A Shadow On The Lens by Sam Hurcom

 

231 Pages

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• The Blurb...

1904. Thomas Bexley, one of the first forensic photographers, is called to the sleepy Welsh village of Dinas Powys. A yound girl by the name of Betsan Tilny has been found murdered in the woodland. But the crime scene appears staged and worse still: the locals are reluctant to help.

One night, he develops the crime scene photographs in the cellar of his lodgings. There, he finds a face dimly visible in the photographs - the shadowed spectre of Betsan Tilny.

In the days that follow, Thomas senses a growing presence watching him as he tries to uncover what the villagers of Dinas Powys are so intent on keeping secret...

• My Review...

A very well plotted and crafted debut from Sam Hurcom, boasts the best of both worlds. It is simultaneously an engaging murder mystery and creepy supernatural nerve tingler.

Its 1904 and a gruesome murder takes place in the sleepy hinterland village of Dinas Powys. Hard to think of it as a sparsely populated rural idyll as it is only 5 miles west of Cardiff and today it has a population of 9000. So it's intriguing to see it stripped back to it's historical bare bones. The newly appointed Forensic Photographer is dispatched from the London, the beating heart of the Empire to this rural backwater. He is an outsider and this is very much a "local village for local people."  There is a whiff of The Wicker Man about the place.

Upon arrival Thomas Bexley begins to feel watched, hallucinations haunt him and even the weather seems to have dark intentions towards him. Coupled with this are the strange mother of the victim who lives in a hovel in swampland outside the village and the reluctance of the locals to actively engage in finding the killer as tales persist of a demon spirit abroad in the words. It all makes for a difficult and creepy investigation for our hero.

The author's prose hits the sweet spot too. It's rhythm and syntax is ever so slightly archaic, so as to point to it's Edwardian time frame, without being obtrusive. This added a bit of seasoning to the brew.

This is well balanced book. Both the investigative and the supernatural aspects are intriguing and intertwine seamlessly together. You'll find yourself thinking is it supernatural or some other plausible explanation and your deduction will swing with every chapter. I found myself desperate to read on in the latter stages racing to the conclusion. I think this sort of engagement in a novel is the gold standard. When the book catalyses this emotion, you know its a good 'un.

I think I would have liked to have known a little more about Thomas Bexley's background but no doubt this may be further explored in the sequel "Letters From The Dead," which I'm just off to order now. Can't wait. 

• Selected Quotes...

"For years I could not speak of what is written in these pages. It marked the change in my life, the death of the man I once was. Only now, as an ever- deepening fear of what is to come plagues me, do I feel compelled to write of all that I have seen."

"Promiscuous girls are asking for trouble,’ Cummings said boldly. The man’s ignorance became clear to me then. ‘You would blame the shopkeeper who has his produce taken by the thief?"

 "In a sleepy shire such as this, it is all too easy in the bright light of day, with the songbirds whistling and the mediocrity of life being played out around you, to dismiss such fears as old wives’ tales for children who have not done all their mother’s chores. At this late hour though, with the heavy black of night as company, with the whispering of draughts through crooked rafters and the hollow, unnatural hoot of the night owl unseen, the mind wanders to its darkest corners and thinks of all too dreadful things."

"We don’t talk about it because we know it’s there. We know it’s real, feel its presence every day.’ He glared at me with his red, bloodshot eyes. ‘Don’t tell me since you’ve been here you haven’t felt it too."

• If You Liked This, You May Like...

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Mists and Megaliths by Catherine McCarthy (see our review...Here)

Fatal Solution by Leslie Scase (see our review... Here)

• About The Author...

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.