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3.5 

The Shape of Darkness

By Laura Purcell
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

Edgar Award Finalist

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 the queen of Gothic fiction, Laura Purcell


As the age of the photograph dawns in Victorian Bath, 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... Why is the killer seemingly targeting her business?

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.

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339 Reviews

3.5
Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes“I don't usually read Gothic novels, but this one was exceptional. It was lovely, engaging, and pleasantly eerie. I appreciated the journey of uncovering the mystery while exploring the supernatural elements. The ending was amazing. I would love to see it adapted into a movie or TV series. I highly recommend reading it and forming your own opinion.”
“This was a solid, creepy, paranormal/psychological Victorian-era thriller. It was a little muddled and some of the reveals felt a little unnecessary, but overall it was a good dreary day read.”

About Laura Purcell

Laura Purcell is the author of The Silent Companions, The Poison Thread, and The House of Whispers. She worked in local government, the financial industry and a bookshop before becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Colchester, the oldest recorded town in England, with her husband and pet guinea pigs. Fascinated by the darker side of royal history, Laura has also written two historical fiction novels about the Hanoverian dynasty.

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