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The Girl Who Speaks to the Dead
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'An incredible edge-of-your-seat supernatural thriller.'
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'More dark brilliance from Mr Colt.'
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Had a Stranger Things vibe that I absolutely loved.'
Astrid is a thirteen-year-old girl with a powerful gift. She can talk to the dead. When her and her mom move to a sleepy town to escape their shattered city life, they hope for a clean start - but they're about to find anything but.
Cole, the local deputy, is out to impress his sheriff, who is out-of-action whilst recovering from cancer. So when a girl goes missing in the county, Cole will go to any length to find her - including employing the help of a teenage medium.
Meanwhile, two dangerous criminals arrive in the area. They're looking for something. Something only a dead man knows where to find. And in their desperation, they'll resort to brutal, violent means in order to contact him.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'More dark brilliance from Mr Colt.'
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Had a Stranger Things vibe that I absolutely loved.'
Astrid is a thirteen-year-old girl with a powerful gift. She can talk to the dead. When her and her mom move to a sleepy town to escape their shattered city life, they hope for a clean start - but they're about to find anything but.
Cole, the local deputy, is out to impress his sheriff, who is out-of-action whilst recovering from cancer. So when a girl goes missing in the county, Cole will go to any length to find her - including employing the help of a teenage medium.
Meanwhile, two dangerous criminals arrive in the area. They're looking for something. Something only a dead man knows where to find. And in their desperation, they'll resort to brutal, violent means in order to contact him.
411 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 16, 2025
6 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Jon Colt
8 books15 followersJon Colt is a novelist based in Edinburgh, known for his debut book, What Happened Next.
Writing has always been his passion, and he draws inspiration from the likes of Stephen King, James Herbert and Dan Brown.
When he's not writing, he can be found walking his charcoal labrador, Ringo, re-watching TV shows such as Breaking Bad, Mr Robot or What We Do in the Shadows, reading, or playing the guitar.
Writing has always been his passion, and he draws inspiration from the likes of Stephen King, James Herbert and Dan Brown.
When he's not writing, he can be found walking his charcoal labrador, Ringo, re-watching TV shows such as Breaking Bad, Mr Robot or What We Do in the Shadows, reading, or playing the guitar.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 24, 2026
Jon Colt’s "The Girl Who Speaks to the Dead" handles the supernatural with remarkable narrative restraint, avoiding both sensationalism and interpretive overstatement. The novel sustains a persistent state of ambiguity between the real and the uncanny; the latter, however, is rendered relatively easy for the book’s society to accept and is swiftly integrated as a functional narrative device. The alternation between the almost affectless routines of small-town life and sudden supernatural intrusions establishes a carefully controlled rhythm of tension that continually undermines the reader’s sense of certainty. Atmosphere is constructed through suggestion, silence, and recurring motifs, in an approach that recalls the Gothic. The spare, almost musical prose allows themes of loss, absence, and emotional alienation to surface organically, without symbolic coercion.
At the same time, the novel is structured as a multi-voiced narrative of high internal coherence, in which each character is developed through specific incidents and relationships rather than external description. Characters reveal their dynamics primarily in pairs, through alliances or conflicts, that function as narrative nuclei and catalysts for development, shaping the conditions of the evolving dramaturgy. The plot sustains its momentum throughout, while the small-town setting, where everyone knows everyone else, intensifies the sense of a community that offers both protection and threat. This dual atmosphere, familiarity coupled with latent terror, renders the environment an active agent of the narrative, heightening the feeling of a constant, almost imperceptible, suffocation.
Within this framework, ghosts acquire a crucial narrative and social function, operating as traces of human presence and as carriers of memory and trauma. Evil is displaced from the supernatural to the social realm; poverty, marginalisation, familial stigma, and the intergenerational traumas that shape lives long before individuals are able to exercise choice. Crime is presented as a classed phenomenon, the product of social structures and inequalities rather than individual pathology. Through a deft parallel, traumas passed down from one generation to the next emerge as "living ghosts," just as present and determinative as those Astrid can see. In this way, the novel captures with rare tenderness and acuity the injustice of a world in which children are made to pay for the "sins" of their parents, trapped in an unforgiving cycle of social and moral condemnation that relentlessly reproduces itself.
At the same time, the novel is structured as a multi-voiced narrative of high internal coherence, in which each character is developed through specific incidents and relationships rather than external description. Characters reveal their dynamics primarily in pairs, through alliances or conflicts, that function as narrative nuclei and catalysts for development, shaping the conditions of the evolving dramaturgy. The plot sustains its momentum throughout, while the small-town setting, where everyone knows everyone else, intensifies the sense of a community that offers both protection and threat. This dual atmosphere, familiarity coupled with latent terror, renders the environment an active agent of the narrative, heightening the feeling of a constant, almost imperceptible, suffocation.
Within this framework, ghosts acquire a crucial narrative and social function, operating as traces of human presence and as carriers of memory and trauma. Evil is displaced from the supernatural to the social realm; poverty, marginalisation, familial stigma, and the intergenerational traumas that shape lives long before individuals are able to exercise choice. Crime is presented as a classed phenomenon, the product of social structures and inequalities rather than individual pathology. Through a deft parallel, traumas passed down from one generation to the next emerge as "living ghosts," just as present and determinative as those Astrid can see. In this way, the novel captures with rare tenderness and acuity the injustice of a world in which children are made to pay for the "sins" of their parents, trapped in an unforgiving cycle of social and moral condemnation that relentlessly reproduces itself.
February 14, 2026
I received a message from the author, asking if I would be interested to read a copy of his book, The Girl Who Speaks To The Dead, of course I happily obliged!
14 year old Astrid had the gift to speak to the dead and has visions when physically touched by another person. Cole is acting sheriff when trouble arises with a new resident of their small town, with refusal from outside help, he decides to ask a teenager willing to step into her grandmothers footsteps. An unlikely duo but perhaps a good team!
✨ I love a good thriller, mixed in with some supernatural elements and something a little different makes an exciting story! I have really enjoyed following Astrid and Cole on their adventures, I was always wanting more and couldn’t stop reading come the second half of the book! I am so excited to see what the unlikely duo get up to in the next book! Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of your book 😍✨
14 year old Astrid had the gift to speak to the dead and has visions when physically touched by another person. Cole is acting sheriff when trouble arises with a new resident of their small town, with refusal from outside help, he decides to ask a teenager willing to step into her grandmothers footsteps. An unlikely duo but perhaps a good team!
✨ I love a good thriller, mixed in with some supernatural elements and something a little different makes an exciting story! I have really enjoyed following Astrid and Cole on their adventures, I was always wanting more and couldn’t stop reading come the second half of the book! I am so excited to see what the unlikely duo get up to in the next book! Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of your book 😍✨
January 14, 2026
Nice, easy read
This is the first Jon Colt book I've read and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I liked the plot, the characters and the pacing which is why I've given it five stars. However, there are a few terminology errors (born of a British author setting the story in the USA) and some glaring typos. That being said, I'm still about to buy another Jon Colt book, and hope I like it as much (or more) as this one.
This is the first Jon Colt book I've read and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I liked the plot, the characters and the pacing which is why I've given it five stars. However, there are a few terminology errors (born of a British author setting the story in the USA) and some glaring typos. That being said, I'm still about to buy another Jon Colt book, and hope I like it as much (or more) as this one.
February 15, 2026
incredible, following Astrid who has moved back to the small town of Winterwood with her mum to start a fresh. So many side stories, character build up it was a thriller with an intersting grip tense and everything making sense in the end. if you enjoy a good story that makes you feel so many different emotions for each character especially as you get further in! i recommend this one :) looking forward to reading book 2
September 14, 2025
Should come with a trigger warning IMO for SA (small scene but it's in there). Didn't appreciate the 'C' word being in it that many times- to me it just didn't add to the story/characterisations
Had so much potential. Was ok and possibly would read the next one - if it had same characters. Liked the story line. Liked the many narrative approach - still easy to follow.
Had so much potential. Was ok and possibly would read the next one - if it had same characters. Liked the story line. Liked the many narrative approach - still easy to follow.
August 19, 2025
Wow, just wow! I loved his first series and didn't think he could come up with yet another great series. But this new one is amazing! I've already finished it and am itching for the next book in the series. Already pre-ordered it.
August 5, 2025
A chilling, fast-paced supernatural thriller with a gritty edge, this story masterfully blends suspense, the paranormal, and heart-pounding tension through the eyes of a fearless young medium.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2025
only managed to put this down once, going to struggle to wait a year for the second of the series
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews