The Lamplighters

Guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, because I didn't register that this book was based on real events until I had already started reading! Haa! Safe to say that makes it all the more intriguing...based on real people and events, this is a suspenseful mystery that has a crazy good sense of atmosphere. You get that sailor, lighthouse vibe the whole way through, which is a vibe I personally LOOOOVE. All that plus based on real events? Man, Stonex blew me outta the water here.

I need more books about lighthouses in my life. This was wonderful. Being this solitary person who does everything slowly, some of the characters in the story felt relatable in their aloofness towards society. I'm trying to make sense of this, but I can't. I want more like this type of atmospheric, slow, mysterious and solitary type of stories. 

The Lamplighters was a creepy, quick read that I couldn't put down the whole way through. If you've been flicking through mystery/thrillers, enjoying them but haven't been impressed in a while, this book is a definite change of pace from most.

Firstly, the setting and original concept was a great draw. I love a locked room mystery, and the added intrigue of an isolated lighthouse made that all the more attractive. I also liked the atmosphere it lent to the book because the whole time it felt creepy and otherworldly while we remained in the lighthouse. If the whole book had focused on the men in the lighthouse I think I would have enjoyed it even more.

Unfortunately, the author looks at the mystery through the lens of an author writing a book about the tragedy, and the author gets in contact with the spouses of the men. This angle made the mystery all the more down to earth, removed a lot of the atmosphere I was enjoying so much and really began to focus the mystery through the eyes of the spouses.