The Magpie Tree

'STANSFIELD SHARES DU MAURIER'S TALENT FOR FINELY CRAFTED STORYTELLING' NEW WELSH REVIEW

Jamaica Inn, 1844. A boy mysteriously vanishes in Cornish woodland and the villagers whisper that witches are at work. Desperate to reassure the community, the local squire offers a generous reward for the safe return of the child. In spite of her misgivings but aware of their ever-tenuous financial situation, Shilly is drawn in to investigate by her companion, Anna Drake, with the promise that the money will fund their own detective agency.

Suspicion soon falls on two women living in a cottage deep in the woods. As Shilly and Anna seek the missing child, the case takes another turn - murder. Something is stirring in the woods and old sins have come home to roost.

'A DARK AND MACABRE ATMOSPHERE THAT FEELS FRESH AND ORGINAL' THE TIMES

Winner of the Holyer an Gof Fiction Award

Autorentext

Katherine Stansfield

Klappentext

Jamaica Inn, 1844: the talk is of witches. A boy has vanished in the woods of Trethevy on the North Cornish coast, and a reward is offered for his return. Shilly has had enough of such dark doings, but her new companion, the woman who calls herself Anna Drake, insists they investigate. Anna wants to open a detective agency, and the reward would fund it. They soon learn of a mysterious pair of strangers who have likely taken the boy, and of Saint Nectan who, legend has it, kept safe the people of the woods. As Shilly and Anna seek the missing child, the case takes another turn - murder. Something is stirring in the woods and old sins have come home to roost.