I wasn’t sure what to expect when I selected Annie Anderson’s “Dead to Me.” It is book one in her Arcane Souls World series.
Darcy Adler’s life has never been conventionally normal. She was small when her mother passed. Her father did his best, but things got strange when Darcy hit puberty. Suddenly she could see and converse with ghosts. She was labeled as weird for talking to thin air.
Somehow Darcy grew up, went to college and established a career in the Haunted Peak, Tennessee Police Department. Jeremiah ‘Jay’ Cooper is her life-long friend and partner. He is aware of Darcy’s strange abilities but accepts the fact that every weird case comes their way. Though he can’t see him, Jay knows that the ghost of Hildebrand O’Shea is Darcy’s constant companion.
As the story starts, Darcy is hoping to get some much-needed sleep after an especially rough case, but Jay has arrived to announce that they have a new case that she must see to believe.
The body of Blair Simpkins is in the park near Darcy’s house. Darcy immediately notices that Blair’s chest has been slashed with ancient ‘sigils’ or runes. She also notes that one of her old business cards is wedged in Blair’s hand.
While many newly dead are confused, Blair’s ghost is just plain angry. She has no memory of her death, and neither Jay nor Darcy is happy about the presence of an FBI agent at the scene. He introduces himself as Agent La Roux, but Darcy knows he isn’t being honest with them.
Hildy soon explains that La Roux is actually part of the Arcane Investigations Bureau that oversees everything and everyone involved in the occult. This group has the power to make miscreants disappear permanently. Like it or not, Darcy and Jay must work with La Rue.
When Darcy sees that the sigils don’t show up on photos the three visit the morgue. They quickly realize that morgue tech Tabitha isn’t human and must be deeply involved in all the weird happenings in Haunted Peak.
The investigation kicks into high gear when Darcy is summoned to her father’s house. Tabitha is with him and makes threatening statements before she slashes his chest. As he bleeds to death, Darcy demands that La Roux bring him back to life. La Roux reluctantly agrees after informing her that doing so would require Darcy to take a life. In doing so she’d risk the ire of ABI.
She readily agrees then enlists the aid of a psychic, a coven of witches and Hildy. They learn that Tabitha and Suzette are planning to raise someone from the dead, and if they succeed it could destroy their world.
The ensuing confrontation leads to revelations about Darcy’s family as well as the murder. The book ends with a surprising proposal. What it is will be revealed in the next book in the series. Guess I better plan to read it.
AT A GLANCE
Book: Dead to Me (Arcane Souls World, Grave Talker Book 1)
Author: Annie Anderson
Publisher: Annie Anderson
Year published: 2020
Number of pages:
Anderson’s heroine converses with ghosts
