“Just because things are strange, Rosie, doesn’t mean they’re not true.” This sentence aptly sums up the premise of this new series from Sydney Moore. We first meet Rosie Strange as she travels to the Essex Witch Museum, which she has inherited from her estranged grandfather, Septimus Strange. As she wanders the moldy museum, she meets the semi-creepy caretaker Bronson and the handsome & quirky curator, Sam Stone. Soon she finds herself smack in the middle of an adventure in which she and Sam must acquire the bones of a witch dead for 400 years in order to save the life of a small boy possessed by the spirit of said witch’s son.
Underneath the expected editing issues you typically find in an advanced reading copy is an entertaining plot and a budding chemistry between the likable Rosie and Sam, making this a series to watch. The introduction two-thirds into the story of the MI5 Occult Division (and the suave agent Monty) was a little jarring, but holds promise for the series. This will be a welcome addition to other “witchy” series like Juliet Blackwell’s Lily Ivory books. Recommended.
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