Available Formats
Midnight in Soap Lake
By (Author) Matthew Sullivan
HarperCollins Publishers
HQ
4th June 2025
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Crime and mystery: women sleuths
Contemporary horror and ghost stories
Narrative theme: Sense of place
Narrative theme: Environmental issues / the natural world
Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary
813.6
Paperback
416
Width 153mm, Height 234mm, Spine 26mm
270g
'Midnight in Soap Lake made me fall in love with reading all over again' Stuart Turton
A fantastic, assured debut Elly Griffiths on Matthew Sullivan
Abigail uprooted her life to move to Soap Lake, Washington. A once-popular tourist destination, the town is now home to a dwindling population and the menacing shadow of an urban legend.
With her husband away on a work trip, Abigail is alone when a young boy emerges from the desert scrub, catatonic and covered in blood. His mother, Esme, lies stabbed to death in a nearby car.
When Abigail discovers Esme was a local woman who moved away after a series of tragedies, she is compelled to find answers. Esmes is not the only mysterious death this town has witnessed.
But her search attracts unwanted and dangerous attention. Drawn into a complex web of conspiracies and violence, Abigail will learn that the smallest towns can hide the biggest secrets.
'Hooked me from page one. This twisty, smart thriller is brimming with complex characters, a page-turning plot and big questions of science, nature, marriage and murder. Matthew Sullivan expertly blends fact, fable and the evocative setting of Soap Lake in rural Washington state to create a spellbinding novelI adored it.' Tara Conklin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics
'A shimmering, shadowy tarn of a mystery, rippling with complex heroines, David Lynchian townspeople, sinister bogeymen (TreeTop is terrifying!), and a spectacularly rich storyline set in smalltown Washington State. Fans of Tana French, Jess Walter, and Kate Atkinson will absolutely love this novel.' Sharma Shields, author of The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac
Praise for the author
This book ticked all the boxes for me: an engaging heroine, an intriguing premise, interesting characters and a plot that involved books, readers and the very darkest human passions. A fantastic, assured debut. Elly Griffiths, bestselling author of The Crossing Places
Matthew Sullivan has writtenwith great panache and suspensea smart, twisty crime novel filled with compelling characters set in a world that book-lovers will adore. Jess Walter, # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins
There is a clever, erudite puzzle plot in this bookish mystery, along with whip-smart writing. Matthew Sullivans debut is stylish and entertaining. Ellen Crosby, author of The Champagne Conspiracy
An intriguingly dark, twisty story and eccentric characters make this book a standout. Kirkus Reviews
Matthew Sullivan is the beloved author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, an Indie Next Pick, B&N Discover pick, a GoodReads Choice Award finalist and winner of the Colorado Book Award. He received his MFA from the University of Idaho and has been a resident writer at Yaddo, Centrum, and the Vermont Studio Center. His short stories have been awarded the Robert Olen Butler Fiction Prize and the Florida Review Editors' Award for Fiction. His writing has been featured in the New York Times Modern Love column, The Daily Beast, and Shelf Awareness amongst others.