Crime• Thriller

Audiobook: One Dark Summer by Sarah Hornsley

July 9, 2026

Synopsis:

Lily has spent her whole life not knowing the truth.
Now, one island will change everything.

When she was four years old, Lily’s mother, Penny, walked out the family home and never returned. Growing up, Lily tried to block out the pain of betrayal. But years later, when Lily learns her mum’s family used to own a holiday home on Osea Island, she can’t resist booking a last-minute trip, hoping to finally find a connection to her mother.

But Osea is no ordinary place. Tidal and remote, it keeps its secrets close.

As Lily begins to peel back layers of the past, she uncovers a web of silence, betrayal, and pain stretching back twenty-five years. The island holds the truth of what really happened to Penny and why she never made it back home.

But some secrets aren’t buried in the past. Nor are they still on the island. Some are closer than Lily ever imagined.

Review:

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
The beginning immediately foreshadows that something happened in the past that has a profound impact on the present, and finding out what really happened turns into an interesting journey.
Lily grows up believing her mother ran away without any reason. Staying in the house by herself for extended periods always causes her anxiety. When her father goes away and she must come to terms with being on her own, she takes the opportunity to leave home and visit the place her mother was connected to while growing up. When she arrives on the island, she runs into a woman who looks oddly familiar, only to learn that she is her mother’s twin sister, who has believed for years that her sister died.
But Lily is clear proof that this is not the case. What really happened?
I really enjoyed the past and present timelines, as well as the different POVs, slowly building up to the moment when we finally learn what really happened and how all the puzzle pieces fit together. There are a lot of twists, and once the truth is revealed, it turned out to be even more than I expected, which I really liked. The story kept me entertained from beginning to end (although there were a few minor things that felt a bit over the top to me), and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
I had the pleasure of listening to this and the narrator did a really good job separating the characters out and make it very engaging.

🌙 Recension: One Dark Summer by Sarah Hornsley
📚 Genre: Crime, Thriller
📅 Release Date: July 9, 2026
📖 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
👤 Narrator: Daphne Kouma
📗 available in various formats
📱 Read as: Audiobook
💸 I received a free copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages / Listening Length: 8h 21min
⭐️ 4/5