After several years in London, Penny Hancock now lives in Cambridge with her husband and three children. She is a part-time primary school teacher at a speech and language school and has travelled extensively as a language teacher. Her debut novel, Tideline, was published to rave reviews and was a Richard & Judy Bookclub pick.

Who do you trust?

Meet Theodora.

And Mona.

Two women, from completely different walks of life, forced by circumstances to live together under one roof.

Both women are at their wits' end, scared of losing the one thing that's most precious to them. So when tensions boil over, who will go to the most extreme lengths to survive?

Will it be Theodora, finally breaking under the pressure?

Or Mona, desperate to find a way out?

In a tale of modern day slavery and paranoia, two women tell their sides of the story. Who do you trust?

'The author skilfully plays with [the two narrators'] versions of reality as this dark and brooding novel races towards its genuinely scary conclusion' Sunday Mirror

'Penny Hancock cranks up the tension in The Darkening Hours, so when a murder is committed we don't know who to believe. This thriller about a stressed-out radio presenter who demands more and more from her elderly father's put-upon carer is frighteningly plausible' Thriller of the Month, Good Housekeeping