Dark, creepy and worth reading

⭑⭑⭑⭑  If you are in the mood for a darkly atmospheric, creepy read, When the Dead Come Calling might be just what you are after. The first book in the Burrowhead Mysteries series, it is filled with ancient Celtic menace along side normal, run of the mill racism, bullying and murder. It, oddly, blends the two smoothly and makes this story of a struggling town and underfunded three-person police force one worth tucking into.

I admit I wasn't clear where we were heading with all the otherworldly elements but that fed into the tangible chill this book encouraged to run down my spine. It was fresh, very different from your average police investigative murder mystery and stuck with me more than I would have expected.

I enjoyed Georgie and her wayward Scottish husband, Fergus. Georgie leads our gaggle of police in a straightforward, well executed way. Fergus, on the other hand, is rather fragmented and off with the fairies being an unemployed engineer. A mismatched couple? Yeah, but you haven't seen the half of it!

The other two police feature heavily as Simon was in a relationship with Alexis, our murder victim. Trish is a force of nature being an off the rails sort. She is impulsive and reactionary but also thoughtful and insightful too. The mix of the three fits well as they balance each other out. I won't speak of the murder or the darker elements of the book as that is part of the fun and needs no spoilers. Suffice it to say this is far better than I would have expected and I will be keeping an eye out for the follow-on.