In the Dead of Night: A Novel. Volume 1 (of 3)

A coastal melodrama opens with a violent storm and a nighttime accident on perilous cliffs that prompts a desperate rescue and a search for answers. The plot traces interconnected inhabitants of a rural district as friendships form and romantic tensions emerge amid dinners, cottage visits, and the isolation of a local hermit. Suspicious intrusions and the unexpected return of absent figures heighten unease, while recurring scenes by the lighthouse and along the cliffs sustain a tense atmosphere of danger and secrecy that drives a sequence of revelations and shifting alliances.