Review
Praise for Silent Playgrounds:
‘Suspense scrupulously assembled; excitements dovetail with themes of genuine concern; characterization … generously and sympathetically drawn. Outskirts of Sheffield setting; welcome freshness of locale and theme. Reah’s second novel is seriously good’ Literary Review
‘With its strong atmosphere, well-contrived narrative and topical concerns, Silent Playgrounds is a superior thriller’ Patricia Craig, TLS
‘This is a complex psychological thriller. Reah is skilled at splicing domestic life with the menace of fears and at creating characters who are vulnerable, intelligent and humane’ Manchester Evening News
Praise for Only Darkness:
‘Menacing, highly atmospheric thriller … Scary stuff given an extra boost by dark and persuasive psychology in a chilly provincial setting where horrible things happen which freeze your blood’ Literary Review
Product Description
Disturbing, atmospheric suspense novel from the author of Silent Playgrounds and Only Darkness: ‘Dark, edgy and compelling’ TheTimes
The canal that runs through the centre of Sheffield used to carry the industrial freight for the steel industry. It is being renovated for leisure pursuits, but away from the city centre developments, the canal is overgrown, run down and deserted.
An arts trust has established a small but innovative gallery in one of the old warehouses by the canal, and Eliza Eliot, the curator, sees her career about to take off when she’s given the opportunity to show the latest exhibition by well-known artist Daniel Flynn. The exhibition is a series of reworkings of Brueghel’s painting, The Triumph of Death, and Eliza begins to realize that Flynn may have more complex motives for allowing his work to be shown at a small gallery in a provincial city.
But she is distracted, first by the repercussions of the murder, four years before, of a friend’s daughter, followed by the friend’s death in a car accident just before the book opens. Then a young woman who lives in one of the flats above the gallery is found dead in the canal, while a teenage girl also goes missing in an apparently unrelated case. Events take a sinister turn at the gallery as the nightmare images from Daniel Flynn’s exhibition start to spill out into the real world. Is this the work of a psychopath, or is there some link between present violence and the tragedy of four years ago?
From the Back Cover
Beyond the new city centre developments, the old Sheffield canal is overgrown, run-down and deserted. Signs of regeneration creep along its towpaths, including a small, innovative gallery housed in one of the warehouses. But between the renovations it's a dark and lonely place – the perfect site for an exhibition reworking Breughel's 'The Triumph of Death'
For Eliza Eliot, the curator, the chance to show well-know artist Daniel Flynn's work at the gallery is coup. But when a young women's body is found in the canal, Flynn's nightmare images begin to spill out into the real world. Still affected by the murder of her friend's daughter four years earlier, Eliza is drawn deep into the violence that seems to surround the gallery. Is this the work of a psychopath or is there a link between present horrors and the tragedy of four years ago?
"Reah delivers brilliant and chilly set pieces…she is a fine writer and her projection of sheer terror is enviably scary."
PHILIP OAKES, 'Literary Review'
"Reah is skilled at splicing domestic life with the menace of fear and at creating characters who are vulnerable, intelligent and humane."
MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS,
"Dark, edgy and compelling
"THE TIMES
"Rotherham may not resonate with the neon-lit noir that gives LA or even London their sense of mythic suspense yet Danuta Reah's debut 'Only Darkness', manages to pull off this most unlikely of feats."
SUNDAY EXPRESS
"She brings the smell of death quivering alive
OXFORD TIMES
About the Author
Danuta Reah is an educational consultant who has also taught creative writing. She lives in Sheffield. Her previous suspense novels are Only Darkness, Silent Playgrounds and Night Angels.
