“SHE’S LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH, BUT SOMETHING ELSE IS STARING BACK.

Newly trained child psychologist Mina has little experience. In a field full of experts, she’s been unable to find work, instead aimlessly spending her days stuck in the stifling heat wave sweeping across Britain. So it feels like a welcome reprieve when journalist Sam Hunter approaches her with a proposition.

Alice Webber is a thirteen-year-old girl who claims she’s being haunted by a witch. Living with her family in the remote Cornish village of Banathel, Alice’s symptoms are increasingly disturbing. Taking this job will give Mina some experience, Sam will get the scoop of a lifetime, and Alice will get better – Mina is sure of it.

But as Alice’s behaviour becomes increasingly inexplicable and intense, the dark cracks in Banathel begin to show. The village has a deep history of superstition and witchcraft. They believe there is evil in the world, and they have ways of . . . dealing with it. Mina is desperate to understand how deep their sinister traditions go – and how her own past may be the biggest threat of all.”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce. Something in the Walls will be published by Run For It on Tuesday 10th February 2026 in paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free eARC of Something in the Walls but that has in no way influenced my review.

Mina is a newly qualified child psychologist. A career she has chosen to enable her to help grieving children through the trauma of loss. Something she herself experienced when her brother died suddenly. She regularly attends a support group to help her process her own loss, which is where she meets Sam, a grief-stricken father and journalist. When Sam offers Mina the chance to spend time with Alice, a teenager who believes she is being haunted by a witch, Mina cannot turn down the opportunity. Particularly when it means some time away from home and her fiancé, Oscar. It’s a win-win situation, and Mina firmly believes she can help Alice. But on arrival in Banathel, it becomes clear that there is something strange about the town. Alice’s behaviour is unorthodox, and as time passes, the intensity increases. Far away from home, in the middle of a suffocating heatwave, Mina needs to work out what is fuelling Alice’s belief that she is possessed by a witch. Whether her family are purposefully fanning the flames for their own monetary gain. And the townsfolk of Banathel are certainly not helping matters. They have a long-held history, dating back centuries of superstition and witchcraft. Can Mina help Alice before it’s too late? Before the town ‘deals’ with her in its own, unique way? Or perhaps the person needing the most help is Mina…

I loved Something in the Walls. This was the last book I read in 2025, and what a high note to end the year on! Compulsive, creeping, highly intriguing and utterly unsettling. Mina is a woman subsumed by grief. The death of her brother hangs over her day in, day out. She has terrible dreams, sees him in odd, random places and struggles to come to terms with the loss. Her fiancé is dismissive, uncaring and unsupportive. So the only place she can find comfort is within the bereavement support group she attends. Being with people who understand helps. That’s where she meets Sam. A journalist who has recently lost his young daughter. Sam has a story he’s working on, something HUGE. And he thinks it would be a good experience for fledgling psychologist Mina to cut her teeth on. Against her fiancé’s wishes, Mina agrees to meet the Webbers. She is desperate to help Alice see the truth. Help her heal. But neither Banathel nor the Webbers are anything like Mina expected. There’s history in the town. Dark beliefs which are subtly referred to but never expanded on. The Webbers, especially the father, seem out for their own personal gain. Is a bigger house on the cards because of his daughter’s affliction, or a hefty injection of cash? Are Mina and Sam being tricked? The more time Mina spends with Alice, the more convinced she becomes that Alice truly believes she’s being haunted. And Sam’s motivations change. All of a sudden, he’s more interested in what Alice can give him, rather than the story he’s been working on. What is really going on in Banathel?

You’ve gotta love a small town where they do things ‘their way’, right?! Personally, I loved this one. Loved it enough to put it on my top books of 2026 list, despite finishing it on 31st December 2025! It’s packed to the gills with suspense and intrigue. I was fully invested throughout. Is poor Alice possessed by a malevolent being, or is there another more plausible explanation? My heart broke for the poor girl as the reason for her belief was explained. Some teenagers can be so cruel, intentionally hurtful and horribly vindictive. Add to the mix her strange, unnerving father, who works in a meat processing plant and has endless words of uncomfortable advice for Mina (as well as bringing his work home with him!) and you can’t help but feel Alice was doomed from the outset. Enter Mina. Full of hope, confidence and a desire to do some good. With hindsight, this wasn’t perhaps the best case to cut her new psychologist teeth on. But she’s going to do her darn best. With a beautifully written folk horror vibe threaded throughout the book, I couldn’t get enough of Something in the Walls.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Something in the Walls is a superb suspense-laden tale of witchy goings-on, small-town small-mindedness and how history should most probably stay in the past. The characters are well-drawn and fascinating throughout. There’s menace and dread and lots of gorgeously written tension. I was captivated. I was able to predict one particular aspect of the storyline but that didn’t slow down my enjoyment of the book for even a nanosecond. There have been comments made by other reviewers that they feel the story takes a sudden turn in a very different direction, leaving one of the major plotlines hanging. It sort of does. But again, this didn’t even come close to affecting my love for this book. Please don’t let this put you off. This book is definitely worth a read. Not everything needs to be wrapped up neatly with a pretty bow! The setting is divine. A small Cornish town that feels isolated and claustrophobic. Somewhere people have stayed their entire lives, just because life outside of Banathel is different and they need the familiarity. A town steeped in folklore and superstition, where things are done ‘just so’ and always will be. Glorious! All in all, I loved every single second I spent with this dark, unsettling book. Superb characters, great pace and a setting that comes to life on the page in front of you. Love, love, loved it! I’m already looking forward to reading more from Daisy Pearce in the future. Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Something in the Walls. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce was published in the UK by Run For It on 10th February 2026 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

Daisy Pearce was born in Cornwall and grew up on a smallholding surrounded by hippies. She read Stephen King’s ‘Cujo’ and The Hamlyn Book of Horror far too young and has been fascinated with the macabre ever since.

She began writing short stories as a teenager and after spells living in London and Brighton Daisy had her first short story ‘The Black Prince’ published in One Eye Grey magazine. Another short story, ‘The Brook Witch’, was performed on stage at the Small Story Cabaret in Lewes in 2016. She has also written articles about mental health online. In 2015, The Silence won a bursary with The Literary Consultancy, and later that year Daisy also won the Chindi Authors Competition with her short story ‘Worm Food’. Her second novel was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Award.

Daisy currently works in the library at the University of Sussex, where she shelves books and listens to podcasts on true crime and folklore.