Review: Shadowghast

I have been eagerly waiting for the opportunity to return to an end-of-season Eerie-On-Sea after enjoying the brilliant Malamander and Gargantis. What a spookily thrilling return!   Mystery, darkness, danger and revelations are weaved in another of Eerie-on-Sea’s intriguing legends:  Shadowghast is perfect to cosy up with on a dark evening as a spine-tingling tale unfolds from within its pages … just make sure you keep a candle lit!

The Grand Nautilus Hotel has some rather intriguing new guests:  a theatre troupe who have been invited to stage the annual Ghastly Night Show, a shadow puppet show that promises to protect the inhabitants of Eerie-on-Sea from the Shadowghast:  a creature of legend, or a dark entity hunting the living?

Imagine the surprise felt by the Hotel’s resident Lost-and-Founder, Herbie Lemon, when one of the guests discloses a startling revelation, a revelation that, if proven, will change his life …

As if getting life-changing news wasn’t enough for Herbie to deal with, he finds out from his best friend, Violet Parma, that her guardian, the owner of the Eerie Book Dispensary, has disappeared …

Herbie and Violet find themselves on an action-packed, thrilling race against time to uncover the truth behind the legend of the Shadowghast, a truth that looks into the past, takes them into dangerous situations and leads to shocking revelations.  Will they be able to save the missing townsfolk before they are lost to darkness?  Can they discover where the threat to the town is coming from before it is too late? Luckily, they have help from the mysterious and really rather wonderful cat, Erwin, and from a brilliant little clockwork creature that I absolutely adore.

It is just wonderful to be back in Eerie-on-Sea catching up with familiar faces and places, and enjoying the brilliant humour that Herbie injects into the narrative which perfectly balances out the darker elements. Herbie and Violet are just as likeable as I remembered them and I love their interactions as the curious, impetuous Violet is determined to find adventure, and what an adventure she finds leading up to Ghastly Night.

This is a eerily-good mystery that will take the reader on an exhilarating, edge-of-the-seat adventure to discover the truth of a deliciously dark legend:   a fantastic addition to the legends of Eerie-on-Sea, and as always, I can’t wait for the next mystery to unfold.

Thank you to Toppsta for an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion.