Originally transmitted on BBC1, 2nd and 3rd April 1999.  A BBC production.

In hospital, photographer Jinx Kingsley wakes from a coma after a car crash – a failed suicide attempt, prompted by her fiancé Leo jilting her to elope with jinx’s lifelong best friend, Meg.

The discovery of Leo and Meg’s bodies – brutally murdered in the same manner as Jinx’s first husband – makes jinx the prime suspect. Then with the help of eminent neuroscientist Dr Alan Protheroe, some memories begin to surface. Memories of desperation and paralysing terror…

Staring:

Dervla Kirwan, James Wilby, Nicholas Gecks, Connie Hyde and Paul Freeman

Written by: Niall Leonard

Director: Graham Theakston

Producer: Tony Redston

Executive producer: Suzan Harrison

‘This is contemporary crime writing at its absolute peak.’ Manchester Evening News

‘Walters sets a new standard for British mysteries, with her fine characterizations and intelligent prose; she has a winner here.’ Library Journal

‘Walters unfolds the dark complexities of Jinx’s past with a master’s hand, balancing sympathy and terror all the way to the introduction of a pivotal character on the very last page.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘Violence may well be offered to anyone who tries to part you from this marvellous, dramatically intelligent novel. It shimmers with suspense, ambiguity and a deep unholy joy.’ Mail on Sunday

‘Minette Walters breathes a brooding sense of terror into a deceptively simple plot, and continues to prove she is a seductive writer with an imagination that makes her dangerous to know.’ The Sunday Express

‘A brooding novel of high quality.’ The Times

‘Walters creates characters who are there to be loved, loathed and finally understood. Namby-pamby attitudes towards them will not do. The pace of the book is dictated by the speed with which the heroine pieces together what she might or might not have done; the reader becomes her conspirator and despite the clues, the denouement is a shattering surprise.’ Night and Day, The Mail on Sunday

‘The Dark Room is a highly intelligent novel, brilliantly organised and very well written: both gripping and a pleasure to read.’ Evening Standard