Review: When the Dead Come Calling by Helen Sedgwick

If you’re looking for a modern mystery book, set in England- When the Dead Come Calling is sure to be right up your alley! This first of this new series is sure to delight mystery and crime lovers- both new and old.

Opening up in a cave scene that definitely sets the mood very quickly, I was definitely transported into the setting super quickly! I loved how this moodiness was there right from the get go, it helped me settle into the story quicker than I expected it to. I also enjoyed how this then led to me meeting DI Georgie Strachan, and the discovery of a string of murders with many questions to be answered.

Whilst the story itself is rich and atmospheric, I really wished that I enjoyed it more than I did. I’m sure if I gave it a second or third read, I’d be a lot more satisfied with this one, but after this first read (and a lot of internal debating on my end), I just felt like something was just missing in it for me, I’m not entirely sure what was though. I felt like this story had a lot of potential, as it felt like the small town vibes were consistently there, and the cliquey-ness of the community definitely did vibrate throughout the story. However, I did find at some points I felt myself zoning out- I think this may have been a problem with me, and not the actual writing though. 

Despite me having to go back over some parts, I did feel like the town itself felt a little backwards in some respects, especially in regards to the homophobia, misogyny, and race. Even though this isn’t set in the 1920s, it definitely felt that way given the views of some of the characters, which made me remember that otherness is something many people still face in the modern day. I found myself liking DI Strachan the most of all the characters, and I felt for her a lot as her team was already rather short-handed, and more so as one of her crew had to be side-lined for this particular investigation. I did enjoy how Georgie was central to many of the social themes within the book, and that in itself is rather distressing- let alone mixing it in with a couple of murders! Geogrie’s personal story was also a neat little addition to the tale, which was intertwined with Trish, another local cop, who was also an interesting voice as well.

I definitely felt the menacing nature within the story, and I actually do crave more of this, and more of the Burrowhead township, where the book is set. What was also excellently well down is that Helen doesn’t really give the plot away, leaving me to figure out what is actually going in at every given moment- something that I find satisfying to figure out in a crime book. I also really enjoyed having some interesting supernatural elements tied into the book, which was rather refreshing to see instead of having just a bog standard police procedural tale. 

If you’re looking for a truly disturbing read that is not just based on the title alone (even though it’s just as eerie), When the Dead Come Calling is definitely one to read! Personally, I’m interested as to seeing how Burrowhead develops as a setting as new books in the series come along.

Rating: 2.5/5

Note: This review is also published on The Nerd Daily (link)