As the title suggests a dark story evolving around a mental asylum in Ireland, supposedly a superior institute to the norm. The plot involves the staff and patients in this institution. A difficult read, but well worth the perseverance.

This is the first of the Tom Reynolds series I have read, and will be starting the at the beginning.

What a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, with so many twists and turns this book is completely gripping.
Lots of detail regarding how the asylums were run and the appalling abuse the patients suffered.

Highly recommended.

Thank you netgalley, No Spain and Quercus Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

so many twists and turns what a thriller of a read...couldnt wait to pick the book up, was counting the time when i could go back and re-start reading it again, how work got in the way....nightmare

now this is how a good psychological book should be written with the twist at the end so jaw dropping that you just cant even imagine it...

going to be adding jo spain in my list of favourite authors from now on

Jo Spain is one of my favourite crime writers as not only does she write in such a fluent and alluring style, she also weaves some complex yarns often inspired by real world events. Many people will have been introduced to her earlier this year with her bestseller 'The Confession', but in reality she has been writing for quite a while. I'm so glad she is making a bigger impact and gaining some attention now, her books certainly deserve to be read by a wide audience. This one is no exception.

'The Darkest Place' is the fourth novel to feature DCI Tom Reynolds, a member of the police in Dublin, Ireland. One the aspects I loved most was the green and gorgeous setting of the Emerald Isle. I have loved the scenic surroundings for many years and felt the author did an amazing job of evoking the magic and myth of the island and its inhabitants. Sadly, with this being a thriller, the story is a dark and disturbing one and reminds me very much of the scandals that happened in Ireland over the past few decades, those involving the Catholic Church and other institutions. As always, this is an intelligently crafted, deftly plotted and ultimately horrific story, that had many twisty surprises that I appreciated. I really wasn't expecting the denouement - wowzer! An explosive ending if ever there was one! The horrendous abuse that the inmates suffered at the mental asylum was shocking, and the focus on mental health patients, sectioning and the treatment received at such institutions makes this book unforgettable. Being a mental health campaigner, this scarred me quite a bit but placing MH front and centre was something I very much admired.

A deep exploration of the dark secrets from Ireland's past and a hauting historical tale, Spain expertly uses misdirection to throw us off the scent. This is one I won't forget in a hurry. Meticulously researched, authentically developed and fast paced, this is an unmissable thriller!

Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Jo Spain’s Chief Inspector Tom Reynolds has had a bad year, harassed by his immediate boss, Joe Kennedy (a portentous name if ever there was one) and blamed by the press for problems that are not of his making, things only get worse when he is contacted by Kennedy on Christmas Day and told that he is to prepare to travel to the West Coast Island of Oileán na Coilte to investigate a forty year old cold case. The island housed St Christina’s an asylum long ago closed down and now the subject of archeological investigation as a precursor to modern development. Forty years previously, however, it had been the centre of an investigation into the disappearance of one of its senior doctors, Conrad Howe. Howe’s wife, Miriam, has never given up hope that he will return home and each Christmas, on the anniversary of his disappearance, she dresses the Christmas tree in exactly the way he liked it in anticipation of his homecoming. Now, concealed in one of the mass graves dug for the patients, Howe’s body has been found, little more than a skeleton, but still wearing his distinctive jacket which also contains his wallet.

Horrified by the details he reads in a diary, secreted by Howe in his attic, of the treatments inflicted on the asylum’s patients, Tom finds himself searching not just for a murderer, but also for the identity of the doctor at the centre of this abuse. His efforts and those of his team are thwarted at every turn, however, by the presence on the island of Dr Lawrence Boylan, former head of the asylum and now a seriously ill man. It is clear that he and the ex-nurse, Carla Crowley, who now takes care of him, are hiding something but whether it is to do with Conrad Howe’s disappearance or with more recent occurrences isn’t immediately apparent.

There have been several novels over the past decade that have dealt with the aftermath of the closing of asylums, many of which housed people who should never have been classified as insane in the first place. One of the most interesting questions that Spain poses in The Darkest Place is to do with the effect that living and working in such an institution had on the people employed there. No doubt many of the patients wrongly incarcerated did eventually become mentally unstable, but what about the staff? How many of them managed to retain their sanity and what were the consequences for all concerned if they did become ill?

Because of its subject matter, this is not an easy book to read but it is a good crime novel. I did suddenly click what had happened, what the truth was behind Conrad’s disappearance but not until about eighty-five percent of the way through, which I think is about the right time for the light bulb to go on. Jo Spain is a writer I am becoming increasingly impressed by and I warmly recommend this, her latest offering.

With thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for providing a review copy.

Jo Spain’s latest novel is a stark reminder of how appallingly those with mental health issues – and, shockingly, even those who are just a little eccentric or opinionated - were regarded in Ireland throughout much of the twentieth century. This is not a novel for the squeamish as, during the course of the story, various cruel, pointless treatments are described in detail, and justified in the name of progress by leading psychiatrists.
Once again we meet the very likeable DCI Tom Reynolds and his team as well as the usual forensic scientists and the criminal psychologist, all of whom play their part in the solving of the murder of Dr Conrad Howe, one of the experts working at St Christina’s asylum on the island of Oileán na Coillte forty years earlier. Because the relationships between members of the team have been so well and enjoyably developed in previous novels in this series, I was hoping for a little more interchange between these characters. However, there was quite a cast from St Christina’s to contend with as well!
At times the Gothic description teetered towards cliché and I couldn’t help thinking during some of the depictions of fog and graves and dungeons that a little less of the scary might have made the contrast between normal life and the heinous medical practices even more vivid and shocking.
Whilst relationships between some of the characters on Oileán na Coillte were not entirely convincing, perhaps because the narrative lacked the historical and emotional details needed to understand exactly why certain loyalties were fiercely guarded, the final twist in the tale was clever.
My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Editions Ltd for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Jo Spain and the Tom Reynolds series. The Darkest Place is #4 in the series and by far the BEST so far! It can be read as a standalone; and will still be thoroughly enjoyed for its atmospheric location and dark themes of mental health treatment in the 1970s.

“Forty Years was too long to wait for somebody to come back from the dead”

The novel surrounds a cold case from 40yrs ago. The disappearance of a Doctor at St Christina’s, psychiatric institution on the Island of Oilean Na Caille. His wife Miriam Howe has waited every year with hope, time has literally stood still for this woman. When she receives a phone call from that a body has been discovered and, she may finally lay Conrad to rest.

The novel details the daily life at St Christina’s asylum in 1972. How the patients were often treated as inmates with little or no compassion or humanity. I felt the author had excelled herself with her detailed research into historical mental health abuses and The Darkest Place is as close to accurate as you are going to get!

‘Ireland had the highest number of people lost to asylums per capita, in the entire world’

DCI Tom Reynolds receives the information on Christmas day of the body discovered at the grounds of the asylum. The case then quickly becomes his personal obsession and he pushes family duty aside in the name of justice.

With no DNA match identified and the discovery of a doctor’s diary the case becomes more complex and heavily layered in mental health treatments a stigma.
‘Do not be lured into feeling sympathy for our patients’ – Diary entry

‘How terrifying this place must seem to the vulnerable people who arrive here involuntary’ – Diary entry

A cause of death is identified, and it points to murder. Then a mass grave is discovered, and it blows the case wide open!!!!!
What really happened at St Christina’s all those years ago?

‘Sometimes the patients can get manic’

When you discover some of the mental health crimes/conditions/sins such as homosexuality. You begin to realise how many of societies most vulnerable were systemically and inhumanely incarcerated and experimented upon. . .
‘You would never believe, in the outside world, how little it takes to cross the threshold from there to here’

The novel fully illustrates the bleak and unhappy life that occurred at the asylum. Prison like conditions and staff that pleasure in the discomfort of patients. Then you discover the basement patients, were the worst cases were held. . .

There is an amazing twist at the end. But this novel really has it all, superb storytelling, deeply layered plot and terrifying accuracy. 5*

****Will add review to Amazon tomorrow once the title is live*****

Thankyou to NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author, Jo Spain, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Darkest Place in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I loved this book. I thought the storyline was well thought out and fast paced with plenty of intrigue to keep you guessing. I had to read this book in one sitting.
Definitely well worth a read for fans of the genre.

This is the fourth outing for DCI Tom Reynolds, this case sees him directed to the old St Christinas mental asylum.on the remote island of Oileán na Caillte.
The place has been closed for years and is about to be torn down and a new hotel built in its place.
A mass grave has been discovered but it seems one body did not die of natural causes.
It is thought to be that of DR Conrad Howe, the brother in law of a high court judge. Dr Howe has been missing for decades.
Tom and his DS Ray Lennon and criminal psychologist Linda board the ferry for the island not knowing what if anything they will discover to allow them to solve a forty year old murder.
Evidence of horrific abuse of the patients in the name of finding a cure is exposed, experimental treatments that sound more like torture abound.
The Island has a few residents remaining who had worked at the asylum and as the investigation develops I was introduced to an interesting cast of characters, fed information which exposed possible suspects, only to discover as the plot reached its climax I had it totally wrong.
This book had me gripped I couldnt put it down, the barbaric and cruel treatment of those deemed to require help made it an alarming read but all the more intriguing .
The author created an atmosphere that was dark and eerie, a totally compelling read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

Inspector Tom Reynolds #4

Island of the Lost was the islands name long before the hospital was built. In winter, they say that the fog falls so heavily there that you can't see your hand in front of your face. Storms rage so forceful you can be blown from the cliffs. Once St. Christina's was built, the name took a new meaning. Very few who went into that place, ever left.

A mass grave is found near an abandoned asylum on a remote island off the North Irish coast. Dozens of bodies are in body bags but one has been wrapped in plastic., apparently the only one not to have died a natural death. It's the body of a Dr who went missing over forty years ago. Tom Reynolds and his team have been sent to investigate. It's narrated in in parts in diary form by the Dr who is missing.

This book is very easy to read. It's also full of twists and turns. The book also shows how people with mental health issues were badly treated back then. It seems there were many with motives to kill the Dr. Just when I thought i knew where this story was going, I was wrong and I was sent in a completely different direction. I did not want to put this gripping tale down. The pace is fast from the beginning. I have read all the books in this series and I think this is the best one so far.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Quercus Books, and the author Jo Spain for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This author is one my favourites.
DCI Tom Reynolds gets a phone call on Christmas Day. He has just been handed a cold case that is forty years old.
All I can say is OMG. This is a murder mystery with more than a hint of the gothic.
The story is all set on an island in an old mental asylum. It is narrated in places in diary form by the man who is missing.
This is a murder mystery from the Dark side. I was hooked from the first page and I could not put it down. I devoured every single page .
Mental health is no longer a taboo subject. Treatments and medication have improved so much, but forty years ago it was a still a veritable new illness and treatments were experimental.
Some of the treatments in this story are barbaric, horrendous and terrifying. It is abhorrent to think that was the norm.
Having worked in mental health- dementia for over twenty-five years is this how my residents would have been treated?
I highly recommend this book.
I would like to thank the author Jo Spain, Quercus Books and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC of this book, I didn't know what to expect as I've never read any book written by Jo Spain and ''The Darkest Place'' proved to be a pleasant surprise, combining classical police procedural storyline with a few thriller/horror elements. The setting is a small island in Ireland where a mental hospital used to exist and the plot begins when a mass grave is found near the premises of the hospital. An acclaimed doctor's body, missing for over 40 years is excavated and when foul play is suspected, Inspector Tom Reynolds along with his criminal investigation team is sent to the island in order to solve a cold, nearly frozen, case. Unfortunately, I was not familiar with the history of the characters and I believe that it would be better if I've read the previous novels in the series, but nevertheless, this fact didn't spoil the reading experience. ''The Darkest Place'' is an atmospheric thriller that reminded me a bit of Johan Theorin's novel ''The Asylum'' and is an excellent book for late night reading, sending chills down your spine through its great descriptions of the ominous mental institution which carries a disturbing history of patient treatment. The characters, both the protagonists and the secondary ones, are well-outlined, while the plot is moving forward at a steady pace reaching the climax in the last part of the novel. Jo Spain is a writer that I will definitely have to check out in the future. Highly recommended!

*I would like to thank Jo Spain, Quercus Books and Netgalley for providing me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
This is a very well written novel focusing on the drama behind psychiatric treatment patients received in Ireland some half a century ago. The plot and the setting are really good and the Author kept me guessing till the very last pages. Narration is one of the strongest parts of this book but apart from telling a good story, Jo Spain admits her aim is to uncover some tragic moments from Irish social history. This book is worth the time you will spend reading it.

DCI Tom Reynolds is back in The Darkest Place which is the fourth book in the series by Jo Spain and it is another excellent addition to what is a great series.

This time Reynolds is still being kept out in the cold by his new boss so when the body of a man who has been missing for 40 years is found over the Christmas period the case lands on Reynolds' desk.

Without giving away any spoilers the missing man worked as a Doctor in a remote mental institution and the author weaves a deft plot using fact and fiction to give a wonderful story with a number of twists and turns.

The story moves along at a great pace and the main characters continue to develop without distracting from the plot.

Thoroughly recommended

Oh, how I have been looking forward to another Tom Reynolds investigation and this latest from Jo Spain most definitely did not disappoint!

In this book we join DI Tom Reynolds and his loyal team of Ray, Laura and Linda as they are called to an old asylum on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland. It is being redeveloped and a mass grave has been disturbed. Most bodies are of ex-patients but one is thought to be that of a doctor who went missing Christmas Eve 40 years ago.

As well as following the team throughout their investigation, we also get to read  the diary which Conrad's wife had. In it, concerns  are raised about the treatment of patients in the asylum, callous treatment of vulnerable people with mental health issues, and some of whom who probably shouldn't even have been in an asylum. Had this diary given someone a motive for murder? And was it a patient or a staff member?

There was a real 'closed room' kind of atmosphere while the team were on island. There was no WiFi, a patchy mobile signal  and important documents had to be sent back to the team on the mainland using a fax machine. The author created a really spooky atmosphere in the old building which was compounded by dark and dreary weather. Sometimes those on the island were effectively trapped as the boat to and from the mainland only sailed if the sea was calm enough. This all added up to give a really claustrophobic feel to the novel.

There were so many people it seemed with things to hide both past and present and many had possible motives to kill Conrad. But Tom and his team could never have guessed what darkness the building was hiding - and neither did I. The book shone a light on the way way people with mental health issues were so badly treated in the not so distant past. There were people kept in the asylum who may never have even been considered in need of help these days. One of the doctors does comment that people were doing what they thought the patients needed at the time but some of the so-called treatment was just cruel and inhumane.

The author so cleverly mis-directed me throughout the book that I had to go back and read some parts again and then it was all so clear! Jo Spain has written another fast-paced read which I thoroughly enjoyed and - no pressure - but I'm already looking forward to the next Reynolds novel! I am also looking forward to seeing her at an event at the Bloody Scotland crime festival in a few weeks where I hope to have a little chat about just when that next novel might be ready...

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really wished I had read the previous books to DCI Tom Reynolds but saying that I still really enjoyed this book and liked the authors style of writing. I shall definitely be looking forward to the next book

Jo Spain grows in stature as a writer whose source material draws on the darkest and most traumatic parts of Ireland's history and here she has in her sights the deplorable and horrifying history of mental health, the psychiatric asylums for the unwanted in Irish society, the homosexuals, those who challenged the powerful, those with learning difficulties, epileptics, women who fall short of the rigid expectations of them and more. Ireland is not the only nation with a shameful past when it comes to mental health and the arrogance of 'doctors' using their positions of power to abuse, torture, and kill the vulnerable but it is right up there with the worst offenders. DCI Tom Reynolds has been sidelined from investigations amidst a series of leaks to the media that question his character and his abilities, and his self promoting, highly ambitious boss, Joe Kennedy, has been conspicuous in his absence of support for Tom. It is Christmas, and amidst the discovery of a mass grave on Oileanna Coiltte, known to locals as the island of lost souls, is the murdered body of man in the clothes and identity papers of Dr Conrad Howe, a man missing for over 40 years whilst working in the gothic and creepy St Christina's asylum.

Tom is suspicious at being landed the cold case that goes back so many years ago, with the asylum shut down for sometime, with so many patients and staff having died since, it feels as if he is being set up for failure. It would be well nigh impossible to identify the killer. He and DS Ray Lennon arrive on the isolated island with its fog and atrocious weather. Both are shocked at the harrowing picture that emerges of the horrifying surgeries, torture and abuse of patients, so many of whom were not insane but driven mad by what was done to them, where there was no possibility of help, cure or escape, an early death the only outcome that awaited them. Along with the old head of the asylum, the sick elderly Dr Lawrence Boylan, a few who worked at St Christina's still live on the island. Interviews with them, along with the diary of Dr Howe, the strange screams of a woman in the night, plus the evidence of the nightmares of what patients endured in the basement of the asylum ensure that Tom and his team are fired up with determination to uncover St Christina's and Ireland's dark buried truths.

Jo Spain gives us a chilling portrayal of the disturbing history of mental health in Ireland's asylums, movingly depicting through insights provided by looking beneath the facade of St Christina's, incarcerating the nation's undesirables, with society turning a blind eye and no effective monitoring of the hospital by the establishment. This is a time when doctors saw themselves as gods who can do no wrong and beyond being questioned despite their outrageous behaviour. This is a novel of horrors, a story compellingly told with unexpected twists that ensure a thought provoking and thrilling read. Another fantastic addition in what is turning out to be a marvellous series. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

I've not read the other books in this series, but I will be doing. Loved the pace of the book, the people, the setting. It's nicely grim yet has plenty of humour along the way. Certainly well written, with characters that you can care about.

Set in Ireland, and then a small island within Ireland, the differences and similarities between UK and Irish police forces is interesting in itself. Mental health treatment has long been a balance between help and torture and this book shows what can happen when the staff become more insane than the patients.

An abandoned asylum on a remote island, a murdered man found in a mass grave and mysterious disappearances make for a riveting book. I haven’t read any others in this series but I will certainly track them down now. The detective team were formidable and professional and the story moved at a cracking pace. The ultimate revelation left me gasping in shock and it all fell into place. Top Marks Jo Spain.

Wow, Jo Spain has done it again. Another gripping novel in the Tom Reynolds series. A drk tale, fiction but with an historical texture of horrors uncovered in Ireland over recent years.
The Darkest Place is full of atmosphere and dark secrets waiting to be uncovered. Tom Reynolds and his team are characters that gel really well together and are ones I have come to really feel like I know and care about.
Every time I thought I had it figured out I was left guessing again.
Bravo Jo Spain & here's to many more.