Sometimes it’s terrifying, loving someone this much…
Too Near the Dead by Helen Grant is a suspenseful, thrilling horror story about a haunted house in Perthshire, Scotland. Fen Munro and her fiance James, move to their dream house in the Perthshire countryside. Away from London noise, Barr Dubh is the perfect house with a modern building (built only a couple of years back). Only Fen doesn't know the history behind the house could date back to 150 years. After daily dreadful dreams and constantly seeing a woman in lavender dress near her house, she decides to investigate the history of Barr Dubh. What she finds will give her peace or will it destroy her?
Too Near the Dead is an amazing novel with the perfect blend of suspense, thriller, horror, and emotional element. The book is set in a countryside village in Scotland. That alone made me excited to read it. I love how Helen included the 'Skye boat' song in a chapter. It reminds me of the 'Skye boat' song from 'Outlander'. The second it was mentioned, I started playing it on a loop, whilst reading the book. It gave the perfect Scottish vibes.!
Coming back to the storyline. It was marvelous.!! It was so intriguing that I couldn't put it down. The suspense about who haunts the house (lavender girl) and why is so interesting that I completed the book in 2-sittings. Apart from the storyline revolving around Barr Dubh, we also get to see the past life and struggles of Fen. We see the encounter of a copy editor(Fen) with an author(James) and how it develops into a love story into finally getting engaged. I was especially intrigued to read about Fen's issues with her mom & dad and the incident with her brother. The events around pain and loss were handled beautifully.
To comment about the story revolving around the horrific events in Barr Dubh, it was hair-raising! From the suspenseful story regarding Fen's and Bella's dreams to her actual encounters with the lavender girl, it was spine-chilling.! The way Helen describes the 'sense' that someone is watching you, makes you shudder. I think we have all felt it at least once in our life. The anxiety and dread Fen felt were perfectly described.
The ending was something I was expecting but somehow was sure wouldn't happen. It was simply the hauntingly perfect ending the book deserved.
To say the least, I LOVED the book.! It kept me hooked.! And I highly recommend you all to read.