A review by sharron_joy_reads
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Agnes is a silhouette artist in Victorian Bath, still waiting for her love Montague to return and struggling to provide for her mother and nephew Cedric. 

Pearl is a child medium, pale and sickly, her gift seems remarkable and is exploited by her sister, Myrtle who takes care of Pearl and her ailing father. 

As the sitters who have been portrayed by Agnes start to die she seeks out Pearl to help find the killer but, sometimes the ghosts bring more than answers and once that darkness is unleashed, who can contain it.

An historical murder mystery very much in the author’s style. Set in a bleak and frozen Bath in winter, it is heavy with the symbolism of death and suffering, the atmosphere is morbid and macabre. Both Agnes and Pearl are stuck in their lives, both feeling obligated to provide for the family around them. 

It is a slow build that is compelling and addictive in its steady flow of intrigue and the revelations in the last quarter of the story are shocking and unexpected. A gruesomely gothic tale.