The Dark Room (51 page)

Minette Walters lives in Dorset with her husband and two children.

By the same author

The Ice House

The Sculptress

The Scold’s Bridle

The Echo

The Breaker

The Shape of Snakes

Acid Row

Fox Evil

Disordered Minds

The Devil’s Feather

The Chameleon’s Shadow

and

The Tinder Box

Chickenfeed

(Quick Reads)

Praise for Minette Walters

The Ice House

‘Terrific first novel with a high Rendellesque frisson count’

The Times

The Sculptress

‘A devastatingly effective novel’

Observer

The Scold’s Bridle

‘A gothic puzzle of great intricacy and psychological power’

Sunday Times

The Dark Room

‘A marvellous, dramatically intelligent novel. It shimmers with suspense, ambiguity and a deep unholy joy’

Daily Mail

The Echo

‘It grips like steel . . . Passion, compassion, intelligence and romance are what Walters offers with no quarter for squeamish cowards’

Mail on Sunday

The Breaker

‘Stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of crime novels . . . Existing fans will love
The Breaker
, new readers will be instant
converts’

Daily Express

The Shape of Snakes

‘Breaking all the rules of popular fiction, Minette Walters asks as much of her readers as many literary novelists, and yet she offers them a book as
gripping as any thriller’

Times Literary Supplement

Acid Row

‘Humane intelligence enables Walters to twist and turn her plot . . .
Acid Row
is a breathtaking achievement’

Daily Telegraph

Fox Evil

‘
Fox Evil
is the work of a writer at the peak of her confidence and supreme ability’

The Times

Disordered Minds

‘A powerful, acute and vivid work from a staggeringly talented writer’

Observer

The Tinder Box

‘If there wasn’t a recognised school of crime writing called Home Counties noir before, there is now. Minette Walters invented it and remains the
undisputed Head Girl’

Birmingham Post

The Devil’s Feather

‘One of the most powerful yet nuanced practitioners of the psychological thriller . . . always keeps the narrative momentum cracked up to a fierce
degree’

Daily Express

Chickenfeed

‘A marvellous little story, thoroughly intimate with human nastiness’

Evening Standard

The Chameleon’s Shadow

‘No wonder Minette Walters is the country’s bestselling female crime writer. But even this label does not exactly do justice to the scope and
breadth of her gripping, terrifying novels . . .
The Chameleon’s Shadow
is another classic’

Daily Mirror

First published 1995 by Macmillan

First published in paperback 1996 by Pan Books

This edition published 2008 by Pan Books

This electronic edition published 2010 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-330-52853-5 PDF
ISBN 978-0-330-52852-8 EPUB

Copyright © Minette Walters 1995

The right of Minette Walters to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Visit
www.panmacmillan.com
to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also fcopyright features, author
interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.