The Shape of Darkness

Laura Purcell

2021 • 417 pages

Ratings8

Average rating4.1

'Dripping with atmosphere with a corkscrew plot, Laura Purcell just gets better and better' STACEY HALLS'It truly kept me guessing to the very last page' SONIA VELTONWicked deeds require the cover of darkness... A struggling silhouette artist in Victorian Bath seeks out a renowned child spirit medium in order to speak to the dead - and to try and identify their killers - in this beguiling new tale from Laura Purcell.Silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another... Desperately seeking an answer, Agnes approaches Pearl, a child spirit medium lodging in Bath with her older half-sister and her ailing father, hoping that if Pearl can make contact with those who died, they might reveal who killed them. But Agnes and Pearl quickly discover that instead they may have opened the door to something that they can never put back...What secrets lie hidden in the darkness?

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Alana

Another gothic read (maybe I'm developing a bias here...). This one was a unique read that I devoured quickly because I loved it so much. Agnes was a great MC with an even cooler job (kinda wanna become a silhouette artist now...though I don't think I'd be any good. Sigggh.) This is a great murder mystery that'll keep you up late (if you're like me), watching shadows on your wall and dreaming of those old, haunted houses with ghosts and dimly lit hallways. Agh - just up my alley.

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Amina Kara

This was my first Laura Purcell book, and I really liked it.

I wasn't sure initially, but once I got into it I didn't want to stop! I buddy read it with a friend, so it was read in 4 parts, but it was hard to refrain myself from continuing past our agreed stop points!

Agnes came across quite weak at times, well throughout most of the story, and I have to wonder if that was deliberately done by the author, to take away from the fact that there was more to Agnes then met the eye. If that was the case, then it was brilliantly done!

As for poor Pearl, I felt so bad her. Her sister was absolutely horrid and that's no exaggeration!

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher Raven Books and Laura Purcell for an eARC of this book.

February 8, 2021

Beth

This is a deliciously wicked gothic tale. Set in the late 1800s in Bath, this story follows Agnes Darken, a silhouette artist who finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery that scandalises the city. Everyone who seems to pose for one of Agnes's pieces starts to meet their untimely demise. Fearful that the murderer is trying to communicate with her, Agnes finds herself seeking answers from her dead relatives and former clients through the help of a medium, a 11 year old albino girl called Pearl.

This book packs a punch. A perfect read to be snuggled up with on the long cold nights of winter. It's atmospheric and ghostly and I love how the author plays around with big themes like loss and haunting's and seance's and the exploration of the afterlife in a gripping and propulsive way. It's creepy. It's gnarly. It's wonderful.

I can always rely on Laura Purcell to give me dark, twisty compelling reads to help me get through the bleak winter nights. I would highly recommend for people who enjoy reading gothic fiction.

Thanks to the author, Bloomsbury UK and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

November 5, 2020