BOOKS
When The Dead Come Calling
In the first of the Burrowhead Mysteries, an atmospheric murder investigation unearths the brutal history of a village where no one is innocent.
When psychotherapist Alexis Cosse is found murdered in the playground of the sleepy northern village of Burrowhead, DI Strachan and her team of local police investigate, exposing a maelstrom of racism, misogyny and homophobia simmering beneath the surface of the village.
Shaken by the revelations and beginning to doubt her relationship with her husband, DI Strachan discovers something lurking in the history of Burrowhead, while someone (or something) equally threatening is hiding in the strange and haunted cave beneath the cliffs…
Reviews & Press
“Sedgwick’s writing is minutely observational, clever and warm. One minute you are transported by her descriptions of the landscape, the next she is raising the hairs on the back of your neck with her dreamlike descriptions of whatever lurks in the cave at the foot of the cliffs. It is her portrayal of the closed world of a remote community, however, that will chill you to the bone.” ~ Scotsman
“A multi-layered tale from a range of viewpoints that reaches back into history and poses as many questions as it answers… It is a feature of Sedgwick’s writing that she can “do” the believable supernatural, and the pages of When The Dead Come Calling fairly sizzle with stag- men, menhirs and evil carrion birds… a thumpingly good read shot through with some beautiful prose.” ~ Herald
“With When The Dead Come Calling Helen Sedgwick has written a novel which creates an atmosphere and tension which suits these times – paranoid, uneasy, at times angry, but with a humanity which offers hope despite everything. It all makes for an enthralling read and you’ll be desperate for more by the time you’re done.” ~ Scots Whay Hae!
“Set in a bleak village on the northwest coast of Scotland, When the Dead Come Calling deals with ancient primitive fears and some very modern problems… The dense narrative moves back and forth, incorporating horrors from the past and fears and resentments from the present. The final twist works well and adds an extra layer to the story that is both surprising and moving.” ~ Literary Review
“Helen Sedgwick weaves a clever combination of psychological suspense and low-key police procedural.” ~ Crime Review
“A stunning, complex, out-of-the mainstream novel that’s completely immersive.” ~ Mystery people
“It’s the poetic quality of her writing that makes this a moodily engrossing opening to the series.” ~ Peterborough Telegraph
“Creepy, atmospheric and spine-tingling, When The Dead Come Calling is the kind of mystery so deviously plotted it left me reeling. Brilliant.”
Chris Whitaker, author of Tall Oaks
“When The Dead Come Calling confirms what many of us already knew: Helen Sedgwick is one of Scotland’s finest contemporary storytellers.”
Claire Askew, author of All the Hidden Truths
“Unputdownable. When the Dead Come Calling tracks the toxin which seeped into a village. If you read closer you will see who the ‘key workers’ are. Helen Sedgwick saw into the future and that future is now! It’s an incredible book! READ IT.”
Lemn Sissay MBE
“By combining up-to-the-minute themes, well-tuned dialogue and warm and witty details of everyday life with a deep, impressionistic sense of dread, Sedgwick produces a mystery as addictive as it is anxiety-inducing … deserves to be a stonking series with wide appeal that should run and run.”
Molly Flatt, author of The Charmed Life of Alex Moore
“Beautifully written, beguiling and mysterious, the sort of book that would reward a second (and third) read. And a twisty plot with an undercurrent of supernatural malevolence that ticked all my boxes.”
Fiona Erskine, author of The Chemical Detective
“When The Dead Come Calling by Helen Sedgwick is a favourite current book of mine – all about race and class in contemporary Britain wrapped inside a brill thriller.”
Lemn Sissay MBE