definitely be interested in reading more from Bea Northwick and seeing what she writes next.

A gothic romance filled with suspence and spice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

it was good, such a great ending. but the narration made it an incredibly hard listen.

great ending

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Gave up at chapter two because l was completely distracted by the irritating narration. Staccato and often so slurred as to be incomprehensible, l found it impossible to hear the story, so aside from searching elsewhere for a synopsis, l really couldn't tell you what it was about.
Really annoyed to have wasted a credit.

Who knows?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.