Although this is the 4th book in the series, it is the first I have read, and although it did read ok as a standalone I felt I missed a lot of the backstory from previous books. Nevertheless I really enjoyed reading about Rosie Strange and Sam Stone, who are called in by the mysterious Monty from MI5 or MI6 (not sure which!) to investigate strange goings on at a writers retreat.

I loved the characters of both Rosie and Sam, though Rosie is definitely my favourite. She’s totally hilarious! And there was also a host of other interesting characters, all well written and realistically portrayed. The story was captivating and I loved the mix of murder mystery and Essex folklore and legend.

Now I really, really want to read the other books in the series to find out how Rosie came to inherit the witch museum.

I adore this series. Rosie and Sam are decidedly becoming some of my comfort characters but this one made me a bit sad for Rosie. She feels a bit broken which makes her so relatable but also sad.

And what about Sam's family history?????

Apparently I've read this twice but managed to completely forget what happened so it was like finding a brand new one. My least favourite of the series so far but still fun.

It took me longer to get into this than I did the previous three books, but it was still really enjoyable, with a lot of the same humour. The ending was great, and sets up the next book very nicely (even if it was a bit of a tease!).