Strange Sight: An Essex Witch Museum Mystery(The Essex Witch Museum Mysteries)

The La Fleur restaurant has a slew of unusual phenomena. Bonnet-clad apparitions pass through walls, blood leaks from ceilings and rats besiege the dining room. Experts from the Great Essex Witch Museum are called in to quell these strange sights. But before Rosie Strange and Sam Stone can do their thing events turn darker. For La Fleur’s chef has been strung up and slaughtered like a pig. More oddly, the only witness, the owner’s daughter Mary, swears blind a ghost did it. Rosie and Sam must find out what’s happening before Mary takes the fall. But intuitions and tip-offs lead them stumbling into the dark waters of the past, exposing secrets of a wider conspiracy, as well as secrets all Rosie’s own. With strange chills Rosie and Sam learn that seeing isn’t always believing, while thoughts of truth may be just as illusory.

About the Author :
Syd Moore is best known for her Essex Witch Museum Mysteries (Strange Magic, Strange Sight, Strange Fascination, Strange Tombs and Strange Tricks, forthcoming from Oneworld, 2020). Her story collection, The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas (2019), was shortlisted for a prestigious ‘dagger award’ by the Crime Writers Association. Her debut screenplay, Witch West, has been optioned by Hidden Door Productions (Just Charlie) with director Jane Gull (My Feral Heart) at the helm. Filming for Witch West starts Spring 2020, with release set for Autumn 2021. In 2019 Moore became a Royal Literary Fund Fellow. She is a UK ambassador for DINNødhjælp, a Danish charity which helps Nigerian ‘witch’ children.

Review :
'A fun and thrilling read, one hugely impressive element is that Moore uses her light tone and intricate character relationships to address some serious points - ranging from people trafficking through to the derogatory stereotype of the Essex Girl. Lead character Rosie Strange is a woman to be admired with her ballsy, no-nonsense attitude, excellent boots and compelling family history. I can't wait to see more of Rosie, Sam and the Essex Witch museum in the future.' 'She is the best thing to happen to paranormal fiction in a long, long time.' ‘Once again, Moore pulls off the trick of combining incisive wit and spellbinding atmosphere with multiple layers of history and contemporary issues into one potent draft.’ 'Like Strange Magic, the perilous pursuits and gruesome developments are accompanied by lots of humor. And, for those of you who, like me, find living human beings far scarier than dead ones, rest assured that the book offers an abundance of plain old human evil of the sort that occurs in this life.' 'Sexual Chemistry and supernatural happenings come together to form a read that's part 50% Jonathan Creek, 50% Moonlighting, and 100% bloody brilliant (in more ways than one...)' ‘Moore does an excellent job here of highlighting a real historical scandal with echoes in the present day.’ ‘I became totally immersed in Rosie’s world – I loved her relationship with Sam, as well as the descriptions of London. Rosie is such a strong character; her fantastic wit is weaved throughout the narrative. The plot kept me guessing right until the end. I can’t wait for the next book in the series! Highly recommended.’ ‘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.’ 10/10