Dead & Talking


Dead & Talking

by Des Burkinshaw

4 out of 5

Synopsis
If a ghost appeared from nowhere, rescued you from suicide and then ordered you to start solving crimes to help dead people, what would you do?
When it happens to Porter Norton, he just wants to put his head in his hands and have nothing to do with it.
But now he has to atone for the family curse that has seen all the men die at their own hands for five generations.
The Gliss, the sarcastic spirit that rescues him, says he can now and see and hear the Dead - if he’s close to their remains. Porter has to use his unwelcome gift to clear up past injustices. Or else.
Forced to investigate the murder of a WW1 British Tommy executed for spying in 1917, he begins to suspect the case has links to his own family history.
Along the way, Porter enlists the help of a bickering group of misfits, who struggle to stay involved - because only fools believe in the supernatural, don’t they?
Full of pop culture references, banter and twists, the story takes us from present-day London and Flanders to scenes from World War 1.
As Porter, The Gliss, and friends, get deeper into the explosive case, they discover their own lives and sanity are at stake. An evil from WW1 pursues them all.

Dead & Talking is the debut novel from Des Burkinshaw, a TV producer/director with credits on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and Discovery. He is a former Times journalist whose work has been published in many other publications.

Review
Divorced & disgraced solicitor Porter is about to commit suicide, but he gets another chance at life. Hearing the dead, he is given a mission to clear the name of a WW1 deserter, and perhaps his own great-grandfather.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book in the series, but I did things backwards, and read Miniskirts are Murder first.
I'm glad I read Dead & Talking, following how Porter tries to kill himself, and the strange group of friends he picks up afterwards.

Porter knows that he is succumbing to the family curse - which affects the men and drives them to suicide. It's the only explanation for how terrible his life is right now.
An admin error he made led to a girl dying in a fire. Not only does Porter blame himself; his now-ex-boss is bringing a legal case against him. Porter's career is ruined, and the wife he worshipped has left him.
I liked how the author approached suicide in this book. I thought it was handled head on, and it never felt like it was just being added for the sake of the plot. You get to look at the thing that affect Porter, his father and grandfather etc. It felt like an honest account, and was never belittled or treated flippantly.

Because five generations of suicides would lead to a spiritual imbalance, Porter is revived and with the help of a floating head - The Gliss - he is charged with a mission. He has to help unsettled spirits find peace, until he can balance out all the pain and suffering his family has caused.
Starting with Max Cartwright, a soldier from WW1, who was shot for taking secret plans to the enemy.

I really liked the investigative story, as Porter has to piece together the scanty details of the long-dead soldier; whilst a paranormal shadow seems intent of hurting him, and those around him. Oh, and his sister wants to have him committed, too.

I liked Porter's team of allies/friends. They join the investigation in a natural way, with reasonable suspicions that Porter might be crazy. But they all push on, putting themselves in danger, desperate to uncover the truth behind who killed Cartwright and why.
I thought the confirmation of the villain was well done, and I liked the subtle changes to how this "war hero" was portrayed.

On a back-to-front-reading note, I can now see why in Miniskirts are Murder, the author lets Karin and Namita get the bulk of the screen time.
Dead & Talking is more heavily focussed on Porter and Feng. The ladies play important parts, but it's good that they get their turn to show what they can do in the second book.

The not-so-good.
Compared to Miniskirts are Murder, I thought the forming of friendship between our main four characters made the connections and interactions much stronger. But, I still felt for all the diversity of the characters, they were all very samey in their thoughts, actions and speech.
I thought that the diversity of the characters wasn't handled as well as the second book. When their cultural history was pointed out, it just felt clumsy, and sometimes left a bad taste in my mouth.

The book was occasionally slow, but I thought the pacing worked quite well until the end.
I was a little disappointed that our main characters were stuck in a hole for at least three chapters, whilst the villain cackled and preened. I thought the threat level that had been good, dropped a few points.

Overall, I enjoyed the mystery, and the touch of paranormal, and look forward to the rest of the series.




Comments

  1. Hi. I love series, and this sounds like a good book.
    So, you mention that you read the second book first and then back-tracked to the first. You also mention that the first book character developement wasn't as good as the second.
    It's my experience that character developement increases to the good as the series goes along. It might very well be a good thing you read the second first, because had you not, you might have thought the whole thing weak due to how the first book went and never have gone any further.
    I'll have to check this out. I'd just like to add, as a writer I appreciate how you've reviewed this book. Having things both good and bad written about a book is the best way for an author to learn and grow.
    Very well-done.

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