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  • The Key in the Lock

  • A haunting historical mystery steeped in explosive secrets and lost love
  • By: Beth Underdown
  • Narrated by: Laura Kirman
  • Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (24 ratings)
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The Key in the Lock cover art

The Key in the Lock

By: Beth Underdown
Narrated by: Laura Kirman
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The gripping new novel from the award-winning author of The Witchfinder’s Sister.

I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unravelling from an upper window, and the terrace bathed in a hectic orange light.... Now I see that the decision I made at Polneath was the only decision of my life. Everything marred in that one dark minute.

By day, Ivy Boscawen mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she mourns another boy - one whose death decades ago haunts her still.

For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free.

But once you open a door to the past, can you ever truly close it again?

From the award-winning author of The Witchfinder's Sister comes a captivating story of burning secrets and buried shame, and of the loyalty and love that rises from the ashes.

©2022 Beth Underdown (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A gifted storyteller." (Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent)

"The Key in the Lock is an absolute triumph! Dark, clever and utterly enthralling, this is historical fiction - and storytelling - at its absolute best." (Elizabeth Macneal, author of Circus of Wonders)

"The Key in the Lock is the perfect gothic novel. It has secrets, guilt, brilliant characters, and a grand old house built on a terrible past. An absolute corker." (Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle)

What listeners say about The Key in the Lock

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    4 out of 5 stars
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A good yarn

Well worth a listen. Read well and clearly by the reader who was credible. A good book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent story

I really enjoyed this story and it was extremely well read. I am only sad that I have come to the end.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling.

I initially struggled to engage with this book but I'm so glad I persisted as in the end, I couldn't put it down. A great story, atmospheric & descriptive, both helped along by excellent narration. I shall miss listening to it. Recommended.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Dull and very putdownable

I enjoyed The Witchfinder's Sister so thought I'd give this a go, but it was so dull, I couldn't get past the first half a dozen chapters, and that took forever as I had to skip back a few minutes each time as I'd forgotten what had happened: it was so dull I had drifted off. I tried, I really did!
The narrator's flat delivery does nothing to incite any interest in what amounts to a list of events and dull conversations.
Thank you to Audible for the 'return title' option.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting

I found this story interesting. It was well conceived. But it wasn’t as gripping as her previous book.

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