The Dark Room

October 31, 2016
At the start of this intricate thriller from Moore (The Poison Artist), Insp. Gavin Cain of the San Francisco PD is in a Monterey County cemetery, watching the exhumation of a coffin connected to a cold case dating to the mid-1980s, when he’s abruptly reassigned. Back in San Francisco, Mayor Harry Castelli has received an anonymous letter with four photographs showing a young woman recoiling in terror, cause unknown. The letter writer suggests the mayor kill himself, or four more photos will go to the media. The exhumation, which finds two bodies in the same coffin, turns out to be linked to the blackmailing of the mayor. Later, Castelli’s art student daughter gives Cain a different photograph from the same series, which she found at age 10 in her father’s study. Moore, a terrific stylist, provides telling procedural details (a computer-expert friend helps identify the clothing and jewelry in the decades-old photos) and makes good use of the Bay Area setting. The elaborate plot, though, at times strains the reader’s ability to suspend disbelief. Agent: Alice Martell, Martell Agency.

Starred review from November 1, 2016
Moore's (The Poison Artist, 2016, etc.) complex and often deeply disturbing crime noir set in the City by the Bay delves into dark subjects and the insidious nature of true evil.Two things happen almost simultaneously to San Francisco Police Inspector Gavin Cain: as he and his newly minted partner, Grassley, stand at the grave of Christopher Hanley, a young boy who died years ago, and watch as the casket is exhumed, following up on a tip, he's summoned to tackle a new challenge. His lieutenant has him flown by helicopter to City Hall to consult with the mayor, Harry Castelli, concerning a series of photographs and a note he received. The photos show a beautiful blonde woman who is clearly terrified, but even more disturbing is the note, which indicates that more photos will come unless Castelli kills himself. Castelli says he doesn't know the woman in the photographs and has no idea why anyone would urge him to commit suicide. Cain and FBI agent Karen Fischer struggle to identify the mysterious and apparently doomed blonde in the black-and-white photos, which they believe were taken 30 years earlier. Meanwhile, Cain, whose personal life is already complicated enough--his girlfriend, Lucy, hasn't left her home in four years--is stunned to discover that Christopher Hanley's casket contained not only the corpse of the dead teen, but also the desiccated body of a woman who, judging by the evidence, was buried alive. Moore sketches Cain with a spare pen, leaving the reader to fill in most of the blanks, but his knowledge of police procedure and the nature of the job is immaculate. Moody and macabre with an Edgar Allan Poe feel to it, this book leaves an uncomfortable, indelible impression that can't be shaken by simply putting it down. The featureless Cain and his search for the woman in the casket are irresistible.San Francisco has never been so menacing.

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August 1, 2016
In a new work from Bram Stoker Award finalist Moore that is as long on noir atmosphere as its predecessor, the well-received "The Poison Artist", SFPD homicide inspector Gavin Cain is called away from an exhumation to deal with bigger trouble. The mayor has received four increasingly degrading photographs of a woman, and worse is threatened if he doesn't do something drastic: he must take his own life.

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