Medlock
(Hardback)
Available Formats
Publishing Details
Medlock
By (Author) S. G. Hartnell
Little, Brown Book Group
Sphere
13th January 2026
2nd October 2025
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Fiction
Thriller / suspense fiction
Physical Properties
Hardback
320
Width 156mm, Height 240mm, Spine 22mm
Description
'Macabre and frightening' PAULA HAWKINS
'Twisted, exhilarating and very, very creepy' LOUISE CANDLISH'Will keep you reading well into the night and awake well beyond that' CATHERINE COOPER1978. Mrs. Medlock is the dutiful housekeeper at Marwood Manor. One of the few remaining staff, she protects a dying aristocratic order, serving the Lord and Lady and caring for their sickly young son. For over the past twenty years, Mrs. Medlock has become the keeper of secrets. Secrets of the family. Secrets of her own. Secrets that may be found in the manor's walled garden, out of sight but not forgotten. When a distant relative, Mary, arrives at the property in need of a place to live and with a determination to explore, Mrs. Medlock fears the secrets of Marwood are no longer safe. And digging up the past may have deadly consequences for them all . . .Reviews
Macabre and frightening, S. G. Hartnell's shocking retelling of the children's classic The Secret Garden will have you on the edge of your seat from the first page until the last -- PAULA HAWKINS
If you grew up on The Secret Garden, park your nostalgia and prepare for a seriously hair-raising revisit. Twisted, exhilarating and very, very creepy, Medlock is a triumph. I raced through it -- LOUISE CANDLISH
S. G. Hartnell's update of The Secret Garden brings a stylish contemporary twist to a much-loved classic. A thoughtful and engaging read -- JOHN BOYNE
The Secret Garden but not as you know it. Sinister, mysterious, twisty and pulling out all the Gothic stops, this had me hooked from the start to the unexpected and terrifying end -- CARLY REAGON
A deliciously dark, Gothic mystery. Kept me up beyond my bedtime! -- JANE CORRY
This bold reimagining of The Secret Garden is a darkly perfect slice of contemporary gothic. It takes the bones of a classic and rebuilds them into something entirely wild and horrifying and new, tightening the screws on the reader at every turn. I can't wait to see what S. G. Hartnell's imagination conjures next . . . -- ALEX HAY
I LOVED this book. Once I started, I simply could not stop. Such a clever reimagining, and so beautifully written. It was tense, evocative, moody and shocking -- LOUISE SWANSON
A gothic reimagining of The Secret Garden to keep you reading well into the night and awake well beyond that - dark, scary and unexpected -- CATHERINE COOPER
A beautifully written tale of good and evil. Restless, relatable and utterly absorbing. Just make sure you read it with all the lights on -- MARION TODD
A spine-chilling, nerve-jangling web of secrets and illusions. S.G. Hartnell's Medlock is a thing of beauty, draped in darkness. Breathtaking -- HELEN FIELDS
A dark, sinister, cleverly constructed tale, disturbingly gripping and not for the faint hearted. Hartnell is a shining new talent in the Gothic horror genre -- A. A. CHAUDHURI
Author Bio
S.G. Hartnell is a pseudonym for Sunday Times bestselling and Polari prize-listed author, B.P. Walter. He was born and raised in Essex and after spending his childhood and teenage years reading compulsively, he worked in bookshops then went to the University of Southampton to study Film and English followed by an MA in Film & Cultural Management. He is an alumnus of the Faber Academy and formerly worked in social media coordination for the head office of Waterstones. He lives in Essex.
