Book Review: When the Dead Speak

I loved Sheila Bugler's first book featuring investigative journalist, Dee Doran, (I Could Be You currently on offer at 99p), so started this second in the series, When the Dead Speak, with a little trepidation. Would it be as good as the first? I needn’t have worried. It wasn’t as good – it was better!

Set once again in Eastbourne, there is a complex plot and several subplots intertwining as the story unfolds. The characters are well crafted and their actions entirely credible –they could be my neighbours, family members or friends, they feel so real.

From the diary of Emma Reed (starting in 1960), we discover Emma's son, Graham, was suspected of killing Mary Palmer, leaving her body on the altar of the local church. 

His innocence or guilt was never proven as Graham himself was murdered. Emma’s diary follows her attempts to prove her son’s innocence and uncover the real murderer.

Cut to the present day and a young woman, Lauren Shaw, is found in the same church with her body displayed to replicate the earlier crime. 

Dee’s police boyfriend, Ed, asks to be taken off the enquiry due to family secrets connected to the first murder.

Dee and Ed’s relationship is one of the many tangled twists and turns in this riveting book. A missing Polish worker, Dee’s cousin’s strange behaviour and several minor threads which all impact on each other make for a fascinating read.

This could easily be read as a standalone but I strongly recommend reading I Could Be You first – if only for the sheer joy of starting this excellent series from the beginning.

I received this via NetGalley from the publisher Canelo in return for an honest review.

When the Dead Speak will be released on 9 July and is available for pre-order from this link: https://amzn.to/2AgmJEn

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