The Lamplighters
the mesmerising Sunday Times bestselling mystery, inspired by true events
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3.7 • 183 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
The Sunday Times Bestseller.
Rich with the salty air of the Cornish coast, The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex is an intoxicating and suspenseful mystery, inspired by true events.
'The Lamplighters is a whodunnit, horror novel, ghost story and fantastically gripping psychological investigation rolled into one' – The Guardian
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 weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.
What happened to those three men, out on the tower? Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?
Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface . . .
An unforgettable story of love and grief that explores the way our fears blur the line between the real and the imagined.
'A mystery, a love story and a ghost story, all at once' - SJ Watson, author of Before I Go To Sleep
‘Riveting’ – The Independent
‘Excellent’ – The Observer
‘A triumph’ – Daily Mail
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This is one of the creepiest and most unshakeable mystery novels we’ve read in a while. It’s set in 1992, 20 years after the unexplained disappearance of three lighthouse keepers just off the coast of Cornwall captured the world’s imagination. Eager to solve the case, an ambitious writer approaches the keepers’ wives, who reveal that their hardworking but apparently simple husbands actually led dark and complex lives. Novelist Emma Stonex brilliantly draws inspiration from an unsolved disappearance in 1900, lending this twisty story a sense of authenticity. Her intensive research into the lonely rigours of lighthouse living creates a chilling mood that permeates every paragraph like the salty sea air. We were enchanted by the way that each perspective—even that of the ocean itself—adds another layer of suspense. After this haunting read, you may cross that lighthouse tour off your next seaside vacation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Stonex's spectacular debut wraps a haunting mystery in precise, starkly beautiful prose. In 1972, a boatman arrives at the desolate Maiden Rock lighthouse off the coast of Mortehaven, Cornwall, to pick up one of its three keepers for a scheduled break. Instead, he finds the trio—principal keeper Arthur Black; Black's junior, Bill Walker; and third-in-command Vincent Bourne—gone. The tower is locked from the inside, the log chronicles strange storms that never happened, and the clocks are stopped at 8:45. Twenty years later, a writer determined to crack the unsolved mystery contacts the women the lighthouse keepers left behind. Now living in Bath, Helen Black returns to Mortehaven twice a year to commemorate her husband. She writes regularly to Bill's wife, Jenny, hoping to be forgiven for Bill's onetime obsession with her, but Jenny discards the letters in anger. Now in a troubled marriage, Vince's former girlfriend, Michelle Davies, is sure that he played no role in the disappearance, despite his earlier brushes with the law. Seamlessly marrying quotidian detail with ghostly touches, the author captures both the lighthouse's lure and the damage its isolation and confinement wreak on minds and families. The convincing resolution brings a welcome note of healing. Readers will eagerly await Stonex's next.
Customer Reviews
Moody and atmospheric but ultimately disappoonting
The book maitains a clever balance throughout, but gets so caught up in that that the ending is rushed - lacking the heft the narrative deserves
Unusual tale
I enjoyed it. Don’t read a lot of mystery and especially not situated around a lighthouse. Things slowly emerge through the stories each character tells.
I couldn’t put this down
This eerie novel pulls you in with the detailed and interesting perspectives of the different characters. Supernatural and psychological, the author leaves you feeling the claustrophobia, fear and longing the lamplighters experience when on the rock. And then all the other emotions in between from those off duty or the partners back on land are so cleverly portrayed through her writing.