Dark Island
- Author
- Daniel Aubrey
- Publisher
- HarperNorth
- Publication date
- 25 April 2024
- Other publishers
- Czech (Bourdon), French (JC Lattes), Russian (AST), Swedish (Lind & Co), Ukrainian (Laboratory), Film/TV (Under Offer)
Dark Island
**Shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2024**
**Shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier McDermid Debut Novel Award 2024**
Midwinter in Orkney. Six hours of daylight. A race against time to catch a killer.
Reporter Freya Sinclair has always known she was different. While waiting on the outcome of an autism assessment, Freya uproots her life in Glasgow,
quitting her job at one of Scotland’s top broadsheets and taking a local beat in her childhood home of Orkney. But her plans for a quiet life are shattered when human remains are unburied by a winter storm on Orkney’s wild Atlantic coast.
The identity of the bones opens old wounds in the islands, and sheds light on a darker truth nobody wants to accept. As the nights draw in, Freya’s obsessive hunt for answers turns into a cat and mouse game, with each secret she unearths threatening her job, her family, and presenting a murderer with their next victim.
In a place where nothing stays buried forever, is uncovering the truth more
important than saving lives?
“I could not put it down”
— Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A cracking debut and I’m already very much looking forward to what Daniel Aubrey does next”
— Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A dramatic conclusion I didn’t see coming!”
— Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A great thriller – a fast-paced, realistic read that had me turning the pages late into the night!”
— Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Fabulously dark tale set on the Scottish islands”
— Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“The atmospheric backdrop of Orkney enhances the reader’s experience of this compulsive debut. With a brilliant and original main character, plenty of nail-biting moments and satisfying twists, there is everything here that fans of this genre love. I can’t wait to read Aubrey’s next.”
— Rebecca Netley
“What a fantastic debut. I adored the complexity of Freya’s character.”
— Nasheema Lennon
“Sublime. With a story that is every bit as tempestuous and powerful as an island storm, Aubrey’s writing is both supremely pacy and deeply thoughtful. Freya Sinclair is an absolute winner of a protagonist, who has you rooting for her from page one. Please may there be many more in this series.”
— Chris Lloyd
“Walking in Freya’s shoes helped me to better appreciate the impact ADHD has on a person’s daily life… A truly enriching read.”
— Anita Frank
“With the hauntingly original backdrop of Orkney as a character in its own right, and enough twists and turns to keep the hardened thriller reader engrossed to its surprising end…[Dark Island is] a wholly satisfying reading experience. Freya Sinclair is a protagonist with mileage, and I cannot wait to see where she goes next.”
— Wiz Wharton
“An unputdownable thriller. In Freya, we find a truly refreshing protagonist.”
— Danielle Devlin