#BlogTour: LETTERS FROM THE DEAD by Sam Hurcom @SamHurcom @orionbooks @alexxlayt

Publication: 26th November 2020 – Orion

The next stifling, atmospheric gothic crime novel following one of the world’s first forensic photographers – for fans of The Woman in Black, The Silent Companions and Little Strangers.

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1905. A year after ‘the affair’ in Dinas Powys, Thomas Bexley has become a drunkard and recluse, haunted by terrible visions of the dead. But when news of a spate of extraordinary kidnappings reaches him, Thomas is shocked to learn that his dear friend and former mentor, Professor Elijah Hawthorn, is the lead suspect.

Discovering a plea for help from Hawthorn claiming to have unearthed a gruesome conspiracy at the heart of the Metropolitan Police, Thomas embarks on a journey to prove Hawthorn’s innocence.

But wherever Thomas goes, he is followed by the dead, and as the mystery of Hawthorn’s disappearance deepens, so too does Thomas’s apparent insanity…

How can Thomas be certain of the truth when he can’t trust anybody around him, not even himself…?

AMAZON

WATERSTONES

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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Letters From The Dead, the new immersive novel by Sam Hurcom.

Letters From The Dead is the second novel featuring Thomas Bexley, one of the world’s first forensic photographers. The character of Thomas was first introduced in the author’s debut novel, A Shadow On The Lens, and Letters From The Dead picks up a few months later the events that changed Thomas’s life. If, like me, you haven’t read A Shadow On The Lens, no worries. Hints and mentions will give you an overall background of what happened in the first book and you can easily follow the story of Letters From The Dead.

The story is set in London, in the year 1905. More than a decade after the murders of Jack the Ripper, London is shaken by another serial killer. Renamed the Wraith of London, the serial killer randomly kidnaps men and women around the English capital and their bodies are never found. Lost in his own world of alcohol and seclusion, the once-special investigator Thomas Bexley finds out about the serial killer when interrogated by the Metropolitan Police who thinks that the serial killer is Elijah Hawthorn, once a mentor and friend of Thomas. Not entirely convinced of Elijah’s guilt, Thomas starts investigating on his own going on a journey that will lead him to Scotland, prison, and horrific discoveries…

I really enjoyed reading Letters From The Dead. It is dark, haunting, and gripping and I really liked the protagonist, Thomas Bexley. He is smart, flawed, and authentic. He is also an unreliable narrator. You don’t know if you can trust him. He is addicted to alcohol, he suffers some memory loss. and he has visions which leave you to question what’s happening.

Letters From The Dead is the perfect read for fans of historical crime stories and gothic novels. After reading this well-written and well-plotted story, I am going back and read the first novel, A Shadow On The Lens. Highly recommended!

A huge thank you to Alex and Orion for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a proof of the novel.

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Follow the rest of the blog tour:

Sam Hurcom was born in Dinas Powys, South Wales in 1991. He studied Philosophy at Cardiff University, attaining both an undergraduate and master’s degree. He has since had several short stories published, and has written and illustrated a number of children’s books. Sam currently lives in the village he was raised in, close to the woodlands that have always inspired his writing.
A SHADOW ON THE LENS is Sam’s debut novel.