Grief, out-of-control crowds, dangerous traditions, and a bit of the supernatural swirl around a teenage girl suspected of being a witch in Daisy Pearce's satisfying melding of mystery and horror. Set in 1989 England, Something in the Walls combines a poignant plot with accelerating action derived from intense emotion.
A recent graduate in child psychology, Mina Ellis knows she should be planning her wedding to Oscar, an older, controlling scientist who has little patience that she still grieves her brother, who died six years ago when he was 14. However, at a bereavement support group, Mina meets Sam Hunter, a journalist mourning his seven-year-old daughter's death years before. Their connection is immediate. Sam asks Mina to help him investigate teenager Alice Webber, whose rural neighbors gather daily outside her home, convinced she can talk to the dead. Sam sees a major story while Mina hopes her examination will jumpstart her career. While they both outwardly want to help Alice, they each believe the girl will help them contact their loved ones.
As Alice becomes erratically violent, she faces accusations of being a witch and increasing rumblings about an old ritual to cure her. Alice's family, friends, and neighbors want to exploit her, but while Mina and Sam appear to want the best for Alice, their intentions are also shaded by their own interests. Pearce skillfully haunts her novel with classic horror elements, devising several extremely frightening, believable scenes. Something in the Walls affectingly shows how easily the vulnerable are manipulated. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer