BOOKS
Where The Missing Gather
Gone but not forgotten…
An archaeological dig exposes a brutal history and a witness finally speaks. It seems the wickedness swirling in the harsh sea air of Burrowhead might be excised at last.
But before DI Georgie Strachan can lift the veil of evil, a black horse is slaughtered on an altar in the woods and human remains begin to surface. Sinister rituals connect past and present but no one wants to see, or tell, or hear, the truth. Soon Georgie must face the question: where do the missing souls of the village gather?
Reviews & Press
“Almost every conversation is laced with unease… Sedgwick’s writing is evocative and compassionate and always draws us back… For a novel which has its roots in the ancient past, Where the Missing Gather is a sharply observed story for these anxious, post-Brexit times.” ~ Scotland on Sunday
“Continuing the folk-horror themes of When the Dead Come Calling, this sequel finds DI Georgie Strachan still in the insular community of Burrowhead… Helen Sedgwick, based in the Highlands, has a science background, but sustains a suspenseful atmosphere of psychological and supernatural unease that will have you glancing nervously over your shoulder while her heroine tries to put all the pieces of the mystery together.” ~ Herald
“Like its predecessor, Where the Missing Gather is one part crime, three parts folk horror (it’s VERY creepy) and two parts dissection of an insular England. And like its predecessor, these parts are blended very skilfully… Burrowhead is a place of silences, but not of forgetting, and a lot of the information conveyed here is done obliquely and through establishing atmosphere as much as through activity. Sedgwick does this so well, nailing the effect of people on landscape and places.” ~ Blue Book Balloon
“Sedgwick explores sinister rituals and missing souls in this unputdownable crime novel.” ~ Scottish Book Trust
“Another triumph. A masterful blend of crime and psychological suspense, with a hint of the supernatural for added chill… An immersive, haunting read.”
Mary Paulson-Ellis
“Where the Missing Gather is a sharply observed story for these anxious, post-Brexit times.”
Scotland on Sunday
“Sustains a suspenseful atmosphere of psychological and supernatural unease that will have you glancing nervously over your shoulder…”
Herald
“Dark, domestic noir… A thoroughly engaging read.”
Netgalley
“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!”
Lemn Sissay MBE
“Creepy, atmospheric and spine-tingling… it left me reeling.”
Chris Whitaker
“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.”
Scotsman
“It is a feature of Sedgwick’s writing that she can “do” the believable supernatural, and the pages of When The Dead Come Calling sizzle with stag- men, menhirs and evil carrion birds.”
Herald