The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex Blog Tour

 Books including mysteries hold a strong appeal to me, I mean how could they not. There's this feeling that I'm a detective trying to uncover something as I read.

The Lamplighters is the debut novel from Emma Stonex (well the first under her own name) based on the true story which took place in the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides in 1900 where three lighthouse keepers disappeared.

Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.

What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?

Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface . . .

Emma's fictional novel shifts location and time, where we now find ourselves in Cornwall, Maiden Head during 1972.

Three lighthouse keepers have disappeared, the circumstances are extremely suspicious. The door going in, locked from the inside. Clocks within all stopped at the same time. No evidence of any struggle. The lighthouse seemingly keeping the secret of what happened to those men.

Fast forward to 1972, an author is out to crack this unsolved mystery (or perhaps crime). He begins to interview the spouses of the deceased lighthouse keepers in a bid to finally uncover the truth.

They say we'll never know what happened to those men.
They say the sea keeps its secrets...

There is a tense and haunting narrative throughout the whole of this story.

Alternating between the past and present, we get to hear from not only the wives and girlfriend of those poor men but we also get the accounts of the lighthouse keepers themselves in their final days. Exploring the psychological impact on all parties involved, it becomes apparent that the job led to much deceit and extreme emotions.

And it wasn't just looking at the relationships between the men and their other halves, it was the dynamics of Arthur, Bill and Vincent working together, and the struggles that the women faced both before the tragedy and after.

Common ground doesn't always mean plain sailing.

The Lamplighters is a heart-stopping mystery rich with the salty air of the Cornish coast, and an unforgettable story of love and grief that explores the way our fears blur the line between the real and the imagined.

I was in awe of what the author has managed to create.

Blending the realities with the conceptualised, creating a tale that reads as true. Making it intelligent, informative and insightful.

It depicted everything with such detail. 

This was a story that was so much more than just the loss of those lighthouse keepers. It is a book about love, loss and longing. A tale about deceit, distress and dilemmas. All mixed in with an undercurrent of the supernatural.

Vivid descriptions and heartfelt dialogue makes The Lamplighters an atmospheric and almost poetic novel.

I was intrigued in the beginning and chilled to the bone when I finished.

We say this sentence often but this is a must read!

If you'd like to find out more about The Lamplighters you can follow the rest of the blog tour for my reviews and thoughts on the book.