Review copy

Hope and Walker, by Andrew Cull, is a charming story with a touch of horror. The opening line, "We were both 10. But he was dead. And I sat drawing him", immediately drew me in, so important with a short story.

Em Walker's parents ran one of the two funeral homes in the small town of Hope.

"Mum and Dad never argued much. Although they did have a huge row one time when I was seven. I'd been playing hide and seek with Dad when he'd gotten a call from a customer. He'd been on the phone so long that he'd forgotten all about the game. Two hours later Mum found me asleep in a casket, where I'd hidden, while she was giving a tour of the showroom. It hadn't helped matters when I'd woken up with a start, sat bolt upright in the coffin and screamed. Mum and Dad lost that sale to Bob Ryan and it was quite a while before I showed my face downstairs again."

When ten-year-old Billy Jenkins came to Walker and Son Funeral Directors it was an extraordinarily sad day. His murder a mystery. As was her habit by now, Em sat drawing his likeness in her sketchbook, talking to Billy as she drew. What happens next was nothing short of remarkable. To learn more. Pick up this exceptional short story.

Recommended.

Hope and Walker is published by Vermillion Press and is available for the Kindle through Amazon.com. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge. Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio - Andre Cull is a writer and director of The Dark and The Possession Of David O'Reilly (UK title : The Torment). His first novel, Remains, is due for release later this year. ( )