The Blue Hour
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  • Published: 2 December 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804995334
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $26.00

The Blue Hour

Formats & editions
Paperback
2 Dec 2025
Tr. Paperback
8 Oct 2024
EBook
8 Oct 2024
Audiobook
8 Oct 2024
Hardback
8 Nov 2024
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The powerful new thriller from the global No.1 bestselling author, Paula Hawkins

‘Vivid, extremely tense, unnervingly unputdownable. This is a superb, powerful read.’ Independent

‘Undoubtedly Hawkins’ best novel yet’ Observer

*****

For twelve hours each day, the Scottish island of Eris is cut off from the mainland. No way in. No way out.

The island’s only house was once home to Vanessa, whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago. Now this remote and beautiful place is home to Grace . . . a solitary creature of the tides, guarding the island’s past.

But far away in London, a stranger has just made a startling discovery - a human bone where no human bone should be. And in that moment Grace’s precious isolation is threatened.

How will she respond? Can she be trusted? Or is it Grace who should be afraid?

Suddenly this is a very dangerous time to be alone . . .

'A darkly atmospheric, engaging mystery - her best book since The Girl On The Train.' Good Housekeeping (Book of the Year)

*****

Readers are OBSESSED with The Blue Hour!

'This blew me away. I want to read it again IMMEDIATELY. It’s creepy, unsettling and tense. ' 5-STAR Reader Review

'I soaked up every bit of this book, savoured every word. I didn't want it to end but when it did, it did so in chilling style. Brilliant!' 5-STAR Reader Review

'Once again, Hawkins has produced an irresistible, gripping story that I was completely immersed in from page one.' 5-STAR Reader Review

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More praise for The Blue Hour:

‘Really, really, REALLY good. Highly recommended!’ MARIAN KEYES

'A fine, insidious thriller.' The Mail on Sunday

'Gorgeous and chilling.' SHARI LAPENA

'Extremely hard to put down.' MICK HERRON

‘Paula's very best book. . . and a bloody good read.’ LIZ NUGENT


The Girl on the Train, global No.1 bestseller, The Bookseller Feb 2024
Paula Hawkins, Sunday Times bestseller, October 2024
  • Published: 2 December 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804995334
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $26.00
Categories:

About the author

Paula Hawkins

PAULA HAWKINS worked as a journalist for fifteen years before turning her hand to fiction. Born and brought up in Zimbabwe, Paula moved to London in 1989 and has lived there ever since. Her first thriller, The Girl on the Train, has been a global phenomenon, selling almost 20 million copies worldwide. Published in over forty languages, it has been a No.1 bestseller around the world and was a No.1 box office hit film starring Emily Blunt.
Into the Water, her second stand-alone thriller, has also been a global No.1 bestseller.

portrait photo of Paula Hawkins

Also by Paula Hawkins

A Slow Fire Burning
Into the Water
The Girl on the Train
Penguin Readers Level 6: The Girl on the Train (ELT Graded Reader)
See all

Praise for The Blue Hour

An addictive, exhilarating book.

DONAL RYAN

A tensely atmospheric and layered exploration of artistic drive and devotion; loyalty and betrayal; class, money and revenge . . . I loved it.

CHARLOTTE WOOD

Paula Hawkins has more in common with Patricia Highsmith than just her initials . . . The Blue Hour is her finest work yet.

JOHN BOYNE

An atmospheric, stylish puzzle box of a thriller with a deliciously inventive premise. I love a locked-room mystery - or, in this case, a locked-island mystery - and Paula Hawkins has delivered a truly exceptional one.

LIZ MOORE

Paula's very best book. An utterly compelling exploration of loneliness, obsession and jealousy, and a bloody good read. Could not put it down.

LIZ NUGENT

I LOVED this art-world-set thriller with its stately-home Saltburn vibe. . . Hawkins weaves a skilful tale about class and privilege and keeps up the tension until the end.

The Daily Mail

Incredible storytelling combined with complex characters whose true natures will keep you guessing.

Heat

Set on a remote but beautiful Scottish island, the novel has much to say about creativity and relationships.

Literary Review