Dark secrets. Haunted souls. Stories that stay with you.
Cheryl Mills writes psychological crime thrillers, supernatural fiction, and gothic horror that linger in the space between grief and the unknown — atmospheric stories drawn from a lifelong fascination with the paranormal, and a dream about her late father that would not let her go.
Cheryl Mills
Cheryl Mills is a British author drawn to the darker side of human nature. Her novels move fluidly between psychological crime thriller and supernatural gothic horror, built around atmospheric, slow-burning suspense that explores grief, fear, obsession, and the unknown — the things we inherit, and the things that refuse to stay buried.
The Locket Chronicles, her ongoing series beginning with The Secret Locket and continuing in The Shadows in the Locket, was born from a vivid dream Cheryl had about her late father — a dream so precise, so charged with feeling, that she woke certain it was more than memory. The series has since become her exploration of the thin, uncertain line between love, loss, and the supernatural.
Away from the page, Cheryl has a lifelong fascination with the paranormal. She has spent years ghost hunting across Britain's oldest houses and churchyards, and has worked as a psychic medium — experiences that have deepened her interest in unexplained phenomena and quietly shape the eerie, unsettled atmosphere running through every one of her novels.
Alongside her supernatural fiction, Cheryl also writes psychological crime thrillers: stories built on complex, unreliable characters and twisting plots that keep readers questioning what is real until the very last page. When she isn't writing, she's usually researching haunted locations and half-forgotten folklore, convinced that every old building in Britain is hiding at least one story worth telling.
"Some things aren't lost. They're just waiting to be let back in."
Years spent in centuries-old manors and churchyards across Britain, recording the quiet details that never make it into the official history.
Time spent working as a practicing psychic medium has shaped Cheryl's understanding of grief, giving her novels their lived-in sense of the unexplained.
Ongoing research into Britain's local legends and half-buried histories, mined for the atmosphere running through every novel.
One locket. A truth that refuses to stay closed.
The Secret Locket is out now, with The Shadows in the Locket to follow — an ongoing series of gothic psychological suspense following the same haunted heirloom across grief, obsession, and the supernatural.
Some secrets are meant to heal. Others are meant to be released.
For centuries, a mysterious locket has passed quietly from one owner to the next, appearing only when someone needs it most. To the right person, it offers something extraordinary — the voice of the one they long to hear, the comfort of a guiding presence, the reassurance that they are not alone.
But the locket holds more than magic. Bound within it is the spirit of a mother who lost her child long ago and believes she must spend eternity making up for the tragedy she could not prevent. Through the lives it touches, she offers guidance, strength, and the kind of love only a mother can give.
Yet the locket carries a shadow as deep as its compassion. Those who rely on its comfort too deeply may find themselves unable to let it go — and when the bond grows too strong, its magic begins to twist into something darker. When the locket finds its way to a new owner struggling with loss, they must decide whether to accept the healing it offers, or risk losing themselves to the grief hidden inside it. Because some love can guide you forward. And some love will never let you go.
The Shadows in the Locket
Some secrets should stay buried. Some voices should never be trusted.
Twenty-five years after the events of The Secret Locket, the mysterious silver locket has resurfaced.
When Cambridge archivist Eliza Whitcomb discovers the forgotten relic hidden deep within an antiquarian archive, she awakens something that has waited centuries to be heard. At first, the voices seem impossible to resist, offering comfort, forgotten memories, and the chance to speak to those she has lost. But every answer comes at a price.
As Eliza uncovers a chilling trail stretching back through generations, she discovers the locket has touched countless lives, leaving heartbreak, obsession, and death in its wake. The more she listens, the harder it becomes to tell truth from deception, memory from manipulation. Because the locket doesn't simply speak. It learns.
Now Eliza must unravel the dark history bound within the silver before it claims her as it has so many before. But some shadows don't want to be exposed… and some are waiting to be set free.
Services offered.
Beyond her own fiction, Cheryl works with writers who want their own dark, atmospheric stories to land with the same precision.
Manuscript Assessments
A thorough, honest read of your full manuscript, with a detailed editorial letter on structure, pacing, character, and where the suspense is working — or isn't yet.
From £180Full manuscript, up to 100,000 words
Developmental Editing
Hands-on, chapter-by-chapter collaboration for writers reshaping a draft — untangling timelines, sharpening reveals, and deepening atmosphere without losing clarity.
From £750Scales with manuscript length and depth of notes
Author Visits & Speaking
Book clubs, festivals, and libraries — Cheryl speaks on gothic suspense, blending the supernatural with psychological crime, and researching real haunted history for fiction.
From £150 per sessionTravel charged separately outside the local area
Ghost Writing
Full-length ghost writing for clients with a story to tell but not the time or craft to write it alone — a close, collaborative process that keeps the finished book sounding like you.
From £4,500Full-length novel, final quote after a project consultation
Let's start a conversation.
Whether you're a reader, a fellow writer, a book club, or an event organizer wanting to talk about The Locket Chronicles — or hear about the ghosts along the way — Cheryl reads and answers every message herself.