Who doesn’t love a novel that spans 300 pages but only feels like half that? Dark Choir by Paul Melhuish, a new-to-me author, begins with Dan Hepworth returning to his hometown of Scarsdale following the death of his mother. Melhuish establishes upfront that Dan left for London out of necessity to escape the town that is essentially run by a pastor who more closely resembles a gangster. Dan also left behind a traumatic relationship with his mother as well as his sister, Lindsey, who has cerebral palsy and is a very central aspect of the story.
2019 had quite a few memorable villains, my personal favorite being Levi from John Boden’s Walk the Darkness Down. Pastor Widdowson is my first nominee for the best villain of 2020. Melhuish does a fantastic job of creating that archetype of a pastor who clearly doesn’t give a shit for what they preach and simply uses their position to influence and corrupt the people who need them. Widdowson has about half the town brainwashed and the other half blackmailed. He therefore says what goes and what does not in Scarsdale.
The crux of the story revolves around the abuse of disabled patients at the hands of their caregivers, and the cover-up involved. Treating this subject with respect is something that’s very important to me. I have no trouble knocking points off when an author doesn’t properly research and writes in a disrespectful manner. Thankfully, Melhuish writes these characters with appropriate empathy, and when I read the author’s bio I wasn’t surprised to find that he worked as an occupational therapist.
On the surface there are a lot of tropes pertaining to small town secrets and asylum horror, however I found this novel to be refreshingly original. Dan was not a perfect character but his arc and development are extremely satisfying. The pages pretty much turn themselves in Dark Choir and the horrifying surprises are plentiful around every corner. While not strictly a ghost story, fans of that will find a lot to like here. Same with fans of asylum and small town terror.
Publisher: Silver Shamrock
Release Date: April 21, 2020
Pages: 305
I was given an e-copy by the publisher for review consideration.
Brennan LaFaro 