The Red Hollow
9781399801867
Baskerville
Paperback
307pp
Baskerville
196x128x24
Natalie Marlow Baskerville FF|FFD|FFH|FFL|FV Paperback 2025
Marlow has a poetic eye . . . But it's her mix of detective story and Gothic ghosts, ancient folk legends and lingering wartime trauma, that lift the book
Financial Times, Best new thrillers
As full of atmosphere as the author's critically acclaimed debut, Needless Alley
Prima – Nina Pottell
Marlow is a truly gifted writer who imports the tropes and character types of classic noir to 1930s Birmingham with great success and in Garrett – a shell-shocked Great War veteran given to quoting Shakespeare and Blake – has created a gumshoe fit for many more adventures
New European
Private detective William Garrett and his new lesbian partner Phyll Hall make an engaging double act in Marlow's second thriller set in the Midlands in the 1930s. Red Hollow is a sanatorium whose patients are fleeing after a series of sinister disturbances. Marlow writes with a poet's eye for language
Financial Times, Best summer books of 2024: Thrillers
Following reports of ghostly disturbances at a sanatorium, Natalie Marlow's investigative duo, Garrett and Hall are called in to investigate, soon finding themselves falling into a world of rumour, folklore and death. Superbly researched, spine-tingling, and magnificently atmospheric, The Red Hollow is a masterful follow up to the brilliant Needless Alley and cements Marlow's reputation as a rising star in the world of historical crime fiction
Abir Mukherjee, author of THE SHADOWS OF MEN
The Red Hollow is a spectacular, Grand Guignol triumph. A truly splendid, wicked gem of a book. I loved it
Tom Mead, author of DEATH AND THE CONJUROR and THE MURDER WHEEL
Compelling, claustrophobic and beautifully written
Bridget Walsh, author of THE TUMBLING GIRL
I raced through The Red Hollow, a blood and rain-soaked fever dream of a novel, grounded in people, place and plot. I've missed Billy and Phyll. These characters get right up close and personal and I've loved spending time with them again
Emma Styles, author of NO COUNTRY FOR GIRLS
William and Phyll are back and this time our heroes have a cursed lake, a dentate mermaid, and the inhabitants of a psychiatric hospital for damaged veterans to deal with. The Red Hollow is a swirling, Gothic fever-dream of a novel that cements Marlow's place at the very top of the historical crime writing tree
Mark Wightman, author of WAKING THE TIGER
A dreamthick, dancing blend of country house mystery and folk horror
Dominic Nolan, author of VINE STREET
Brimming with menace and foreboding, The Red Hollow is a louring, towering Gothic nightmare, pulling together the moody brooding of noir and the pervasive terror of folk legend. Atmospheric and spine-tingling, it completely subverts the whole world of the country house mystery – the perfect follow-up to Marlow's triumphant debut Needless Alley
Chris Lloyd, author of THE UNWANTED DEAD