BENEATH THE TOR

The mysterious death of a woman in a shamanic group leads one of her colleagues to launch a full-bore investigation on earthly and other planes.

A group of people interested in shamanism has gathered to celebrate life on Midsummer Eve atop Glastonbury Tor when an unexpected tragedy occurs. Alys, a newcomer who’s been dancing all night, appears to be struck down amid the celebration. In the ensuing confusion, it’s unclear whether Alys’ death was accidental or caused by something more mysterious, and her husband, Brice, implores experienced shaman Sabbie Dare to help him understand what’s happened. Sabbie isn’t sure where to start, since Brice is not a believer in the occult and doesn’t trust any of the community. Though Sabbie is a member of said community, even she isn’t sure whom to trust when it’s implied that someone may have drugged Alys with malice aforethought. Sabbie wants to rely on her main squeeze, police detective Rey Buckley, but she’s having trouble even getting him to commit to communicating with her at the boyfriend/partner level, much less helping her investigate. There may be something more afoot with him, but he’s not one to fill Sabbie in. In a world where she isn’t sure which way to turn for help, Sabbie forswears human assistance and enters her spiritual realm with her trusty otter guide, Trendle, hoping he can show her something not visible on the earthly plane. It may be something Trendle is hinting at that relates Alys’ death to creepy emails Brice keeps receiving from a supposed Morgan le Fay. Is Alys’ death connected to ancient tales of King Arthur’s Round Table? Readers may still be wondering when the tale ends.

Less successful than others in this series (Unraveled Visions, 2014, etc.), partly because both Milton’s villain and heroine are insufficiently sketched to draw one in, partly perhaps because she’s trying to do too much at once.