For my first post of the day I’m delighted to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for chilling and mesmerising gothic thriller The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke. Thank you to Anne Cater and Harper Collins for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.
About the book:
The brand-new chilling gothic thriller from the bestselling author . . .
Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse. A lighthouse that has weathered more than storms.
Mysterious and terrible events have happened on this island. It started with a witch hunt. Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing without explanation.
Coincidence? Or curse?
Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left.
Twenty years later, Luna is drawn back to the place her family vanished. As the last sister left, it’s up to her to find out the truth . . .
But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?
About the author:
C.J. Cooke is an acclaimed, award-winning poet, novelist and academic with numerous other publications written under the name of Carolyn Jess-Cooke. Her work has been published in twenty- three languages to date.
Born in Belfast, C.J. has a PhD in Literature from Queen’s University, Belfast, and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health.
C.J. Cooke lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children.
She also founded the Stay-At-Home Festival.
My Review:
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke is a dark and chilling gothic thriller that drew me in from the very first page. The perfect book to read as we approach Halloween, it tells the story of Liv Stay and her three daughters. Moving seamlessly between three timelines, it’s a haunting and atmospheric tale that builds the tension slowly.
Beginning in 1998 we see Liv and her three daughters, Saffy, Luna and Clover, arrive on the remote Scottish island of Lòn Haven in search of a new home. Liv has been hired to paint a mural on the walls of an ancient lighthouse, but little does she know that her life is about to change forever. Fast forward to 2021 and it soon becomes apparent that a few months after arriving on the island Luna was the only one left. Her mother and two sisters disappeared without a trace and Luna has no idea what happened to them. But then something happens that draws Luna back to the island in search of the truth. What really happened to her family all those years ago?
Intertwined with the dual timelines of 1998 and 2021 an even stranger tale emerges. A terrible story of an ancient witch hunt that ended with a curse is slowly revealed. What, if anything, does this have to do with the mysterious disappearances that are plaguing the island centuries later? And is Luna finally about to uncover the truth of what happened at the lighthouse back in 1998?
The Lighthouse Witches is a fantastical story of ancient rituals and local folklore that kept me riveted throughout. C.J Cooke has written a spine tingling and atmospheric gothic thriller that keeps the surprises coming from beginning to end. A dark and unsettling tale, it isn’t a book you’d want to read on your own late at night, the eeriness and sense of intrigue and suspense ratcheting up to almost breaking point as the story moves towards its final, shocking denouement.
I don’t want to risk spoiling anything so all I will say is that The Lighthouse Witches is everything a dark and chilling gothic thriller should be. And I loved it!
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantastical stories that are deeply entrenched in history and folklore. C.J Cooke’s writing is superb and I can’t wait to read whatever she comes up with next!
Highly recommended.
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke is available to purchase now:
Check out what these other fabulous bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 