Inspired by true events, Emma Stonex’s The Lamplighters is a mystery, a ghost story, a folk tale, and a lusciously written literary love story all rolled into one compulsively readable package.

Alternating between 1972 and 1992, the novel tells the story of three lighthouse keepers and their families. Principal Keeper Arthur has spent most of his life on the lights, although his warmth and efficiency hide a personal tragedy that is threatening his seemingly idyllic marriage to Helen. Assistant Keeper Bill has never felt settled either at home or at sea – although his wife Jenny adores their coastal lifestyle and busy family home. Vince headed to the lights to escape from his dark past – although he worries that despite his fresh start and his new girlfriend Michelle, it may still catch up with him.

All three men are stationed on The Maiden – an isolated rock lighthouse surrounded by nothing but the sea, the wind, and the things that whisper in the night – and all three go missing one seemingly ordinary day in 1972. The women in their lives – Helen, Jenny, and Michelle – are left with no explanation for their vanishing. Was it an accident? A murder? Or something more sinister and beyond the realms of the ordinary? When a writer approaches them to seek their stories, they are forced to confront the secrets of their own lives – as well as the darkness that may have lain within the hearts of the men they loved.

Emma Stonex has deftly weaved several voices, timelines, and interconnecting plot strands together in The Lamplighters, skilfully controlling each one to maintain tension whilst never leaving the reader feeling lost or disconnected. Instead, the novel is compulsively readable – grabbing hold on the first page and pulling you in like the sea pulls on the rocks around The Maiden itself.

Each characters is written with depth and realism, their voices jumping from the page. I adored gentle, erudite Arthur – a man lost in his past and unsure of his future in a world where lighthouse keepers are a dying breed – and empathised with his brisk and practical wife Helen, unsure of how to connect to a man who seems to love the sea more than he loves her. Jenny and Bill were more difficult characters – both prickly in their way – but Stonex allowed me to empathise with them for all their sharp edges and to share in their hopes, dreams, and frustrations. And I really felt for Vince and Michelle – two young people just trying to leave the mistakes of the past behind and begin anew. By the end of the novel, I felt like I had got to know all of them – and the ending, when it came, felt like saying goodbye to old friends.

I also felt as if I got to know The Maiden. Lonely and forbidding, the rock lighthouse on which Arthur, Bill and Vinnie are stationed is a much a character as the men and women whose lives revolve around it. Stonex perfectly captures the pull and allure of lighthouses, as well as the dark compulsion of the wild seascape that surrounds them. Alternating between wonder and dread, the novel is thick with atmosphere throughout, and interspersed with lush, vivid descriptions of the sea in all of its wild and terrible beauty.

As you can probably tell, I ADORED The Lamplighters – it’s definitely an early contender for my Books of the Year list and is a definite 5-star read for me. Although based on the story of Eilean Mor on the Flannen Isles – from which three keepers vanished in 1900 – Emma Stonex has crafted a novel that is uniquely her own and that resonates with a powerful sense of love, loss, and humanity. Her deft handling of the supernatural elements of her tale mean that the human stories resonate without being undermined, creating a story that is both compellingly suspenseful but also heart-breakingly moving. A must read and a 5-star recommendation from me.

The Lamplighters was inspired by a real life mystery when in 1900 the three lighthouse keepers on the Flannan Isles lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides mysteriously disappeared, with many theories about what happened to them, even though no bodies were ever found.

This is a dual timeline novel set in 1972 in the run up to the disappearance of the three keepers on a lighthouse off the coast of Cornwall. We also return in 1992 to the three women who were left behind, in part being interviewed by a writer who intends to write a book about the disappearance.

I found the time spent on the lighthouse in 1972 to be atmospheric with a bleakness which is reflected in the personalities of the characters. There were inexplicable happenings, and moments which made more sense given the accounts in 1992.

As the book progresses we catch glimpses of secrets, some are revealed early in the story, tantalising and guiding us in the direction of the truth.

I felt so sure that I knew what had happened but when I reached that part of the book I audibly gasped because I had been so distracted by some of the secrets that it took me by complete surprise.

The Lamplighters is a book about mysteries, secrets, lies, deception, trust and betrayal that will keep you guessing. This stunning book is going to be one of my favourite reads of 2021.

This raw and gripping novel had me enthralled to know what happened to the three lighthouse keepers in a fictionalized account based loosely on real life events of the early 1900s. How could three keepers vanish without a trace leaving the tower locked from within and a troubling trail of breadcrumb clues for all to ponder over after they have been labelled missing?

Unflinchingly personal, painful and reflective the thoughtful musings of Arthur, Bill and Vince, in the seventies just before they disappeared, added to the sense of mystery surrounding their fate. Twenty years later the women they left behind are approached by a writer keen to solve the mystery. Each woman has her own pains and struggles with what transpired years before and knows more than she may wish to impart.

The dynamic, poetic writing was as hypnotic as a siren's song. I could not put The Lamplighters down. Filled with heavy emotion and a deep love and respect for the sea, there is a darkness lurking in the shadows unwilling to part with its troubling truth. Quite possibly one of the most gripping books I've read in a while. I was completely enveloped by this narrative and there in the claustrophobic tower with PK and his crew. Spellbinding and creepy, heartbreaking and yet hopeful, too? Magical storytelling, honestly.

It's 1972 and a relief team are sent to Maiden Rock lighthouse, but what they find is a perfect capsule of lighthouse living, minus the 3 keepers who have vanished into thin air. Fast forward 20 years and a writer sets out to uncover the truth by interviewing the widow's of the keepers.

4⭐- This is a very well written ghost story/locked room mystery, which was really interesting and held my curiosity to the end. This novel is inspired from true life events of the disappearances at the Flannan Isles lighthouse. It also reminded me of the recent movie 'The Lighthouse' and had a similar creepy vibe!

Cornwall 1972. Three men disappear from the remote Maiden Tower lighthouse. The mystery is compounded by the fact that the door is firmly bolted from the inside, the clocks have all stopped at the same time, and the Principal Keeper's log has some worrying discrepancies. Where could Arthur Black, Bill Walker, and Vince Bourne have gone and why?

Cut to twenty years later and a young author is looking into the strange disappearance. He makes contact with the women that the men left behind - Arthur's wife Helen, Bill's wife Jenny, and Vince's girlfriend Michelle. Three women that were irrecoverably divided by the Maiden Tower incident. He is keen to hear their side of the story, but they have their own secret fears to hide and the truth will not come easily.

And so unfurls Emma Stonex's incredible tale of love, loss and eerie mystery, moving back and forth between the events on the Maiden Tower lighthouse in 1972, and the narratives of the three women twenty years later as they lay out their side of the story. It's a tale that is as deep and capricious as the sea that holds the secrets of what happened out there on the tower, full of human frailties, harsh realities and the whisper of something ghostly.

What we learn about the relationships between the three men and their life 'on the light' is fascinating. In conditions where these men live cheek by jowl, is it difficult to keep anything hidden from one another, and tensions between them in this most claustrophobic of environments are inevitable - especially when their period on duty is extended unexpectedly by bad weather. Each of the men had things on their minds, related to their shore-side lives, that brought them to breaking point and the consequences were catastrophic.

Yet it is not just the men thrown together in the lighthouse that have to bear the brunt of extended periods of isolation: their womenfolk must take the strain too and not all of them are suited to the lives they are expected to lead, causing ripples that reach all the way out to the lonely lighthouse.

Themes of childhood, marriage, loss, grief, violence, jealousy and recrimination lie at the very heart of this beautifully written story, but it is difficult to talk about how Emma Stonex plays out the complicated threads without giving away too much of the all encompassing plot - which I am not about to do, so you will have to read it to experience every tortuous twist and brutal turn for yourself.

I confess that this story chilled me to the bone and pitched and tossed me about like a small sailing boat on the high seas. The whole piece is wonderfully unsettling and atmospheric, bringing in the wildness of the sea, the raw edge of the weather, and even the Maiden Tower herself almost as if they are additional characters in the story, and there is a delicious undercurrent of ghostly folklore that has you questioning quite how much of what you read is true and how much is imagination. But there is also a feeling of the calm after the storm at the very conclusion, that leaves you with the promise of hope, reconciliation, forgiveness, and the assurance that ghosts can and will finally be laid to rest for the souls left behind that is surprisingly heart-warming.

I have an obsession with lighthouses and really liked the premise of this book. But I was left a bit disappointed. I liked some of the writing but some of it felt long winded and used more words than necessary. The mystery was good once you got to it but I didn’t connect with any of the characters. I found I was getting bored of the narrative at times and it was a bit slow paced. Plus I don’t think the animal abuse needed to be in the book.

Thank you to Picador for this advanced copy.

I was excited at the prospect of reading this book based on the description - lighthouse keepers that disappear, locked doors and stopped clocks, all showing the same time...what a mystery, and based on a true story.
I did consider that sometimes it's the mystery that appeals more than the reality, though - it's the wondering what happened that keeps one hooked.

This novel aims to solve that mystery, told through the voices of the lighthouse keepers that disappeared and their partners, who are contacted by an author years later, who wants to hear their side of the story.

The events leading up to the disappearance gradually come to light, as the time in the lighthouse reveals imagined slights, made worse by the lack of communication between the lighthouse keepers.
The sense of isolation, which is apparent all through the novel -. the personalities of the keepers (it would be difficult to imagine anyone garrulous wanting to do this job!) their distance from civilisation, far out to sea, is well depicted.
I enjoyed the story of the keepers more than the story told by the women left behind, which I found far less interesting. I enjoyed the novel overall, and the descriptions of working in a solitary environment were really evocative.

Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week. What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?

This is a mystery book that delves into the lives of the three partners of the lighthouse men, it also gives the reader a lot of scope to develop their own ideas. The story shifts between 1972 and 1992, when a writer begins to investigate what happens, and talks to those left behind, The more you read, the more you uncover hidden secrets and unhappinesses, and there's a real feeling of buried emotions. The story is told in turn by each of the lighthouse workers and by their partners, and you find yourself trying to piece together the secret of what happened. A refreshing read, something different, I will happily recommend this to others or buy it as a present.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Wonderful prose, bringing the story of the lamplighters to life. This book is one to be read and reread and will make a fantastic whole class read for lucky students

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is a very self-assured debut from Stonex - she's one to watch for the future. Part mystery novel, part family drama, Stonex takes a real-life mystery and explores what might have been through the eyes of the men who were lost and those who were left behind. In another writer's hands this could very easily have been a cut-and-dried work of detective fiction focusing solely on the lighthouse keepers, but the inclusion of female voices and the juxtaposition of the different timelines means the story unfolds slowly but surely across the pages in a more controlled and all-encompassing fashion. My only criticism is that the reveal of the real identity of the writer was a bit of a letdown - otherwise every step of the plot is managed clearly and concisely. Overall, Stonex emphasises the importance of human connection and second chances, even when it seems all is lost.

This book was such a good surprise. 😃 For me, it started out quite slow and I wasn’t sure where it was going. I liked the whole premise of the book. The imagery of the sea, the loneliness, the mystery and sort of ghostly element. It felt very atmospheric, haunting and I had this feeling it was leading to something quite dramatic. The isolation of these men takes it toll, and the sea has this powerful pull. I mean, you could really get a sense of how this would push someone to the brink mentally. I was questioning what was real and what were just inner thoughts of the characters. What happened to these men at sea? 🧐 I like historical fiction, especially ones with a whodunnit storyline and emotional depth. As the book goes on and secrets are unravelled, it becomes a very tragic story and not one where I could ever have predicted the ending. I found it gripping, heartbreaking and full of suspense. Oh and the writing is simply beautiful, particularly towards the end. 😭 THE LAMPLIGHTERS starts off slow, yet soon gathers pace and you really will get hooked on finding out what happened to the three men stationed on a lighthouse in 1972. I didn’t realise this was a debut. Flipping heck! Bravo as it’s cracking. 👏🏻

I won't, I'm sure, be the first to have imagined, and wished for, the opportunity to live in a lighthouse. Alone, surrounded by the sea, in a cosy world of my own, with no-one to disturb me - who wouldn't want that?

Well, as this book suggests, that vision is perhaps rather based in privilege. Nice maybe (in the imagination) to spend those days alone, in a cosy, warm space, well fed, able to come an go Not so pleasant when the accommodation is basic, the food tinned, with an essential but basically boring and repetitive job to do and, worst of all, required to spend eight weeks in the tower and longer of the weather's bad when changeover comes.

Emma Stonex has I think captured the essence of that life for the keepers she describes here. Three men - of course all the lighthouse keepers would have been men - who disappear one night just after Christmas in 1972, leaving no clues as to what happened (or, if you prefer, many clues, enough to make the whole thing a mystery). Arthur, the Principal Keeper. Bill, the reliable Assistant. Vince, the new boy, and with a troubled life behind him

Looking back on events from twenty years later, three women, Helen, Jenny and Michelle, remember their lives with Arthur, Bill and Vince. A novelist, Dan Sharp, begins to investigate the whole mystery, interviewing the women and leading them to reflect on their lives before and after the disappearance. What secrets may emerge?

That's a very bald synopsis and frankly I struggle to sum up the themes of this complex, enchanting book. There is so much here. The Lamplighters is one of those books that forms an irreducible image of itself, and I worry that my clumsy efforts to analyse, to discuss it may only give a wrong impression.

That would be a shame because this book comes at just the right time. So much of it is about separation, about bearing the apartness, the separation from one's family. Some chapters give the women's accounts of this, of their loneliness in their little cottages within sight - when it's lit - of the Maiden lighthouse. Others give the mens' perspective. Both suffer, I think, in different ways: the women managing children and keeping up a facade of normal life, only to have their worlds overturned when their men come home. The men, enjoying a certain sense of camaraderie but also hobbled by a male reticence to open up. And all the time, watching each other, in case the strain becomes too much for one of the companions with whom they're trapped.

It's a kind of pressure cooker for both men and women and as the story unfolds we learn about all kinds of misunderstandings, suspected infidelities, desires and secrets. Everyone here has suffered losses, is running from, or denying, something: acts they're carried out, things that have been done to them or misfortunes that have affected them. The periodic separations endured by these families prevent these things from being digested, accepted and understood, feeding instead an atmosphere pf psychic claustrophobia, a darkness in which the strange can seem dangerously plausible.

Stonex creates from this, at times, a dreamlike atmosphere where for whole episodes it's impossible to be sure whether what's being described is something we can assume really happened, is imagined or is an insidious mixture of both. It is, I suspect, the sort of unreality to which isolation, stress, lack of sleep and monotony can easily give rise - perhaps one many of us have approached in the days of lockdown and covid ('The effects of being quarantined are serious. It isn't a normal stat for a person') though much, much worse. There is then something of the horror story in The Lamplighters, but delicately done and arising from the complex twists and secrets of the human mind.

But there is much more to this book than that. We also see the contrasting roles of men and women, the assumptions about how they will live and what they want. The three women, especially, are well drawn and deeply interesting: Helen, inheriting the status of her Principal Keeper husband ('she was mrs PK, it was her obligation') but ill at ease with that. Jenny, who seems to live to nurture a grievance - but is there something darker behind that? And Michelle, who doesn't match the others, a free spirit in the early 70s and the girlfriend, not the wife, of Vince, is determined to prevent his memory being blackened but (the only one of the three to now be in another relationship) seems to be trapped with a controlling, suburban husband ('he didn't like her reading. Said it put fancy ideas in her head.') from whom she has to hide her interest in the Maiden rock mystery.

Against the women the men can seem, at times, like rather pallid creatures whose chief occupation on the lighthouse is the consumption of deeply unappealing food and prodigious quantities of tobacco (I mean it - the amount of smoking that goes on in this book, it's a wonder to me that anyone survives a week and I was rather grimly amused when in one desperate episode they run out). They mark their friendship by swearing a lot and seem to avoid each other as far as they can. But they, too, have their subtleties.

As in any closed, dedicated community, lighthouse keeping has, it emerges, something of an ethos, common to the keepers themselves and their wives and girlfriends. It's partly a sense of duty, partly an idea being alone together. 'I've had my light safe here' muses Arthur 'shining through the dark and I'll keep it shining'. He doesn't mean, or not only, the lighthouse lamp. There is an almost mystic sense of connection symbolised by that lamp, connection across years and across miles - and not always in a comfortable sense, we are told several times how unbearable to the women it is when they can see the beam of the lamp across miles of sea, knowing their men are at the other end, unable to communicate with them across that gulf. There is also obsession here, actually scary levels of obsession, and of guilt.

This is the kind of book that hooks you at first with its juicy mystery - but once you get twenty or thirty pages in, you find other things to enjoy: the hauntedness of the lighthouse and the sea, the dance between the six main characters, the teasing revelations of their earlier lives and the different ways in which the women have, or have not, come to terms with their interrupted relationships.

There is an answer here, in the end, to what happened, or a possible answer, but by the time we reach it, the mystery has almost dissolved into the wider story, and I found myself caring much more about Helen, Jenny and Michelle and about where they would go next and whether they would ever heal.

A truly affecting book, with some beautiful writing ('melancholy sanded a nook in his heart', 'Big swell, bright day, grease the fog-jib and oil the lenses') and a booking I'd strongly urge you to read.

This was such a good read! Three men disappear from a lighthouse which they are manning, the door is locked from the inside, the table is set, the clocks have stopped. Yet there is no trace of them. Set in 1972 and also in 1992, we get the story from each lighthouse keeper and each of their wives, unfolding over time, backtracking and weaving in and out of each other. This story draws you in and keeps you hooked. You are there with them, on that rock, with that sea and wind and waves around you. The sense of place is wonderful and with elements of mystery and a hint of superatural, its engrossing and intriguing. You feel as if you really know about their lives and jobs, their relationships with each other and how each of them dealt with the events of twenty years ago. Wonderfully told!

Inspired by a true story, of three lighthouse keepers who disappeared, this historical fiction novel begins with atmospheric darkness and mystery, and had the potential to be brilliant.

However, it then almost immediately loses momentum and moves incredibly slowly, alternating time periods between 1972 (building the events from the three lighthouse keepers’ perspective leading to the disappearance) and 1992 (a writer interviewing the partners of the keepers to inspire his novel).

Whilst I enjoyed the one sided interviews, to maintain the suspense of who the writer was...and appreciated the originality of this...I didn’t feel that it made up for the lack of pace, and the outcome of the dialogue, didn’t pack enough of a punch to make any real impact.

I felt there were too many perspectives, and too little emotion and feeling to endear me to the characters. It meant that some of the events and aspects of the plot that should have been shocking, emotional and impactful were not at all for me.

The main themes of the novel are love, isolation and the impact and consequence of our actions.

There were also quite a few themes I will add trigger warnings for, being; PTSD, loss of a child, suicide, and animal cruelty/torture.

I think with more pace, and fewer characters this book would have been a lot stronger and I felt quite disappointed that it wasn’t one I particularly enjoyed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It has been published in March 2021.

"The Lamplighters" by Emma Stonex is an enchanting sui generis novel, part psychological drama, part folk tale, part whodunit, part ghost story, told from different POVs and following two different timelines.
I would be hard-pressed to say which part I loved best, as they're all compelling. The story as a whole is masterfully told, with perfect pacing and a delightfully polished writing style.
I particularly enjoyed how every single character is given his/her own distinctive voice so that they truly come alive with their personality and quirks.
I also appreciated how you can tell that a great deal of research went into this book, but at the same time it's all presented in a reader-friendly way: this novel never indulges in lectures, every little piece of information that's in it is strictly plot-related or character-driving. No infodump or boring dissertations can be found in these pages.
Emma Stonex also has an amazing gift for evoking powerful atmospheres, so it hardly matters that a few of the elements lack a bit in originality.
Besides, I must mention that reading a book such as this while your country is in lockdown is probably an emotionally much deeper experience than it would be otherwise. The description of life inside a tower lighthouse can definitely resonate with the reader in unforeseen ways, under these circumstances.
Overall, I can definitely recommend this book to any genre aficionado of psychological dramas, folk tales, whodunit and ghost stories.

When three men mysteriously disappear from the remote Maiden Rock lighthouse in Cornwall in 1972, the community is left reeling from this tragedy. For the families of the missing men lives change forever and not knowing their fate leaves a mark on their lives. Twenty years later a writer approaches the wives of the missing men, but will they speak to him about their memories of the past events? Will their stories be told or forgotten? And who knows the truth?
“The Lamplighters” by Emma Stonex is loosely based on the true story of three lighthouse keepers who mysteriously disappeared at the beginning of XX century from a Hebridean lighthouse. The author moved the book to a different time and location, but the subject remains equally fascinating. We hear from the perspectives of lighthouse keepers during their last fatal stay on the isolated rocky light, and at the same time the reader hears the voices of women left behind, as they share their stories with the writer.
This gripping novel blends mystery and superstition– who or what was responsible for the disappearance of the men? Was one of them responsible for the tragedy or did something sinister happen behind the locked door? The book is full of tension and secrets, the atmosphere tense and claustrophobic in places. The characters are so well fleshed out and full of life – the author lets us look into their heads and hear their thoughts, so the book is not so much full of action but full of feelings and complex emotions. Beautifully written, “The Lamplighters” is a gem of a novel, a beautiful story of sea, loneliness, memories and sorrow.

The Lamplighters is an original and unusual novel loosely based on real-life events on a lighthouse.

The characters are well-drawn, distinctive and compelling but of course in some ways, the star of the show is the lighthouse itself: the Maiden. Much of the action takes place there but even when it doesn't and events unfurl at the cottages where the characters live on land, she is always a presence, looking on at them from afar. This creeping atmosphere is also infused in the stunning prose. Given how much has been written over the centuries about the sea, the author's descriptions feel fresh and distinctive, totally immersing the reader into setting.

I've spoken to other readers who loved this book as much as I did. Some are also keen to go and stay in a lighthouse now. I can't say that the moving but sometimes chilling events that occur in this novel make an overnight stay feel appealing to me personally, but that's mainly because Stonex has done such an extraordinary job at bringing life on a lighthouse to life that I felt I'd stayed on one already!

This book is wonderful and I can't wait to read more of the author's work.

Where do I begin with this amazing novel? A beautifully written story about love and loss and how darkness and light exist side by side. This is a haunting and highly-atmospheric story that keeps you turning the page to fine out more about these unforgettable characters and the fates that await them. A true masterpiece in emotive storytelling and I will be recommending to everyone. Cant wait to read more but the author!

This is an atmospheric, absorbing book that really conveys what it must be like to live and work on a remote lighthouse, an experience belonging now to the past. Set in 1972, and inspired by a real incident in 1900, it tells the story of the unexplained disappearance of the three keepers of the tower lighthouse Maiden Rock in Cornwall. A relief boat arrives to find no sign of them, the door locked from the inside and no real clues as to what happened. Twenty years later, a popular author decides to write a book on the case, and conducts a series of interviews to try to find out what happened. The narration switches between the two eras and the viewpoints of the keepers and their wives and girlfriend, giving us insight into the main characters, who each have their secrets which give insight as to possible reasons for the disappearance, raising questions and suspicions in a gripping unravelling of the truth. The author excels in portraying the lives of lighthouse workers, their routines, interactions and coping strategies, and how their lives are divided into two parts, ashore and at sea, which don’t always work smoothly together. The writing about the sea and the lighthouse life is hypnotic, with a strong sense of the power of the natural world and its unpredictability. Arthur, who loves it, feels that the views from up there prove that this life isn’t all there is, yet even he is affected by the pressures created. The lives of the wives of Arthur and Bill and the girlfriend of the Supernumerary keeper, Vince, are also beautifully expressed. They too are tied to the job, spend too much time alone and find it difficult to reconnect when their partners are on leave, and the strains of this lead them to behave in a way that may also have played a part in the ultimate tragedy. They also have to face the grief afterwards, the uncertainty about what happened and, in some cases, the guilt. An unusual and memorable novel centred around an intriguing mystery, with a sensitive understanding of the motives and emotions of the characters, and one I will not easily forget.

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
I enjoy stories which involve a fascinating mystery and the fact that this book was based on the real events at the Eilean Mor lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides made this novel even more engaging.
It is set in Cornwall in 1972; three men have disappeared whilst completing their shift at the lighthouse. The lighthouse is discovered to be empty and the men have disappeared without leaving a trace.
The story focuses on the men before they disappeared and twenty years later where a writer is struggling to discover what happened to the three missing men. The men’s wives are interviewed and it soon becomes obvious that secrets have been withheld.
This book kept me interested as I tried to work out what happened and I also enjoyed discovering all about their jobs and what working on a lighthouse entailed.
This is an author I will look out for in the future and I will suggest this book to other members of my book groups.

Many thanks to the author, the publishers and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.