Too Near the Dead

BY HELEN GRANT

FLEDGLING PRESS £9.99

★★★★

Just five pages in, Grant’s prose sets the heart racing as she depicts a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare, from which point the reader is constantly on edge. Protagonist Fen Munro has moved to Perthshire with her fiancé to escape London’s rat-race, only to find they are being watched by a figure dressed in lavender. Barr Dubh, their new home, is magnificently imagined by Grant, and the gradual reveal of the characters’ pasts add to their authenticity. Less scary, more chilling, this eerie tale would be perfect read aloud by a crackling fire.