Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Key in the Lock

  • A haunting historical mystery steeped in explosive secrets and lost love
  • By: Beth Underdown
  • Narrated by: Laura Kirman
  • Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (24 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Key in the Lock

By: Beth Underdown
Narrated by: Laura Kirman
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The gripping new novel from the award-winning author of The Witchfinder’s Sister.

I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unravelling from an upper window, and the terrace bathed in a hectic orange light.... Now I see that the decision I made at Polneath was the only decision of my life. Everything marred in that one dark minute.

By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy - one whose death decades ago haunts her still.

For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free.

But once you open a door to the past, can you ever truly close it again?

From the award-winning author of The Witchfinder's Sister comes a captivating story of burning secrets and buried shame, and of the loyalty and love that rises from the ashes.

©2022 Beth Underdown (P)2022 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
activate_samplebutton_t1

Listeners also enjoyed...

Charlotte cover art
A Deception Most Deadly cover art
The Murder of Harriet Monckton cover art
Edith cover art
The Embroidered Book cover art
The Toll House cover art
The Room in the Attic cover art
One Moonlit Night cover art
A Time to Change cover art
A Haunting at Holkham cover art
Cunning Women cover art

Critic reviews

"A gifted storyteller." (Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent)

"The Key in the Lock is an absolute triumph! Dark, clever and utterly enthralling, this is historical fiction - and storytelling - at its absolute best." (Elizabeth Macneal, author of Circus of Wonders)

"The Key in the Lock is the perfect gothic novel. It has secrets, guilt, brilliant characters, and a grand old house built on a terrible past. An absolute corker." (Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle)

What listeners say about The Key in the Lock

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting

I found this story interesting. It was well conceived. But it wasn’t as gripping as her previous book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A good yarn

Well worth a listen. Read well and clearly by the reader who was credible. A good book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent story

I really enjoyed this story and it was extremely well read. I am only sad that I have come to the end.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling.

I initially struggled to engage with this book but I'm so glad I persisted as in the end, I couldn't put it down. A great story, atmospheric & descriptive, both helped along by excellent narration. I shall miss listening to it. Recommended.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Dull and very putdownable

I enjoyed The Witchfinder's Sister so thought I'd give this a go, but it was so dull, I couldn't get past the first half a dozen chapters, and that took forever as I had to skip back a few minutes each time as I'd forgotten what had happened: it was so dull I had drifted off. I tried, I really did!
The narrator's flat delivery does nothing to incite any interest in what amounts to a list of events and dull conversations.
Thank you to Audible for the 'return title' option.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!