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
After the murder of her young daughter Ellie, Maggie Chapman commits suicide. Maggie's old college friend, Eliza Eliot, accepts the unpleasant task of clearing out the remains of her friend's tragic life. But Eliza's mind is too occupied with organizing an exhibition of rising artist Daniel Flynn's masterpiece, an interpretation of Brueghel's The Triumph of Death. That is until another two girls are mutilated and murdered and it appears that someone has become obsessed with turning Daniel's graphic images into a reality. In the meantime, someone has begun a cat-and-mouse game with 13-year-old Kerry Mason, daughter of the man jailed for Ellie's murder. Can this be a coincidence or is something more sinister at work behind the scenes? As the police intensify their investigations it becomes clear that the wrong man may have been blamed for Ellie's death, but time is running out and a killer is closing in on another victim. Now Eliza realizes that her own life is threatened and she no longer knows whom she can trust. This is life - and death - literally imitating art. Bleak Water is a classy and atmospheric thriller, set against the backdrop of a dank and decaying basin of the Sheffield canal. Danuta Reah conjures up a nightmare atmosphere of darkened rooms, deep shadows, muffled footsteps and sudden violence. A pervasive mood of fear stalks the pages, interspersed with just the right amount of sudden shocks to ensure the reader stays on a knife-edge of suspense. Every chapter provides another 'turn of the screw', until the final, shocking, climax. This unusually intelligent crime story uses vivid characterization, an imposing setting and intricate plotting to explore the nature of art and artists. It is a stylish affair, with lashings of good old-fashioned, edge-of-the-seat storytelling. (Kirkus UK)
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?
