AUTHOR: Holly Bell
PUBLISHED BY: HeyPressto
This enchanting debut novel
describes how heroine,
Amanda Cadabra, has lost her family after the bus she was travelling in with her
family went over a Cornish cliff; subsequently she is being raised by her
grandparents; and local policeman, DS Thomas Trelawney, is investigating the
unexplained loss of her family. Covert witch, Amanda, has a job as a furniture
restorer at the old English manor of Sunken Madley which has a very shadowy
past. With only her grumpy reincarnated cat, Tempest, and her wand, Amanda is
armed to solve the mystery after finding a body, ghosts, hidden tunnels, and
unexplained lights; she is determined to save the village from the scandal of a
murder.
The first part of this book is a compilation of background
information about how Amanda became an orphan, why her grandparents adopted
her, how a young Amanda was taught magic, and how she is trained to hide her
magic from ‘normals’ plus the history of witchcraft in the area going back
hundreds of years and information about good verses bad witches. This was
interesting but some readers may find it a little too much to wade through
before the story begins.
The last half of this book goes much quicker and the mystery of the missing jewels proved interesting.
I found this an uncomplicated
read with potential for more episodes; I enjoyed the storyline and the
interesting characters.
I have to admit, when I saw the title and the front cover of
this book, I thought it was going to be the usual light, frothy,
cosy-mystery-meets-witch book. What I actually found was a really well-crafted
and well-written story, with good character and plot development, laugh-out-loud
moments, and lots of fun. It has intriguing scenes which get the adrenaline
pumping, an intelligent mystery or two to get the little grey cells whirling,
nail-biting tension and well-written humour plus a possible romance on the
horizon for heroine, Amanda.
It is an entertaining, good read
as well as being intriguing and satisfying. There are elements of time travel, fantasy, and humour; I laughed aloud
at some of the names and the puns although some readers may find the puns in
some of the character names rather laboured.
Although the suggested reading
age is 8-18 years, I think many older readers will enjoy it. It is enchanting,
thrilling and a perfect blend of delight and mystery; this is a delightful
first outing for the author’s wonderful character, Amanda Cadabra and her
grumpy cat, Tempest. It is also a lovely window into English Village Life.
One point to note is that some
readers may not be fond of books that have a mystery which drags out over
several books whilst others do not mind it.
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
Excellent review, Anne. I was enchanted when I read this debut too. Thankfully, it wasn't a one-hit wonder, as the subsequent books are just as entertaining and delightful to read.
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