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About Paula Brackston
In 2007 Paula was shortlisted in the Creme de la Crime search for new writers. In 2010 her book 'Nutters' (writing as PJ Davy) was shortlisted for the Mind Book Award. The following year she was selected by the BBC under their New Welsh Writers scheme. 'The Witch's Daughter' became a New York Times bestseller. Her books are translated into five languages and sold around the world.
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Author Updates
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Blog postThe Witch's Daughter has been chosen by Ezvids for their 10 Wickedly Wonderful Witch Books!
Here's the link:
https://wiki.ezvid.com/m/ZmtLT5vI2B_bn
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postNew Video up on YouTube: Screenwriting for Beginners.
What are your favourite book to film adaptations?
3 years ago Read more -
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Blog postNew video up on YouTube
Writing Activities! Get those pencils sharpened, choose your favourite note book, and have a go...
3 years ago Read more -
Blog post
A new collection of videos coming up on YouTube following the development of Book III in The Little Shop of Found Things series!
Tune in to join in the journey of this story, from tiny nugget of an idea, through synopsis, drafts, edits, design and development to published book.
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postNew Video - Where I Write!
Pop over to Youtube for a sneaky peek at one of my writing venues.
Do you have a favourite place to write or to think about your stories?
3 years ago Read more -
Blog post
New Video up on YouTube
How to Name Your Characters!
https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulaBrackstonBooks?sub_confirmation=1
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postAsk The Author!
If you pop over to my YouTube channel I have a video up inviting questions. Ask me anything about my books, or about writing in general. I'm going to gather in questions until 16th May. After that I will make a video answering questions.
You can leave your questions in the comments below the VIDEO - ASK THE AUTHOR
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postComing soon!!!!!
Keep an eye on my YouTube channel and Facebook pages for updates and news of giveaways.
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postPaperback publication week for The Return of the Witch in the US and Canada!
Here's a mood board for Tegan and Elizabeth as a taster....
4 years ago Read more -
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Blog postGoodreads Read-along for The Return of the Witch!
If you'd like to join in, get yourself over to the Paula Brackston fan group page on Goodreads.
5 years ago Read more -
Blog postAnother of the settings in The Return of the Witch.
How would you like to live in a windmill?
5 years ago Read more -
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Blog posthttp://amberkatze.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/13-gretel-and-case-of-missing-frog.html
5 years ago Read more -
Blog postMy books are currently under the Nook Spotlight at Barnes & Noble. I was really pleased with their synopsis of the books: "Enter the captivating world of bestselling author Paula Brackston. where magic is real and witches walk amongst us. From contemporary accounts of witches who wander the Welsh countryside to richly imagined historical tales, Paula's writing is sure to cast a spell over you that you won't want to break."
They're currently featuring The Witch's Daughter5 years ago Read more -
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Blog postA message for Tesia!
Hi - I have tried to reply to your message, but the email address you have used won't accept my emails. Any chance you can resend from a different email address?
Best wishes
Paula
5 years ago Read more -
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Blog postNew Writing Challenge!
A seemingly peaceful scene - see how spooky you can make it.
Look at the picture and write down:
a) What happened a year before this scene
b) What happened an hour before
c) What happens next.
5 years ago Read more -
Blog postCreating Characters
As writers we need to ask ourselves how we can make our characters beguiling. What do we have to do to make them irresistible, compelling, and believable? They do not, of course, all have to be loveable, or even likeable. My own list of favourites reveals many anti-heroes and people I would not care to spend a weekend with. There are things, though, that are common to all successful characters.
They are driven. In real life p5 years ago Read more -
Blog post
Witchy Writing!
A chance for you to do some Halloween-ly spooky writing. You can post your response in the comments or just try them at home. I'll be putting these up over the coming week, so go on, have a go!
Hit the ground running!
Write a short story/the beginning of a longer story that starts with your main character running.
They could be chasing someone or something, being chased, or both!
Try and build up a sense of danger.
5 years ago Read more -
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Blog postMy new novel, The Silver Witch, publishes on 3rd December. As a special offer, my publishers are offering the first 50 readers to pre-order The Silver Witch a FREE copy of Lamp Black, Wolf Grey, publishing 22nd October. Lamp Black, Wolf Grey is an ebook only, full length novel set in the magical Welsh mountains. To be in with the chance of winning, all you have to do is pre-order The Silver Witchfrom your retailer of choice, then email pr6 years ago Read more
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Blog postLaunch day in the USA for Lamp Black, Wolf Grey - hurrah!
The story features Merlin, so I've picked out a few images of him that appealed to me. Do you have any personal favourites?
The Beguiling of Merlin by Edward Burne-Jones
A feverish depiction by Aubrey Beardsley
Vivian and Merlin by Gustave Dore
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postOut today in the USA!
Another Detective Gretel book for those who like a little humour with their crime fiction. And fantasy. And history. And food and fashion and, oh... it's easier just to let you read the book!
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe Silver Witch is out now in the USA!
To celebrate publication of my latest novel, here are some photos of the setting.
Llangors lake is a wonderfully tranquil yet powerful place, and has provided fabulous inspiration for my story.
The new 'crannog' on the lake.
Tilda's side of the lake.
Seren's sacred lake.
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postI'm going on a blog tour!
Just like a Grand Tour of old, but I don't have to leave home. Instead I shall be virutally present on all manner of wonderful websites.
Please join me for interviews and reviews of my newest book The Silver Witch.
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postTuesday Tip (I know it's Friday, I've had computer problems! Let's pretend it's still Tuesday):
Put something in your story that you deeply desire for yourself. It could be an ideal partner, a dream job, or a personal quality, or anything else that moves you when you think about it. Your writing will reflect your longing.
I used this in The Silver Witch when I chose the Old School House as the professor's home. This house is a few yards from the shores of Llangors Lake and I h6 years ago Read more -
Blog post
Exclusive deleted scenes of The Midnight Witch.
A glimpse into the editing process. Over on Wattpad (see link below) you can read scenes showing what Bram went through during the war in Africa, and a scene showing Lilith visiting Mangan in prison.
It is always hard cutting scenes, but sometimes the book becomes too long, or the pace is slowed, and something has to go.
Do you think these scenes would have added something to t6 years ago Read more -
Blog postWho wants to do some writing?
Come on, don't be shy, I know there are lots of writers as well as readers out there.
I'll be posting some prompts, tips, and activities here and on my facebook page at irregular (ie when the spirit moves me) intervals, so watch this space!
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postMy Five Favourite Welsh Wonders
I am not Welsh. You might think this would give me a slightly more objective view of the country, but I doubt it. I went to school here, spent my childhood stumbling over the bracken-tangled hills, ran away in search of adventure (which, as all young people know, can only ever be found somewhere other than where your parents live) and then returned to nest and raise my own family.
So I’ve spent about thirty years here now,6 years ago Read more -
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Blog postA busy start to the year...
A lovely review of The Midnight Witch in the guardian which you should find if you click here
A piece from me about writing over on Biographile
And I am now a Goodreads author. To take a look at reviews of my books, Q&As and so on click here
Now back to some actual writing...
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postHappy New Year!
I hope you are all rested after the holidays. My sympathy to those of you who have struggled through this festive period for one reason or another: it is a tough time to be having a tough time.
And now we begin again.
For me, 2015 promises to be a very busy and exciting time book-wise. Due to a curious confluence of circumstances, I have five new novels scheduled for publication in the US and Canada this year, as well as books coming out in the UK, Germ6 years ago Read more -
Blog post'The Midnight Witch' in the UK!
Publication date is 4th of December, and to get the ball rolling, I shall be doing a signing at Waterstones in Wrexham on Saturday 6th December from about one o'clock. Come one, come all!
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postHow's this for a witchy dwelling?
Perfect cottage in our village, just right for Halloween.
6 years ago Read more -
Blog postWitches in Art
The first in an occasional series...
Which is your favourite painting of a witch? Here is one of mine, The Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse. Painted in 1886, I think it is a typical Pre-Raphaelite interpretation of what a witch in the midst of her spell casting would look like. The image is stuffed with symbolic details - her bare feet, the wildness of her hair, the dark cave in the background.
I love the figure in this picture - she is really pow7 years ago Read more -
Blog postDark Aemilia
Just had to tell you about this fabulous new book I had the opportunity to read before it came out.
Dark Aemilia by Sally O'Reilly. It's a brilliant story, extremely well told, with oodles of Elizabethan atmosphere. There's magic and mystery and love and danger. Wonderful stuff. Available at all good book shops and online now. Get your hands on a copy soonest!
7 years ago Read more -
Blog postA few photos from a lovely trip to Stratford.
We went to see the RSC production of Henry IV part I. A splendid cast, with Anthony Sher as the perfect Falstaff.
Thoroughly recommended!
7 years ago Read more -
Blog postGood grief, it's February already!
I have been remiss in my blog posting. This is because I have been nose to the keyboard, brow furrowed, totally engaged in the business of completing my next witchy novel, so I hope you'll forgive me.
I am late in mentioning that the ebook of The Winter Witch is at the frankly stupendous bargain price of $2.99 all this month in the USA. Hurry along to your virtual book store (all are involved) for your virtual copy, as the month is virtually7 years ago Read more -
Blog postAre we ready for 2014?
Is 2014 ready for us?
The picture below shows one of my younger readers, Rachel, with her Christmas presents. That smile makes all the hours hunched over my PC, chewing pen, brain in a knot, plot refusing to go right, characters scampering off in unexpected directions, word count constipated, mind wandering .... every moment of it is worthwhile if the end result is such obvious pleasure!
Here's wishing everyone, whatever their age, wherever they7 years ago Read more -
Blog postFor those of you in need of something to read before my new book comes out next year, hasten along to Wattpad, where you will find my novel Lamp Black serialised over the next few weeks. Read it for free! Consider it my little Christmas present to you, dear Reader.
Those devilishly creative people at SMP have come up with this lovely cover:
7 years ago Read more -
Blog post
Fanfare and drum roll!
The Witch's Daughter is out in the UK today, in paperback.
Wonderful to have it available here, thanks to all the good people at Constable & Robinson/Corsair.
For those of you hereabouts, I'm doing a book signing at the Abergavenny branch of Waterstones,
on Saturday 7th December from about eleven o'clock. Do come along if you can7 years ago Read more -
Blog postWith luck and a following wind (though hopefully not the promised gales...) I shall be speaking to Bernadette to record an interview on Sunday afternoon. A recording of this will then be posted on her site, so do drop in and listen if you can.
Other news just in... I now have a presence on facebook. There should be a link on my website soon. In the meantime, I can be found at The World of Paula Brackston, for all sort of stuff relating to my books, up to date release information, news7 years ago Read more
New York Times bestselling author of The Witch's Daughter Paula Brackston returns to her trademark blend of magic and romance guaranteed to enchant in The Little Shop of Found Things, the first book in a new continuing series.
An antique shop haunted by a ghost.
A silver treasure with an injustice in its story.
An adventure to the past she’ll never forget.
Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. When she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine she has to know more.
It is while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the seventeenth century where it has its origins. She discovers there is an injustice in its history. The spirit that inhabits her new home confronts her and charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails.
While Xanthe fights to save the girl amid the turbulent days of 1605, she meets architect Samuel Appleby. He may be the person who can help her succeed. He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to leave.
The story continues in October 2019 with book two in the Found Things series, Secrets of the Chocolate House.
The third installment of a bewitching series "brimming with charm and charisma" that will make "fans of Outlander rejoice!" (Woman's World Magazine).
New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston's second novel in the Found Things series, Secrets of the Chocolate House, was called a "time-swapping romance [that] will please fans of Alice Hoffman" (Publishers Weekly). Now, Brackston returns to the Found Things series with a third book, The Garden of Promises and Lies.
As the bustle of the winter holidays in the Little Shop of Found Things gives way to spring, Xanthe is left to reflect on the strange events of the past year. While she's tried to keep her time-traveling talents a secret from those close to her, she is forced to take responsibility for having inadvertently transported the dangerous Benedict Fairfax to her own time. Xanthe comes to see that she must use her skills as a Spinner if she and Flora are ever to be safe, and turns to the Spinners book for help.
It is then that a beautiful antique wedding dress sings to her. Realizing the dress and her adversary are connected in some way, she answers the call. She finds herself in Bradford-on-Avon in 1815, as if she has stepped into a Jane Austen story.
Now in Xanthe's time, Fairfax is threatening Xanthe into helping him with his evil doings, and demonstrates all too clearly how much damage he is capable of causing. With Fairfax growing ever more powerful, Xanthe enlists the help of her boyfriend Liam, taking him back in time with her. It is a decision that might just ensure she prevails over her foe, but only by putting her life—and his—on the line.
The second novel in a bewitching series "brimming with charm and charisma" that will make "fans of Outlander rejoice!" (Woman's World Magazine)
New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston’s The Little Shop of Found Things was called “a page-turner that will no doubt leave readers eager for future series installments” (Publishers Weekly). Now, Brackston returns to the Found Things series with its sequel, Secrets of the Chocolate House.
After her adventures in the seventeenth century, Xanthe does her best to settle back into the rhythm of life in Marlborough. She tells herself she must forget about Samuel and leave him in the past where he belongs. With the help of her new friends, she does her best to move on, focusing instead on the success of her and Flora’s antique shop.
But there are still things waiting to be found, still injustices needing to be put right, still voices whispering to Xanthe from long ago about secrets wanting to be shared.
While looking for new stock for the shop, Xanthe hears the song of a copper chocolate pot. Soon after, she has an upsetting vision of Samuel in great danger, compelling her to make another journey to the past.
This time she'll meet her most dangerous adversary. This time her ability to travel to the past will be tested. This time she will discover her true destiny. Will that destiny allow her to return home? And will she be able to save Samuel when his own fate seems to be sealed?
Paula Brackston's City of Time and Magic is the next installment in the time-traveling Found Things Series.
City of Time and Magic sees Xanthe face her greatest challenges yet. She must choose from three treasures that sing to her; a beautiful writing slope, a mourning brooch of heartbreaking detail, and a gorgeous gem-set hat pin. All call her, but the wrong one could take her on a mission other than that which she must address first, and the stakes could not be higher. While her earlier mission to Regency England had been a success, the journey home resulted in Liam being taken from her, spirited away to another time and place. Xanthe must follow the treasure that will take her to him if he is not to be lost forever.
Xanthe is certain that Mistress Flyte has Liam and determined to find them both. But when she discovers Lydia Flyte has been tracking the actions of the Visionary Society, a group of ruthless and unscrupulous Spinners who have been selling their talents to a club of wealthy clients, Xanthe realizes her work as a Spinner must come before her personal wishes. The Visionary Society is highly dangerous and directly opposed to the creed of the Spinners. Their actions could have disastrous consequences as they alter the authentic order of things and change the future. Xanthe knows she must take on the Society. It will require the skills of all her friends, old and new, to attempt such a thing, and not all of them will survive the confrontation that follows.
Paula Brackston's debut novel, The Witch's Daughter, was the little book that could--with a captivating story, remarkable heroine, and eye-catching package, it has now netted over 200,000 copies in all formats. Now Paula returns with its sequel The Return of the Witch, another bewitching tale of love and magic, featuring her signature blend of gorgeous writing, a fabulous and intriguing historical backdrop, and a headstrong and relatable heroine readers will cheer for.
After five years in the Summerlands, Gideon has gained his freedom. Elizabeth knows he will go straight for Tegan, and that she must protect the girl she had come to regard as her own daughter. In the time since she the dramatic night in Batchcombe woods, Tegan has traveled the world learning from all manner of witches, and she is no longer the awkward teenager and novice spellcaster she once was. However, her skills are no match for Gideon's dark, vengeful power, and he succeeds in capturing her. Will Elizabeth be able to find her? Will they be able to defeat their nemesis once and for all?
In a breathless journey that takes them through history to the 17th and 19th centuries, witch pursues warlock. Three people steeped in magic weave a new story, but not all will survive until the end.
My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins…
In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate at the hands of the panicked mob: the Warlock Gideon Masters, and his Book of Shadows. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers she didn't know she had and making her immortal. She couldn't have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he would be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.
In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life for herself, tending her garden and selling herbs and oils at the local farmers' market. But her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl called Tegan starts hanging around. Against her better judgment, Elizabeth begins teaching Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories--and demons--long thought forgotten.
Part historical romance, part modern fantasy, Paula Brackston's New York Times bestseller, The Witch's Daughter, is a fresh, compelling take on the magical, yet dangerous world of Witches. Readers will long remember the fiercely independent heroine who survives plagues, wars, and the heartbreak that comes with immortality to remain true to herself, and protect the protégé she comes to love.
New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston transports readers to the windswept mountains of Wales in The Winter Witch, an enthralling tale of love and magic.
In her small early nineteenth century Welsh town, there is no one quite like Morgana. She is small and quick and pretty enough to attract a suitor, but there are things that set her apart from other girls. Though her mind is sharp she has not spoken since she was a young girl. Her silence is a mystery, as well as her magic—the household objects that seem to move at her command, the bad luck that visits those who do her ill. Concerned for her safety, her mother is anxious to see Morgana married, and Cai Jenkins, the widowed drover from the far hills who knows nothing of the rumors that swirl around her, seems the best choice.
After her wedding, Morgana is heartbroken at leaving her mother, and wary of this man, whom she does not know, and who will take her away to begin a new life. But she soon falls in love with Cai's farm and the wild mountains that surround it. Here, where frail humans are at the mercy of the elements, she thrives, her wild nature and her magic blossoming. Cai works to understand the beautiful, half-tamed creature he has chosen for a bride, and slowly, he begins to win Morgana's affections. It's not long, however, before her strangeness begins to be remarked upon in her new village. A dark force is at work there—a person who will stop at nothing to turn the townspeople against Morgana, even at the expense of those closest to her. Forced to defend her home, her man, and herself from all comers, Morgana must learn to harness her power, or she will lose everything in this beautifully written, enchanting novel.
"An enthralling tale of love and magic." –USA Today
A year after her husband's sudden death, ceramic artist Tilda Fordwells finally moves into the secluded Welsh cottage that was to be their new home. She hopes that the tranquil surroundings will help ease her grief, and lessen her disturbing visions of Mat's death. Instead, the lake in the valley below her cottage seems to spark something dormant in her – a sensitivity, and a power of some sort. Animals are drawn to her, electricity shorts out when she's near, and strangest of all, she sees a new vision; a boatful of ancient people approaching her across the water.
On this same lake in Celtic times lived Seren, a witch and shaman. She was respected but feared, kept separate from the community for her strange looks. When a vision came to her of the Prince amid a nest of vipers she warned of betrayal from one of his own. Prince Brynach both loved and revered her, but could not believe someone close to him wished him harm, even as the danger grew.
In her own time, Tilda's grief begins to fade beside her newfound powers and a fresh love. When she explores the lake's ancient magic and her own she discovers Seren, the woman in her vision of the boat. Their two lives strangely mirror each other's, suggesting a strong connection between the women. As Tilda comes under threat from a dark power, one reminiscent of Seren's prophecy, she must rely on Seren and ancient magic if death and disaster are not to shatter her life once more.
Midnight is the most bewitching hour of them all…
From Paula Brackston, the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch's Daughter and The Winter Witch, comes a magical tale that is as dark as it is enchanting. Set in high society Edwardian England, The Midnight Witch is the story of a young witch who faces the choice between love and loyalty to her coven…
"The dead are seldom silent. All that is required for them to be heard is that someone be willing to listen. I have been listening to the dead all my life."
Lady Lilith Montgomery is the daughter of the sixth Duke of Radnor. She is one of the most beautiful young women in London and engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor. She is also a witch.
When her father dies, her hapless brother Freddie takes on his title. But it is Lilith, instructed in the art of necromancy, who inherits their father's role as Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven. And it is Lilith who must face the threat of the Sentinels, a powerful group of sorcerers intent on reclaiming the Elixir from the coven's guardianship for their own dark purposes. Lilith knows the Lazarus creed: secrecy and silence. To abandon either would put both the coven and all she holds dear in grave danger. She has spent her life honoring it, right down to her engagement to her childhood friend and fellow witch, Viscount Louis Harcourt.
Until the day she meets Bram, a talented artist who is neither a witch nor a member of her class. With him, she must not be secret and silent. Despite her loyalty to the coven and duty to her family, Lilith cannot keep her life as a witch hidden from the man she loves.
To tell him will risk everything.
Artist Laura Matthews finds her new home in the Welsh mountains to be a place so charged with tales and legends that she is able to reach through the gossamer-fine veil that separates her own world from that of myth and fable.
She and her husband Dan have given up their city life and moved to Blaencwm, an ancient longhouse high in the hills. Here she hopes that the wild beauty will inspire her to produce her best art and will give her the baby they have longed for. But this high valley is also home to others, such as Rhys the charismatic loner who pursues Laura with fervor. And Anwen, the wise old woman from the neighboring farm who seems to know so much but talks in riddles. And then there is Merlin.
Lamp Black, Wolf Grey tells both Laura's story and Merlin's. For once he too walked these hills, with his faithful grey wolf at his heel. It was here he fell in love with Megan, nurse-maid to the children of the hated local noble, Lord Geraint. Merlin was young, at the start of his renowned career as a magician, but when he refuses to help Lord Geraint it is Megan who may pay the price.
From New York Times bestselling author Paula Brackston, Lamp Black, Wolf Grey is an enchanting tale of love and magic featuring her signature blend of gorgeous writing, an intriguing historical backdrop, and a relatable heroine that readers are sure to fall in love with.
A captivating new original 20-page short story by Paula Brackston, author of The Witch's Daughter!
"The Witches of the Blue Well" is the story of Ceri, a young woman in early eighteenth-century Wales whose grandmother always told her the magic blood of the women in their family flows through her veins. But when famine and hardship come to their village, will Ceri be able to harness her magic to save herself and her sister, or will her power bring about the destruction of all that she loves? With her signature enchanting style, Paula Brackston has penned an enthralling story set in the world of her novel The Winter Witch.
In addition to the short story, "The Witches of the Blue Well", this also contains a letter from the author, Paula Brackston, on writing The Winter Witch, an excerpt from "Welsh Folk Lore: a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales," an authentic publication by the Reverend Elias Owen, from 1886, on witchcraft in Wales.
Gretel has never had any time for sorcerers, considering them nothing more than show-offs with questionable fashion sense. It is with some reluctance and a deal of grumpiness, then, that she agrees to look into the matter of a murdered magician. All that is left of him is a grisly remnant, which the police quack confirms is the murdered man’s appendix. What has become of the rest of him is baffling the local constabulary, the Sorcerers’ Society, and, not least, the hapless trickster’s widow.
As Gretel delves into the facts behind his disappearance, she discovers no shortage of suspects. In fact, just about everyone she meets had reason for wanting the odious man dead. Her only clue points in one disturbing direction: the deep dark forest. So it is that Gretel, with a reluctant Hans as porter, must trek into the woods of her childhood trauma, braving all manner of discomforts and dangers— not least of which is a terrifying reminder of her past.
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