The Dead Room

By: Catriona McPherson

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden, Pearl Hewitt

In this atmospheric thriller from Catriona McPherson, a young widow seeking refuge from her grief wades into the mists at the far end of memory lane—where something even darker awaits.

Reeling from the death of her husband, thirty-something audiobook narrator Lindsay Hale retreats to her Scottish hometown and the comforts of old times. The bungalow where she grew up is just as she left it, next to the scrapyard her family still owns. But something is wrong…something beyond grief.

Something she can only glimpse from the corner of her eye.

Lindsay’s brother and best friend are there to welcome her back. An elderly widow helps Lindsay make sense of her new normal, and a kind man hints at unexpected possibilities. But when her widow friend vanishes, only Lindsay seems to notice. And while she starts “recognizing” strangers, she begins forgetting familiar faces.

Every night, as Lindsay’s dream house fills with nightmares, she wonders whether she’s truly unraveling—or if something more sinister’s at play. Buried secrets surface and reality bends, forcing Lindsay to face the terrifying truth that her new haven isn’t so safe after all.

©2026 by Catriona McPherson. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“What an absolute treasure—and a joy to read. Completely engrossing—Catriona McPherson is a genius with dialogue and ingenious with suspense, and her deeply emotional and utterly relatable story made me neglect my own responsibilities—I could not wait to get back to the pages. Haunting, cinematic, clever, and wholly original—and beautifully written—you’ll be captivated from the first page to the perfect conclusion.”—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of All This Could Be Yours

“With The Dead Room, Catriona McPherson proves once again why she’s one of the top crime fiction authors writing today. As usual, she seamlessly blends complex characters with a smoldering tension that amps up with each chapter. A must-read for anyone who loves an atmospheric, slow-burn thriller.”—Kellye Garrett, award-winning author of Missing White Woman

“The Dead Room is a masterclass in suspense…Every page leads the reader on a twisted journey full of dread, with tension taut enough to leave your nerve endings singing. Catriona’s best book yet.”—Lisa Hall, author of Eight Years of Lies and winner of the CWA Whodunnit Dagger Award 2025

Oh editors, where art thou? Spoilers ahead

Where to start. First the good: the narrator’s soft, whispery voice was perfect for a very passive, kind of self-absorbed almost low intellect protagonist. I admit I wanted to see what happened even though I became very agitated at the garbled words of the protagonist, incessant inner thoughts, dreams, etal. I figured, ok she has had a great loss so I can excuse some of it. But the word salad was indecipherable at times. But if I admit that I actually wanted to know what happens, I figure that is worth an over-all 3.

But boy, howdy! There are spoilers, so proceed with caution if you are thinking of reading it.
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I really hate to be so critical of an author, but honestly maybe she should have used some Ai to close up some vast holes in what COULD have been a pretty good story (it would have had trim out at least two hours). The authors adds an addendum in which she promises us none of it was Ai. But honestly either the editors were calling it in, or she should have cleaned it up with Ai.

The protagonist was one of the most gullible, empty-headed, self-centered people I’ve encountered in a novel. I understand that there are places for protagonists who are questionable. But she was so intelligent-challenged that I honestly thought we were going to find out that her Dad had physically abused her and she had some brain damage, which made her kind of mentally challenged. And that maybe that was why the psycho brother used her for the con. That would have satisfied my shock at the things she did and said.

And by the way, the author appears to have forgotten to ever tell us exactly what the father did to the two children. After teasing it as nauseum throughout the whole book, we never found out.

Anyhow, the final straw with Lindsey was when she child-sat her boyfriend’s two boys and he wouldn’t even answer her call. Then she actually SAW the boys’ Mom at the hospital, and she saw that he had lied about who she was, and that the Mom wasn’t re-married to a woman, but to a man. So what does Lindsey do? After wringing her hands, and whining and crying about it, she literally accepted, that oh, he actually had two ex-wives! No make that three! He says with a sheepish grin and she has to stifle a smile because she is so relieved! Wait, what did I just read? So after remaining celibate with him for weeks, she actually sleeps with him THEN! Her acceptance of the vile way she was treated almost became unbearable. Again, I was hoping we would find out she was mentally challenged, then I could understand her.

Her actions were just so dim-witted at times, that I almost agreed with the “bad guys” when they called her dumb.

So instead of going to the police to tell them about the dead bodies, she goes to the nursing home. OK. Saves Peggy. Yeah. Finally she is starting to redeem herself. But instead, after depositing Peggy at the neighbor’s—where she should have stayed—and called the police (hello! Peggy was her evidence!) she trots over to her own house where she knows two of the bad people are. Instead of turning on her expensive recording equipment to record Chloe’s taunts, she shrivels. Then when she climbs out the window, she presents herself to the two police and the two lying scumbags. The police think she is crazy, INSTEAD of saying, “hey HIS (Dave’s) Mom is next door. He has been drugging her, left her for dead, etc.” Peggy was all the proof she needed.

I apologize to the author for being so critical. But honestly, she is supposed to be a best selling author, and she might be s good writer. I imagine it’s hard to close up holes. But these were as big as the Grand Canyon. This is my first book by her, but sadly I think whoever her editor is, did her wrong.

Loved the writing! Loved the narrator!

This was my first time listening or reading a book by McPherson and I really enjoyed the suspense and atmosphere she created. The characters are well written and compelling. The narrator was terrific as well! I hope audible adds more of Ms McPherson’s titles.

“Gaslight meets sleeping murder”

…What did McPherson say…🤔.. “gaslight meets sleeping murder” very good description of this whole book. I am not going to lie, I was really confused until about halfway through and then when the huge plot came everything clicked into place and I was stunned. I am upset that it took so long for it to start getting really good but I HATE putting books down and will push through to finish. Overall, it wasn’t bad!