The Chilling Thrillers of Sally Spedding....Sally Spedding does not write cozies. Some people have called her novels “creepy chillers.” They are not for the faint-hearted. They frighten me. But that, I think, is what they are supposed to do, and they do it with style, with top-notch plotting and narrative skill, with brilliant, gradual build-up of suspense that keeps you turning the pages even when something deep inside you whispers, this is dangerous stuff, you will not be able to banish it from your mind.

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myplaceformystery.com

'Taut, dark, and nail-bitingly suspenseful, this story is fiendishly clever and packed full of unexpected twists and turns.'
Booklist on Come and Be Killed

'A galloping pace from the very first page...'
'A striking book that crime fans would wish to read...' (Prey Silence)
Crime Squad

'Prey Silence is a dark, disturbing and compelling tale that will haunt any dreams of a quiet retreat in rural France.'
Clare Littleford (Fiction reviewer for the Yorkshire Post)

'An alarming story of surprises and shocks...' (A Night With No Stars)
Gerald Kaufman (Reviewer for The Scotsman)

'.... And whilst in France (as so many of us are nowadays), Sally Spedding has written an excellent creepy chiller of what can happen to ex-pats who fall foul of their new neighbours. 'Prey Silence' (Allison & Busby £18.99) is the perfect gift for all those tiresome people who boast about the French idyll they're about to live.'
Carla McKay (fiction reviewer for the Daily Mail)

‘She’s unquestionably got what it takes’
Crime Time

'Sally Spedding is a font of creepy stories, the kind of tales which wheedle their way back into your mind, hours maybe days and weeks later…’
Western Mail

'A subtle chiller which slowly ramps up the tension’ (Wringland)
Starburst

'Sally Spedding...has been credited with being a latter day Du Maurier...'
Crime Squad

'A fine, evocative and haunting first novel…a contemporary ghost story to keep your heart pumping’ (Wringland)
SFX Magazine

'You may not have heard of Sally Spedding - but you will, you will. Wringland is a tale of chilling menace and powerful atmosphere set in haunted fen country. We've been in this territory before, but seldom to such good effect; Spedding knows that before delivering the set-pieces it's essential to carefully build suspense through both unsettling incident and sense of locale - at both, she's unquestionably got what it takes. The heroine's job as a sales negotiator for a property firm takes her to the sinister Black Fen and a series of increasingly disturbing incidents. This is a ghost story handled with real assurance.’ (Wringland)
Barry Forshaw

'Sally Spedding is the mistress of her craft...'
Welsh Books Council

'Prey Silence is a fantastic book.'
Wakefield Express

This vibrant collection of short stories will draw you into a dark, pulsating world that is easy to pretend does not exist: her writing is so distinctly unique it will truly chill you to the bone.
Sally Spedding sets her scenes to perfection: the beautifully crafted descriptions of the countryside, creatures and human relationships in each tale, increase the dread that seeps through you as you read. From the harsh Welsh valleys to idyllic rural France; you will be left in no doubt of the authors’ astute and precise knowledge of the environment she is transporting us to. Each short story unravels its own dark tragedy. Every piece is thoroughly un-predictable and yet captivating, with an inevitable sense of something sinister and evil lurking and building throughout. Whether through the eyes of innocent, heart sore Beate Muller, a victim, or in mind of cold, twisted Madame Laval, the unforeseeable twists and turns of each haunting episode will leave your mouth dry and your heart beating faster. This collection of crime stories is by no means about simple, straightforward murders. It delves into the more subtle world of dark spirituality and the real potential for cruelty within the human species. An exposure of vendettas, revenge, bitterness building over years and the pure evil that some can inflict on others for their own satisfaction. Sometimes drawn into compassionate empathy, sometimes loathing the cruelty of the culprit, but always horrified; we are taken on a true roller coaster of emotions. Although in conclusion to each tale Sally Spedding does indeed reveal the disturbing finale, it is somewhat elusive. She urges the power of suggestion magnificently, leaving your mind to fully engage and enter into the story in order to fill in the unwritten specifics and more graphic details……..A task that is disturbingly easy to fulfill. By the end of the collection, we are left in touch with our darker side, unnerved by the dark capacity of any one human soul, doubting our own goodness and innocence and even the trust we have in our loved ones. Sally Spedding has created an eloquent, confusing clear, vivid masterpiece that will ensure the dark secrets spun out like a web of death, fully entrap and engage you; so coming back to haunt you long after you have finished the book.
From ‘Blackthorn Days’:
‘The broken piece was mine now, but its sharp edge had torn my wrist and my young ripe blood fell on to Mrs Furniss’s sleeve, her neck, her face as we stood locked together on the twelfth, oak step and fear became a smell. Hers.’ p. 95
Review of ‘Strangers Waiting’ by Sally Meseg for Dreamcatcher

If short stories about East End cannibalism, council estate dawn raids, petty murder or smack-happy voyeurs busting a paedophile ring aren’t currently on your ‘to-read’ list, then prepare to take a literary smack in the chops like never before.
Sabotage review of Radgepacket Volume six Tales of the Inner Cities. Click here to read the full review