Darkrooms
Darkrooms by Rebecca Hannigan is an atmospheric mystery that would be perfect for fans of Tana French or shows like Broadchurch - which means it was perfect for me.
Darkrooms follows two women through two timelines - connected by one girl, sister to one, best friend to the other. Roisin O'Halloran went missing in the Hanging Woods twenty years ago when she and her friend Caitlin Doherty were nine years old.
Now, Caitlin and Roisin’s older sister Deirdre “Deedee” O’Halloran are still haunted by Roisin in very different ways.
Caitlin sees Roisin everywhere she looks even though she left her hometown years ago, and she deals with it by actively destroying everything around her; quitting jobs, picking pockets, burning bridges.
Deedee, on the other hand, has joined the local Garda - the Irish police - to leverage resources for her ongoing search for answers about her sister’s disappearance.
When Caitlin’s estranged mother Kathleen - who had lived in the gatehouse of the Branagh estate since Caitlin was a child - suddenly dies, Caitlin returns home for her funeral, and it’s like she never left. She still longs for the approval and acceptance of the Branaghs - the family whose gatehouse she and her mother had lived in when Caitlin was a child and who had offered her a place to stay now.
She as well as the O’Halloran girls had been close in age to and close with Sean Branagh (whom Deedee is now dating) and his parents Colm and Maureen.
When Deedee immediately asks Caitlin about “the day”, the die is cast, and as we go back and forth through time between 1999 and 2019, memories - and more - surface, secrets are uncovered, and darkness is exposed in that way that is unique to small insular towns who value protecting their own over protecting others - even children.
Darkrooms is a slow burn, and Rebecca Hannigan masterfully lays out the story and clues so we can draw our own conclusions. She trusts us as readers, and if this means the conclusion is somewhat telegraphed, it’s because she tells us what we need to know, and we just need to put it together.
It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel, and I hope it means that there is a lot more to come.
Note: As I like to do, I switched between audiobook and ebook for my reading, and Clare Harte’s performance and demeanor was ideal for this story.
Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and HarperAudio for the review copies for my unbiased opinions. Pub. date: 1/13/26
Support your favorite indie bookstore (and me) by using my link to order the audiobook from https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm60355 OR if you prefer using your eyes to read, support your favorite indie (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.
