The Lighthouse Witches Review

By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)

This review is spoiler-free.

Synopsis:

Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse. A lighthouse that weathered more than storms. Mysterious and terrible events have happened on this island. It started with a witch hunt.

Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing without explanation. Coincidence? Or curse? Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left.

Twenty years later, Luna is drawn back to the place her family vanished. As the last sister left, it’s up to her to find out the truth…. But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?

The Lighthouse Witches is the second C.J. Cooke audiobook I have experienced, having previously, a few weeks ago, listened to The Ghost Woods (2022) – which in itself was incredible! Just like The Ghost Woods, The Lighthouse Witches is formatted in a similar fashion – the story is told through different periods of time and switches back and forth as the story progresses. Unlike The Ghost Woods, this time we have not one, but multiple narrators – each with their specific sections of time and characters. This presentation format works incredibly well, and as the story reaches its crescendo, everything clicks into place with rewarding precision. The story is truly a genre mash-up – featuring supernatural folklore, family drama and mystery elements spanning multiple generations. The characters, just like the story, are rich and complex and following their individual journeys was highly engaging.

There are similar themes, found within The Lighthouse Witches, that were present in The Ghost Woods, and even though I am only two books into my C.J. Cooke experience, I already feel that I have a good grasp of her writer’s voice and it is one that ticks plenty of boxes for what I want from this type of story. I appreciate that The Lighthouse Witches is told through the female gaze and this level of urgency and understanding elevates the narrative and characters to greater heights. 

As for the narrators – there are four in total and as previously mentioned, each has their own specific role within the overall story. Eva Feiler, Lesley Harcourt, Jess Nesling and Joshua Manning all have individual performative approaches, but these perfectly reflect their part of the story. Despite the multiple narrators, the final product works seamlessly and the different voices form one cohesive presentation.

In terms of the negatives, while the story is a little bit of a slow burn to begin with, the pacing keeps to story moving forward and when everything clicks into place in the final chapters, you can look back and see why a lot of groundwork was laid previously, even if at the time it felt a little cumbersing.

Strangely, I have experienced Audible’s C.J. Cooke offerings in reverse order! That was my fault! But, nevertheless, it has been a rewarding experience so far! I have listened to the most recent book first, but not reviewed it (let me know if there is an appetite for that), I have now listened to and reviewed this one! My plan is to jump to the next previous book in the timeline – The Nesting – and again I will look to review that as well. All this is leading up to the upcoming A Haunting in the Arctic, due for release in October, so be sure to keep an eye out for that review when it lands!

Spanning multiple generations and timelines, The Lighthouse Witches is a stunning folklore mystery thriller full of rich and complex characters with compelling twists and turns, all performed beautifully by a talented ensemble cast. C.J. Cooke’s storytelling finesse excels once again!