Sweetheart, Sweetheart by Bernard Taylor

 

David Warwick, an Englishman living in New York, has a sudden premonition that his twin brother, Colin, is in danger. He returns to England and learns the shocking truth: both Colin and his young bride Helen have died ghastly deaths - deaths that no one in the village wants to talk about.

Now David has inherited his brother's home, Gerrard's Hill Cottage, a lovely house with a lush garden that seems to promise peace and comfort to all who dwell there. But as David tries to unearth the facts of what really happened to his brother and his wife, he has no idea of the horror and evil that surround him or the terrible fate that may be in store 
A chilling story that builds slowly and inexorably towards its shocking climax, Bernard Taylor's Sweetheart, Sweetheart (1977) has been recognized as one of the finest horror novels ever written. This edition features a new introduction by Michael Rowe.

I love that Valancourt Books have reprinted so many of the old classic horror novels, making what was once difficult to find in used condition brand new again for a new generation of horror readers. 

Previously, the only book I had read by this author was Godsend, so many years ago that I can only remember that I enjoyed it, I will need to reread someday. I had no idea he was such a prolific horror and true crime writer. After reading this one I have made it a point to get hold of several of his other titles and a collection of his short stories.

Sweetheart Sweetheart begins innocently enough, with an underlying tension and a slowly building feeling of unease. David has not heard back from his twin brother recently and begins to feel uncomfortable with the silence. True that David is busy with his new life, and new wife but odd that he has not written in some time. David feels compelled to fly off to England to check on him. His girlfriend thinks he is overreacting but he can not ignore the feeling of dread that compels him to go.

Upon his arrival he is told very coldly and bluntly that his brother is dead and that his father could not be bothered to call him in time for the funeral. Between his father and the locals he is given bits and pieces of the story, laden with rumor and innuendo but little in the way of facts and details. As David settles in to the cottage that has been left to him, he considers making it his permanent home, but the more he learns, the more he wants to know, and the more he finds out the clearer it becomes that there is a danger to staying in the lovely cottage where so much death has occurred. The gradual build up of creeping fear makes the ending that much more shocking. This story was brilliant. It is expertly crafted and perfectly executed.

5 out of 5 stars

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About the author
Bernard Taylor was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, and now lives in London. Following active service in Egypt in the Royal Air Force, he studied Fine Arts in Swindon, then at Chelsea School of Art and Birmingham University. On graduation he worked as a teacher, painter and book illustrator before going as a teacher to the United States. While there, he took up acting and writing and continued with both after his return to England. He has published ten novels under his own name, including The Godsend (1976), which was adapted for a major film, and Sweetheart, Sweetheart (1977), which Charles L. Grant has hailed as one of the finest ghost stories ever written. He has also written novels under the pseudonym Jess Foley, as well as several works of nonfiction.