Late Victorian London. When James Miller, the most respectable of Scottish businessmen, is pulled, dead, from the Thames, his daughter is drawn into an investigation which reveals a whole world of secrets and corruption. Alongside local detective Culley, Catriona’s search for her father’s killer leads all the way to the tragic truth behind the ghostly legend of The Darkwater Bride and the power of her deadly kiss.

Since being up at a ridiculous time due to ongoing pains, I turned to this. I listened to it during my working day and found it oddly good to listen to while focusing on spreadsheets.

The Darkwater Bride is a crime thriller. It is perhaps something I might not have listened to at night – knowing my imagination – and there is also an undercurrent of the paranormal in the audiobook. Narrated by a full cast, each character felt very real and multileveled while listening.

Catriona was a spunky character for the late Victoria era, someone who did what she wanted regardless of the social norms and was exactly what the main character needed to be. Chasing answers to her father, James Miller’s death, she was drawn into the seedy underbelly of Victorian London and pulled down a variety of lanes in search of clues and suspects.

Along the way she meets Detective Tom Culley, a kind young man who has a good police head on him and despite his misgivings, allows Catriona to lead him around on an ‘off the books’ investigation into her father’s murder.

There is also The Darkwater Bride, a myth and legend. A woman who works in the shadows, protecting, it seems, those women who cannot protect themselves.

It was a very compelling audiobook, at 6h+ it needed to be to keep my focus. There are graphic descriptions in this telling, so I wouldn’t recommend it to easily offended or squeamish people.

The telling was filled with emotion, agony and curiosity being the two that I felt the most. It offers a lot of insight into the characters involved and peels back the layers to reveal the secrets of The Darkwater Bride. I felt sad at many points during particular character’s stories and there was one character that got particularly entangled in my emotions while listening.

This review might feel a bit lacklustre but in sitting down to write it I realised that there wasn’t a lot I could go into detail about without spoiling the listen for any future readers. I will say that, in my opinion, it ends in a definitive way that makes sense for the characters involved.

There are moments that will get your adrenaline pumping. Certain aspects of the telling get under your skin but it is magnificent storytelling and I enjoyed listening immensely. It is currently in audible’s Plus Catalogue, so if you have audible membership you don’t need to worry about not having any credits to get to listen to this.

I would 100% recommend this audiobook and I give it: ✨✨✨✨✨