"Spine tingling" - Geddit?
OK here's a big pat on the back in congratulation for anyone who has discovered Fleur Hitchcock's stunning books. We raved about "Murder in Midwinter" a couple of years ago and now you can read another completely immersive and addictive slice of middle grade crime noir from an author who just completely OWNS this genre.
The story centres around Viv, a girl whose curiosity is well known for getting her into trouble.
Viv is sure Noah has just run away again like he always does to get attention.
But the miserable weather is pressing in, it's getting darker and colder - and Viv knows not even Noah would stay out in conditions like this.
So she sets off to look for him, furious at his selfishness. But danger is all around as the flood waters begin to rise in their village
Finding Noah is just the start of this dark adventure - that will have you gnawing your fingernails down to stubs.
I've longed to try and describe to my daughter the sort of children's mystery books I grew up with, and I'm pretty sure Fleur must've read an awful lot of them too (think publishers like Target and Thames Methuen in the 70s and 80s and some of the truly chilling stuff they used to put out!)
Reading this brought all those books screaming back to me in an instant, the same tension, the same atmosphere and the same utterly un-put-downable page-turning stuff that you can't help but read late into the wee small hours.
Stunning, utterly stunning.
"Murder at Twilight" by Fleur Hitchcock is out now, published by Nosy Crow (kindly supplied for review).