Laced with creepy menace and dark characters that live in the mind, it gets under the skin very quickly.

UK Daily Mail

An excellent, engrossing tale with a satisfyingly serpentine plot with a killer twist.

Irish Independent

A beautifully fluent narrative with some eerie supernatural interventions. It had me totally hooked.

Anne Coates in The Arbuturian

It is testament to Blake’s skill as a novelist that she manages to keep all these plates spinning simultaneously. Her writing is crisp and precise, drip feeding the reader clues as each plot development drags you further into the story….From creepy portraits whose eyes follow you around to hidden love letters, long-buried bodies and illicit affairs, The Dark Room is an infectious blend of Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery (a fact the characters playfully allude to) and Gothic whodunnit with a hint of supernatural chiller. It’s also deliciously good fun.

Sunday Business Post

Blake cleverly blends Caroline and Rachel’s skills to create a formidable team of contemporary investigators, even as the Big House of Hare’s Landing and a number of references to Agatha Christie render The Dark Room a loving homage to the golden age of mystery detection.

Irish Times

This book delivers a well-paced and layered plot that cleverly combines a number of cold cases with present-day drama, and the result is an intriguing read that delivers plenty of twists and turns and an absorbing conclusion. Blake also has a wonderful gift for description, ensuring the reader can picture every scene in exquisite detail. Her atmospheric depiction of West Cork triumphs in this novel, along with the wonderful portrayal of Rachel’s dog – a German Shepherd called Jasper who is pivotal to helping them with their investigations.

Sunday Independent

Twisty, unpredictable and compelling

 Liz Nugent 

There’s shades of Rebecca in this small-town mystery, full of atmosphere and menace and with a satisfyingly complex plot. The Dark Room is another winning page-turner from Blake and the perfect read for curling up in front of the fire on a winter’s night. Although with its shocking reveals and ghostly undertones, good luck getting to sleep afterwards…

Catherine Ryan Howard 

Thoroughly enjoyed #TheDarkRoom by @samblakebooks! Intelligent and compelling female leads, a spooky and atmospheric setting, and a gripping and satisfying plot.

Roz Watkins

An addictive mystery, with a creepy twist

Angela Clarke 

Really enjoyed this twisty atmospheric read from ⁦@samblakebooks⁩

Olivia Kiernan

A sinister, twisted & atmospheric thriller sure to send many a chill scuttling down your spine, Sam Blake’s The Dark Room is a nail-biting page-turner readers will not be able to put down…sure to go down a treat with fans of Lisa Jewell and C L Taylor.

Bookish Jottings