There are secrets both Adam and Amelia are adept in keeping from each other. Adam is a screenwriter and Amelia works in a dog’s care centre. Adam suffers from prosopagnosia and prefers books over people. Both the partners keep blaming each other and come across as selfish beings. The once romantic couple, to save their marriage one last time before it falls apart, are advised to spend their weekend away from home. Once they reach Amelia’s chosen destination it does not seem to be what the couple thought it should have been. It’s an isolated Blackwater Chapel in a Scottish highland which has been transformed into a home. In the chapel they get cues that it was a witch prison centuries ago. Their dog Bob who accompanies them simply disappears mysteriously. Closer to the chapel is a cottage and there they come across a grey haired woman while searching for Bob. When Adam peeps in he sees lit candles and a rabbit in her lap. The woman after learning about their trespass simply opts to draw the curtains of her room. The hunt for their pet reveals a lot about the chapel and its surroundings. 

This is Alice Feeney’s fourth novel. For 15 years she worked as a journalist for the BBC. The plot has many twists and keeps the reader engaged till the very end. It is dark, suspenseful, not at all predictable and shocks marvellously. In the book the rekindling of lost passion in the form of a trip turns out to be a nightmare. Both Adam and Amelia find it hard to trust each other when their own safety is concerned. There are instances that send chills down their spines. It’s a gripping thriller that has romance, secret letters written on anniversaries never to be given, jealousy, betrayal, lies, bitter truths, revenge, murder, murky childhood, illness, loss, grief, doubting one’s potential and regrets. It is spectacularly written and a compelling read.