When the Dead Speak (Eastbourne Murder Mystery #2) by Sheila Bugler
Genre: Crime fiction
Read: 2nd July 2021
Published: 9th July 2021
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Secrets can be fatal. But so can the truth.
When the murdered body of Lauren Shaw is discovered laid out on the altar of St Mary the Virgin church in Eastbourne it sends a chill to the core of those who have lived in the area for a long time. They remember another woman, also young and pretty, whose slain corpse was placed in the same spot 60 years ago.
Dee Doran is as intrigued as the rest but focused on her investigation of the whereabouts of a missing person from the Polish community. The police weren’t interested but Dee’s journalistic instincts tell her something is amiss.
But as she starts asking questions Dee finds the answers all point to the same conclusion - someone is keeping secrets and they will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.
A chilling and gripping crime thriller that fans of Fiona Barton and Alex Marwood will love.
MY REVIEW:
I don't know what I expected from this book but I was pleasantly surprised. WHEN THE DEAD SPEAK is the second in the Eastbourne series featuring investigative journalist Dee Doran and her detective boyfriend Ed Mitchell. Of course I wasn't aware of it being part of a series when I selected it, but that doesn't matter because the story suffices perfectly as a standalone. There are a few references to the previous book but nothing to lose the reader as to its direction. It is essentially a gripping whodunnit with a thoroughly entertaining plot.
When the body of Lauren Shaw is discovered laid out on the altar of St Mary the Virgin Church in Eastbourne town, Detective Ed Mitchell is called to the scene immediately. But not for the reason he expects. As soon as he enters the church, he knows that he must recuse himself of the investigation leaving his partner Rachel Lewis as SIO in his place. The scene before him has chills running through him as memories of his grandmother haunt him. And only two people knew the secret of his grandmother...one of them is standing beside him. The other is sprawled out on the church's altar.
Sixty years ago an identical murder took place in this town. Eighteen year old Mary Palmer's body was also found laid out on the altar of the same church on 5th March 1960, with the same wounds as those of Lauren. Not only that...the two women were related. Mary would have been Lauren's cousin, related through her grandmother Annabelle Shaw nee Palmer. And now the two women were murdered in the exact same way sixty years apart. Ed knows this cannot be a coincidence.
When Ed left her house this morning after she blurted out that he should move in with her, Dee knew something was different about this call-out. Rachel had just said there was something he needed to see instead of tasking him with an investigation. And then her cousin, also a journalist, Louise alerts her to the murder and its similarities to a sixty year old one. This, of course, piques her interest and despite being involved in her own investigation into the disappearance of a young Polish woman Joana Helinski, Dee can't help but wonder how the two murders relate to Ed. She waits for him to enlighten her but when he doesn't she not only becomes suspicious but angry that he doesn't trust her enough to confide in her, particularly after her disastrous marriage to the adulterous Billy.
Instead Dee continues in her investigation into Joana's disappearance whose last known whereabouts was the illustrious Aldrington Hotel to meet a gentleman some five weeks ago. She hasn't been seen or heard from since and her best friend Eliza is increasingly worried about her. But the deeper Dee delves, the more she is convinced that Joana's disappearance and Lauren's murder are linked. The two women knew each other. Lauren worked at the Aldrington, while Joana frequented there with male guests and they were also both regulars at a pub patronised by the Polish community.
When Dee shares her thoughts with Ed he is quick to disagree. While she is certain Joana and Lauren's cases are linked, he believes that Lauren's murder goes way back to Mary Palmer's six decades ago. And when she tries to get him to confide in her, he shuts down. What is it that he is keeping from her?
And then Louise calls her with the news that her paper is going to run an exclusive the following day which ties Ed to Mary Palmer's murder sixty years ago in the form of his uncle who was thought to be her murderer and in which his family had been ostracised and bullied for many years after. Ed is sure Lauren had discovered something that shone a light on who was really responsible and that was why she was killed. But could it be that both Joana and Mary's cases were tied to Lauren's murder?
WHEN THE DEAD SPEAK is a cleverly written whodunnit in a style reminiscent of Agatha Christie. But with a simple plotline and various subplots throughout there are plenty of further twists to keep the reader guessing from beginning to end. Just when you think you know who is responsible, Bugler throws us another curve to distract us. Although the plot is complex, the story is fairly simplistic in nature. There's just plenty of red herrings thrown in along the way.
I love the simplistic storytelling through the third person narrative of mainly Dee but often Ed and Louise as well. The inclusion of Emma Reed's diary excerpts from sixty years ago up until her death eighteen years later is a clever addition that brings life to the Mary Palmer aspect and a voice to the mother of man accused of murdering her. And then I loved how it is all cleverly woven together with the present story.
I honestly have plenty of series to keep me occupied and I wasn't going to add yet another to my list, but after reading WHEN THE DEAD SPEAK I feel I am now going to have to seek out the first book and follow any subsequent ones and add them to my ever growing TBR list.
A delightful read, WHEN THE DEAD SPEAK is crime fiction at its best. Part cosy part thriller, this book is simple in its "complexities" with straight forward plot that is as intriguing as it is clever. My only complaint is Dee's dismissal at the very end of the book which I found to be a tad unfair as well as her high expectations all round concerning Ed and those of Ella and Jake.
Overall, a fun quick read that can be read in one sitting. Perfect for crime fiction fans of Joy Ellis, Daisy White and J.R. Ellis.
I would like to thank #SheilaBugler, #Netgalley and #Canelo for an ARC of #WhenTheDeadSpeak in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
In 2008, she was one of four writers to be offered a place on the Arts Council-funded Apprenticeships in Fiction programme - a mentoring scheme designed to nurture emerging writers in the UK and Ireland.
When not writing, Sheila works as an online editor and writer and is also a regular contributor to the writing magazine Words With Jam. She is also a regular guest on BBC Radion Sussex.
Social Media links:
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