It’s only been a couple of weeks since she solved the case of Strange Magic – the first book in this increasingly wonderful series – and Rosie Strange, reluctant ‘heiress’ of the Essex Witch Museum, has barely had time to catch her breath. But now something extremely nasty is afoot. A phantom woman has been terrorising the staff of a posh London restaurant and the chef has been found dead in the cellar, suspended from a meat hook with his guts spilled across the floor.
The restaurant’s gangsterish owner has hired Rosie and her paranormal investigator-sidekick Sam Stone to get to the bottom of the mystery, otherwise their kneecaps might be in jeopardy. But is the psychotic spectre for real or is this just a very deadly con – after all, blood only pours out from chandeliers in the movies, doesn’t it? Rosie and Sam are about to discover that evil has many forms, and that the horrors of the past are as potent now as they have ever been. But even though Rosie is way out of her depth, you can’t put a good Essex girl down. Besides, she’s getting better at this paranormal shtick, Sam is starting to rub off on her (well, Rosie can dream can’t she?) and a weird break-in at the Witch Museum is about to make matters very personal…
If Strange Magic rocked (which it did, we gave it a 10/10 when it was released earlier this year) Strange Sight rocks even harder. It’s chilling, it’s funny, it’s impeccably researched and it’s got an important message at its heart. Author Syd Moore has really performed some witchcraft of her own with this one – maybe it’s because she’s developed the relationship between Rosie and Sam so beautifully (there’s a whip-smart Mulder & Scully meets His Girl Friday vibe going on here) or maybe it’s because she’s delivered a playful, intricate, thoroughly modern ghost story that will keep you transfixed until the very last page and then still pull the rug out from under you… who knows? One thing’s for sure – it is very rare when you find yourself shuddering one moment and laughing out loud the next, and Strange Sight hits that sweet-spot perfectly. Forget Essex, Rosie Strange should be declared a national treasure. She is the best thing to happen to paranormal fiction in a long, long time.
STRANGE SIGHT / AUTHOR: SYD MOORE / PUBLISHER: ONEWORLD PUBLICATIONS / RELEASE DATE: 5TH OCTOBER
