The Counting Game

The Counting Game

Paperback Published on: 23/04/2026
Price: £9.99
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Bookseller Reviews

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The Counting Game
Wonderfully gothic
Merging crime and folk horror this is a wonderfully gothic thriller set in rural Ireland. I really enjoyed the dark, oppressive atmosphere of a town suspic... READ MORE
Olivia at Telford

Synopsis

Into the woods.

Count to ten.

Only one of us comes home again.

'Sinead Nolan is one to watch' KARIN SLAUGHTER

1995, Ireland. Panic grips the village of Drumsuin when a teenage girl goes missing in the nearby forest.

Saoirse is not the first girl to disappear in those woods. And when it’s revealed she was playing the Counting Game that day – a ritual believed to ward off the forest’s evils – old superstitions send the community into turmoil.

One person saw what happened to Saoirse. But 9-year-old Jack won’t tell the Gardai. Freya, an English psychotherapist with her own history of grief, is brought in to help the investigators break his silence.

As the race to find Saoirse alive accelerates, can Freya make Jack talk? Why is he keeping the forest’s secrets? And who is hell bent on driving Freya out of Drumsuin before the truth is discovered?

The Counting Game is a deeply haunting, atmospheric and emotional mystery, from an unmissable new voice in Irish crime fiction, perfect for fans of Tana French, Erin Kelly and Belinda Bauer

Publisher information

  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • ISBN: 9780008669010
  • Number of pages: 384
  • Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 28 mm
  • Weight: 260g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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The Counting Game
Hide and Seek takes a dark turn!
Great atmosphere, creepy setting with the forest of missing girls and the supposedly legendary creature that dwells within, taking those who disrespect or ... READ MORE
K. Bickmore
The Counting Game
Atmospheric and beautifully written
This book creates such an atmosphere and keeps you guessing, leading you into false starts and excellent twists. Fantastic!
Nadine Mabbett
The Counting Game
A slow burning, brilliant mystery
The Counting Game is the kind of novel that creeps under your skin and stays there — full of mystery and memory. Set in rural Ireland in 1995, it begins wi... READ MORE
Katharine Ugeux-Lewis