Uprostřed lesa stojí dům zvaný Lichen Hall, místo opředené dávnými pověstmi o přízracích, čarodějnicích a dítěti, které nebylo tak docela dítětem.V roce 1965 do Lichen Hall přijíždí Pearl Gorhamová, která sem byla jako mnoho dalších mladých žen poslána porodit. A brzy v ní vzklíčí podezření, že majitelé panství něco skrývají.Seznámí se tu se záhadnou ženou a jejím malým synem, kteří žijí na pozemcích panství, a společně začnou odhalovat tajemství tohoto místa.Pravda pomalu vyplouvá na povrch, ale spolu s ní se vkrádá i temnota a Pearl musí nakonec přehodnotit všechno, co zná a čemu věří – a riskovat, co je jí nejdražší.

⭐A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick⭐''Chilling and beautifully written … C.J. Cooke''s finest novel yet'' Emilia Hart''A spellbinding thriller'' Scots MagazineFour hundred years separate them.One book binds them.Glasgow 2024: Clem waits by her daughter’s hospital bed. Erin was found on an idyllic beach in Fynhallow Bay, Orkney with catastrophic burns and only one memory: her name is Nyx.But how did she get these burns? And how did her boyfriend end up burned alive?Orkney 1594: accused of witchcraft, Alison Balfour awaits trial. The punishment? To be burned alive.Separated by four hundred years but bound by the Book of Witching, two women stand imperilled. Can they unlock a centuries-old mystery? And will Fynhallow Bay give up its secrets before someone else dies?__________________________________Readers have fallen to the Book of Witching:‘My heart was in my mouth from the opening pages until the final paragraph and I couldn''t guess just how events would end…’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘I raced through this book in one day and absolutely recommend for anyone who loves a chilling read, especially one with a historical basis and witchy topic.’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘It’s atmospheric, witchy, magical, mysterious and thrilling and I felt compelled to read on…’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘This book was both thrilling and engaging, it was written superbly, and it had me hooked from the beginning.’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Exciting, thrilling and absorbing. I loved this book from start to finish. The different timelines kept me hooked and kept the pace moving. Beautifully haunting.’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

C.J. Cooke’s latest chilling tale, a Radio 2 Book Club Pick, The Book of Witching, is available to buy now!* * *Something has walked the floors of the Ormen for over a century.Something that craves revenge…*Longlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize*''Mesmerising and terrifying … If you''re looking for a spooky read this winter give this a go'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''A dark, claustrophobic and gripping read'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''It''s the highly original story and masterful plot that impresses most – twists and turns with a fabulous ending'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐1901. On board the Ormen, a whaling ship battling through the unforgiving North Sea, a woman awakes. Attacked and dragged there against her will, it’s just her and the crew – and they’re all owed something only she can give them.Decades later, the Ormen is found drifting across the ocean, deserted. Just one body is left on board, his face and feet mutilated, his cabin locked from the inside. Everyone else has vanished.Now. Urban explorer Dominique travels into the near-permanent darkness of the northernmost tip of Iceland. She''s searching for the final resting place of the Ormen’s wreck, and she’s determined to uncover its secrets.But she’s not alone. Something is here with her. And it’s seeking revenge…***‘Rich, chilling and gorgeously gothic. A Haunting in the Arctic is the kind of enchanting, terrifying mystery I just adore’ Chris Whitaker‘Cooke delivers yet another spine-chilling treat in this lushly imagined, terrifying novel’ Emilia Hart, bestselling author of Weyward‘Mesmerising and terrifying, this is a powerful story lovingly told … Highly recommended’ Lisa Ballantyne

‘Haunting’ Sara Sheridan‘Intriguing, atmospheric, thought-provoking’ Alexandra Bell‘Beautifully crafted, thrilling and atmospheric’ Rebecca NetleyIn the midst of the woods stands a house called Lichen Hall.This place is shrouded in folklore – old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who is not quite a child.Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed.Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something.Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds – and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place.As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew – and risk what she holds most dear.Praise for The Ghost Woods . . .‘Cooke has mixed the darkness of reality with a magical realism that will have you gripped’Woman & Home‘This chilling gothic tale is the perfect choice for a book club . . . atmospheric’ Prima‘Original and compelling, The Ghost Woods is a beautifully written, chilling tale that will stay with the reader long after the book is finished’ Elizabeth Lee‘[C.J. Cooke is] a master of the feminist gothic!’ Katherine May’The Ghost Woods rattles along, with a twisty plot that defies expectations right from the start . . . highly enjoyable’ Sally Hinchcliffe‘An eerie gothic thriller’ Samantha Downing‘Deliciously unsettling, strangely believable’ Carly Reagon‘With a great plot, this suspenseful and compelling story touches on the difficult history of women in mid-20th-century Scotland’Candis

Don’t miss this chilling gothic thriller from the bestselling author . . . ’Cooke has creatively interwoven the darkness of reality with a magical realism that will truly have you gripped’Woman & Home‘Fascinating and enthralling’ Prima‘Wonderfully atmospheric and compelling’ Rosamund Lupton‘A flawless read’ Elizabeth Lee‘Seething with gothic menace’ Caroline Lea‘This ghost story is a perfect mix of propulsive plot and shivers-up-the-spine spookiness’Good HousekeepingA deserted lighthouseUpon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island stands a lighthouse. Strange and terrible events have happened here. It started with a witch hunt. Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing.A lost familyLiv Stay and her children don’t believe in witches or curses. But within months of arriving on the island, her daughter Luna is the only one of them left.An impossible childTwenty years later, Luna’s missing sister turns up out of the blue. She is exactly the girl Luna remembers. Same face. Same smile. Same age.Faced with the impossible, it’s up to Luna to find out what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago.