BLOG TOUR: Strange Tricks (The Essex Witch Museum Mysteries) - Syd Moore

 

Rosie Strange is back in the latest of the fabulously creepy Essex Witch Museum Mysteries

Secretly Rosie Strange has always thought herself a little bit more interesting than most people – the legacy her family has bequeathed her is definitely so, she’s long believed. But then life takes a peculiar turn when the Strange legacy turns out not just to be the Essex Witch Museum, but perhaps some otherworldly gifts that Rosie finds difficult to fathom. Meanwhile Sam Stone, Rosie’s curator, is oddly distracted as breadcrumb clues into what happened to his missing younger brother and other abducted boys from the past are poised to lead him and Rosie deep into a dark wood where there lurks something far scarier than Hansel and Gretel’s witch…

What did I think?

I'm really getting into the swing of audiobooks now and Strange Tricks from Isis Audio is the latest addition to my audiobook library.  Although I do already own Strange Magic and Strange Sight, Strange Tricks is my first virtual visit to the Essex Witch Museum and I have to say that it works absolutely brilliantly as a standalone, despite being book 6 in the series.  Listening to Strange Tricks has definitely made me want to pick up the earlier books as soon as I possibly can.

The audiobook is narrated by Julia Barrie but it really felt like I was listening to the main character, Rosie Strange herself.  Julia's narration is outstanding with a range of different voices and accents that kept me enthralled from start to finish.  Julia's warm, expressive and soothing voice actually reminded me of sitting down to story time in primary school but there was no subsequent nap time in this case as the storyline completely captivated me and I just had to keep listening to one more chapter.

I really liked the unusual setting of the Essex Witch Museum, owned by Rosie Strange, and the curious characters that Rosie comes into contact with.  I imagine quite a few of the characters have appeared in previous books but I didn't feel as if I was missing out on anything by jumping in mid-series.  It has made me want to find out more though, especially the will they/won't they relationship between Rosie and Sam.

The main plot follows the historical abduction of boys and the museum curator, Sam Stone has a personal interest as his younger brother went missing in unusual circumstances many years ago.  Whilst the majority of the plot is creepy and strange, Syd Moore adds some outstanding humour to create the perfect balance.  I don't think I'd been listening for long when I almost choked with laughter and this happened quite a few times.  Be careful if you listen to this audiobook in public as it is laugh out loud hilarious and gasp out loud creepy in places.

Mysterious, intriguing, humourous and highly entertaining, Strange Tricks is a fantastic audiobook and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.  I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end; both the writing and the narration are exceptional and it's another amazing production from Isis Audio.

I chose to listen to a audiobook ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

About the author:

Before embarking on a career in education, Syd worked extensively in the publishing industry, fronting Channel 4's book programme, Pulp. She was the founding editor of Level 4, an arts and culture magazine, and is co-creator of Super Strumps, the game that reclaims female stereotypes. Syd has also been a go go dancer, backing singer, subbuteo maker, children's entertainer and performance poet, She now works for Metal Culture, an arts organisation, promoting arts and cultural events and developing literature programmes. Syd is an out and proud Essex Girl and is lucky enough to live in that county where she spends her free time excavating old myths and listening out for things that go bump in the night.

About the narrator:

After graduating from Bristol University and joining The Bristol Old Vic Julia Barrie has worked extensively in Theatre; in rep, touring both nationally and internationally, as a member of the RSC, at the Old Vic and Royal Court and in the West End at The Duke of York’s and the Theatre Royal Haymarket. For BBC Radio she recorded Anthony Shaffer’s Widow’s Weeds and her TV and film credits include Prisoners’ Wives, The Commander, Doctors, Close Relations, Our Friends in the North, Out of Bounds, Ghost in the Machine and Five Greedy Bankers.

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BLOG TOUR: The Witchfinder's Sister - Beth Underdown

'The number of women my brother Matthew killed, so far as I can reckon it, is one hundred and six...'

1645. When Alice Hopkins' husband dies in a tragic accident, she returns to the small Essex town of Manningtree, where her brother Matthew still lives.

But home is no longer a place of safety. Matthew has changed, and there are rumours spreading through the town: whispers of witchcraft, and of a great book, in which he is gathering women's names.

To what lengths will Matthew's obsession drive him?

And what choice will Alice make, when she finds herself at the very heart of his plan?

What did I think?

We've all heard of the Salem witch trials but we often forget that similar witch-hunts were going on in Britain, led by Matthew Hopkins in Essex.  In the days before plucking and waxing, woe betide any woman with a furred brow or hairy lip as they may find themselves being labelled as a witch.  Many unfortunate women in The Witchfinder's Sister are unfairly accused of being witches and maybe there is one real witch in the story - will Matthew's methods of detection identify her?

Alice thought she had escaped the strange ways of her brother, Matthew, when she married Joseph and they set up home in London, however, Joseph's sudden death sees her return from London to Manningtree.  Alice is carrying her own precious secret, a secret that she knows she can't keep hidden for long, not when Matthew has eyes and ears in the whole town.

Matthew has strange secretive meetings at the house and Alice overhears enough to make her fear for the safety of her mother-in-law Bridget.  Bridget has been close to the Hopkins family for many years, and knows more than she is willing to let on about the terrible scarring Matthew has on his face.  Matthew was told that he crawled into the open fire as a baby but Alice finds out the truth that Bridget has kept hidden for many years.  Will it be too late to save Bridget from Matthew's witch-hunt?

There are so many interesting stories within The Witchfinder's Sister that it's a guaranteed page-turner.  Alice's story is tragic and poignant but as his sister she's known Matthew since he was born so she knows how he works.  My heart went out to the poor women who were tried as witches, made even more poignant by the fact that the characters in the book were real women who were tried by Matthew Hopkins in the Essex Witch Trials.

Reading The Witchfinder's Sister is like having a secret window into the 17th Century.  It is so impeccably researched and filled to the brim with interesting facts that are so cleverly woven into the fiction, almost hidden in plain sight if we choose to see them.  Never has a fiction book had me racing off to google both during and after reading it.  I was absolutely gobsmacked at the origins of 'hocus pocus' and I was delighted to see Alice having beer for breakfast!

The Witchfinder's Sister is a stunning debut by Beth Underdown.  Her wonderful descriptive writing style naturally draws the reader into the story and seems to take on such authenticity of the period that I really felt as if I was there watching the trials unfold.  The ending was jaw-droppingly brilliant and, although a very good end to the book, I for one would love to see the story continue. 

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.  I am delighted to release my review as part of the blog tour.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon

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