The Dark Room was published by Orion Books on 27th July 2017 and is available in paperback, audio and ebook formats. I received an eARC of The Dark Room but this has in no way influenced my review.

I read Jonathan Moore’s The Poison Artist back in 2017 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was whilst sharing that review that a fellow book blogger, someone whose opinion I really respect, suggested I give The Dark Room a go. Unfortunately, due to being the slowest of readers and having a burgeoning NetGalley TBR, I have only recently gotten around to it. The Dark Room felt a little different to The Poison Artist in tone but is still a very enjoyable read.

Inspector Gavin Cain of the San Francisco Police Department is about to get some answers as he stands by the recently exhumed grave of a thirty-year-old corpse. That is until his Lieutenant calls and orders him to the Mayor’s Office – she’s sending a chopper and there’s no time to waste. Cain arrives, is introduced to Mayor Castelli and takes what seems like an instant dislike to the man. The Mayor confides that he has received a number of potentially incriminating photographs in the post along with a threatening note. These are the first four snaps. There are another eight to come. The note suggests that maybe the Mayor would like to commit suicide before the photographs fall into the wrong hands and he is exposed. Castelli claims to not know who the woman is and wants Cain to discover her identity. But the Mayor is hiding something and the further back into the Mayor’s past Cain digs, the more secrets he uncovers…

This is a slow burn, noirish thriller set in San Francisco. The slow drip of information as you watch the case unfold and as Cain joins the dots makes it an enjoyable read. Helped along by the wonderful setting and the fascinating characters. And, having read this author before, I can safely say he likes to throw the odd shock twist into the story to give his readers a bit of a start. Cain is an interesting chap and one I would happily read more of if this were a series (it’s not, it’s a standalone). He’s a very experienced SFPD Inspector and takes no bull (not even from the Mayor or his Lieutenant). I don’t feel the reader really gets to know him though. You learn so much more about his partner, piano teacher Lucy, than you do about him. Maybe he’s meant to be more of an enigma – after all, there’s only so far you can go with a character when they feature in only one book. Other characters in the book are well drawn, particularly the Mayor’s daughter, Alexa, who drove me crazy.

The ending absolutely fitted the story and it was the right way for the author to go but I was left feeling a little disappointed. I think that says more about me than the writing though. I wanted something a little more showy, more of a BANG than what we’re given.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. It’s an absorbing police procedural which pulls you in from start to finish – you just HAVE to know how this one is going to end. If you’re a fan of a slower paced crime read with a cast of intriguing characters then absolutely, you will enjoy this book. Recommended.

I chose to read and review an eARC of The Dark Room. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

I am not sure how to rate this book. I liked reading it and it was entertaining. But there are also some things I did not like.

A few months ago I read “The Poison Artist”. Somehow I forgot to review it. I can’t explain why. I think I read it during our vacation and I tend to read books I do not necessarily have to review because I bought them myself. I liked “The Poison Artist”, it was unusual in many ways. The story was quite unique and dark. “The Dark Room” also has also a very dark story even it is not as unique. A beautiful young girl was murdered by bad men after they abused her. Nothing new here. An unexpected confession brings this cold case murder to Inspector Cain’s knowledge. He begins to investigate and slowly the background story reveals itself.

The book is more of a slow burner. But the author managed to keep me interested even not much is happening. There is a lot of talking and police work. He is very precise when it is about describing surroundings and other details. But the dialogs are something different. There is a lot of talking but some things stay unsaid. Cain is the main character but we don’t know what he is really thinking. I felt excluded from some things or even from the story itself. Cain has a girlfriend. She experienced obviously some kind of trauma in her past because she can’t leave the house. This is irritating at first. I felt as if there was something I missed or there was another book I should have read so that I would know about the girlfriend’s problems. We learn later in the book a bit about it. But to me it seemed as if all the characters are only there because otherwise the story would not work. The author seemed not very interested in them. He writes precisely about the crime scenes, the autopsies. Every movement is worth some words, but there is almost nothing about how the characters look or at least what their problem is. Why, for example, is one of the female characters always stripping herself naked in front of Cain? She is troubled, obviously. But why is that so? Ok, at the end I got it. But there was a lack of depth to all the characters. I did not get them, really. You can see how everything happened, how one thing leads to another. But why – the motivation is not that important to the author.

This book is very atmospheric, very dark and sinister. The writing is a mix of precise and imprecise. The main point here is the story and how Cain comes to the conclusion. I considered giving 4 stars because it was a quick read and entertaining on some level. But I had too much problems with the neglected character development. But I must also admit that this book is different. Maybe just because of its flaws. It is weird and strange and worth a look. I liked “The Poison Artist” better. It is similar atmospheric and dark but the story was more unique.

I was on a roll this month with the e-books I've been getting through! This book intrigued me as I love thrillers and mysteries especially with crime involved...and this one fits the bill so well. It follows Inspector Caine and colleagues as they try to solve a tangled web of lies, secrets, numerous crimes and a grisly murder involving a high profile family with so many issues of their own.

The writing was so incredibly quick and easy to read and I finished this book in less than two days (but it could definitely be finished in one) and because of how quick it was and the crime centric topic, it felt to me like an episode of Bones or CSI. Although it was quite cliche, there was nothing incredibly unique about the story and even through the twists and turns, the results were relatively predictable and not as shocking as the author probably intended.

However, it was an entertaining read, although it was disturbing at times with topics such as rape, murder, family secrets, corruption and human trafficking involved but to me it seemed so cliche and like a TV episode, that it was so unreal, if that makes sense - none of the characters seemed truly real or personal to me. I'd definitely recommend it if you like crime, mysteries and thrillers.

This was my first novel that I have read by the author but most certainly won't be my last.
I was totally gripped from the opening pages and the suspense never let up,I loved this book,and would highly recommended it to everyone.

This novel was a joy to read from beginning to end. It is in the best tradition of the darkest noir where the city of San Francisco is not only the the backdrop but a major player in this intricate and complex story. It reminded me of the classics of the golden age of hard-boiled detective fiction. Gavin Cain is a detective Inspector with SFPD exhuming a body on a case triggered by a deathbed video recording of a funeral director. He is pulled off the case when a more urgent present day case arises, Harry Castelli, the mayor is being blackmailed. He has been sent 4 incriminating photographs of a young girl with a message that there are others and that the mayor should do the decent thing and kill himself.

Harry claims he has never seen the girl before, but Cain does not believe him. Cain finds himself working with Special Agent Karen Fischer as they trawl through the deeper recesses of the mayor's life. Castelli's wife is in a constant drunken stupor, and the daughter, Alexa, is seriously damaged goods and in a continuous state of undress with all and sundry. The photographs reveal that the male in a picture has a Pi Kappa Kappa tattoo, a fraternity that was outlawed but went underground, and it turns out Harry has such a tattoo. The girl is difficult to identify although Cain has his suspicions that there may be a link with the exhumation. However, nothing is as it seems in a case that brings a murderous blood drenched trail close to the police team and Gavin's personal life. The twists are outstanding, making this an impossible book to put down.

This is a beautifully multilayered read, the plotting is superb and the narrative keeps you hooked. The intense and vivid descriptions make you feel as if you are in San Francisco. The characters are sharply drawn with sufficient details to render them both arresting and compelling, such as Mona and Alexa. Gavin's partner, Lucy, is a pianist in the throes of a deeply ravaging trauma, and she adds another intense layer to the story. A novel I am happy to recommend highly. Thanks to Orion for an ARC.