For anyone who is discovering them for the first time, I think I’d sum them up as ‘when sorcerers go bad’.
Each story is centred around a mystery – a terrible deed (a murder usually as I like murder mysteries!) – and the possibilities of magic being at the foot of it all. Which makes it doubly difficult to investigate.
Seth Seppi, my detective character, a wannabe junior sorcerer, has an introduction to the magical world that shows just want a dark and dangerous place the magical world is.
But when he gets embroiled in a mystery, he knows that not all sorcerers use their magic for good. Some are greedy and want more power and that means more magic. Seth quickly discovers the lengths some people will go to in order to become more magical.
And sorcerers are very good at covering their tracks.
Throw in the magical police, MagiCon. Eccentric Inspector Pewter has a sharp brain and an unconvincing manner. Half the time Seth doesn’t really feel the inspector is good at solving anything. The other half of the time he feels the inspector is brilliant.
Seth is also assisted in solving his magical mystery cases by his long-term friend, Nightshade, a black cat who feels she is definitely the best when it comes to investigating.
I really hope you enjoy reading about Seth solving his mysteries and delving into the biggest mystery of all – how to become magical!
You do not have to read them in order, each is a separate case in itself. But I think you can enjoy them the best that way. And do let me know what you think. I love hearing from readers!
Welcome to The Last Chance Hotel
Hard-working Seth is the kitchen boy in the remote Last Chance Hotel, owned by the nasty Bunn family and their toxic daughter, Tiffany, his only friend is Nightshade, the kitchen cat.He dreams of leaving, and of a future beyond the Last Hope Forest, away from Tiffany’s schemes to torment him and wonders if his chance for change might finally have arrived when a bunch of strange characters come to stay.
But things go terribly wrong when the dessert Seth carefully made to impress kindly Dr Thallomius, instead poisons him.
Seth finds himself at the heart of a murder investigation with a lot more than Tiffany to worry about as he is the main suspect and accused of the crime.
Seth faces having to work out who really committed the impossible murder if he is to escape a life in jail, wrongfully accused of poisoning a man who was only kind to him.
But Seth’s problems don’t end there. When he learns that the eccentric guests are all sorcerers, he suspects magic was at the bottom of the crime.
If he is to unravel what is really going on, unmask who really is the murderer and prove how the crime was committed, first Seth needs to learn all about magic and discovers that magic is not only very, very rare, but is difficult and dangerous to do. How do you become a sorcerer? And what are the lengths some people will go to in order to become magical? Would someone even commit murder?
As the story twists and turns, Seth's journey takes him to the dark heart of the magical world.
Winner of the 2016 The Times Children's Fiction Competition
Book of the week in:
- The Times
- The Week Junior
- Book Club pick for the Phoenix Comic
- Book of the month at Seven Stories Bookshop.
- Pam Norfolk, Lancashire Evening Post
I've been thrilled that other people have enjoyed 'The Last Chance Hotel' so much, that it's been longlisted - or even shortlisted - for a book award, including:
- Winner! 2019 Ealing Junior Book Award
- Nominated for the 2019 Carnegie Medal
- Shortlisted for the 2019 CrimeFest Best Crime Novel for Children
- Shortlisted for the 2019 Oxfordshire Book Award Best Junior Novel
- Shortlisted for the Warwickshire 2019 Junior Book Award
- Longlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards 2018
If you want to know what readers think of The Last Chance Hotel I have done a round-up of some of my favourite reviews (see the review tab of this website). Thank you if you have reviewed or read it.
I love talking to children and getting them enthusiastic about books and reading. If you would like to invite me to an event, I've put up a page with all the details of what you need to do here.I feel incredibly honoured that my publisher Chicken House produced a special, limited edition independent bookshop version on the book - with totally gorgeous printed edges! I hope anyone that managed to buy one of these beauties will treasure it.
I hope you get a chance to read it, and if you do - let me know what you think!
And if you haven't read it yet, why not check out if a local bookshop could get hold of a copy for you.
The Bad Luck Lighthouse
In solving the mystery of the Last Chance Hotel, Seth Seppi discovered a bewildering new world of magic.
He is swept up in the new MagiCon case, investigating mysterious accidents and goings-on at the remote Snakesmouth Lighthouse. Seth is determined to prove himself, both as a potential sorcerer, but also as a detective. Everyone is blaming a series of accidents on rumours that the lighthouse is haunted. But since discovering how damaging magic can be in the wrong hands, Seth sees parallels to some of the bad things that happened because of magic in his own home.
He sets out to prove someone among the lighthouse party must secretly be practising magic. And it is a darker and more dangerous magic than he has come across before.
When eccentric owner Mina Mintencress is murdered, Seth realises danger lurks around every corner. With the help of his cat, Nightshade, Seth must put his new-found magic to the test. Can they unmask a sinister sorcerer ... before it's too late?
The Cut Throat Cafe
Seth Seppi is excited to arrive in Gramichee, one of the few towns were a cluster of magical folk lie. But he’s worried that Angelique has only brought him here because she’s desperate to find someone to help him with his magic, which has been nothing but a disaster so far.
When the promise of an apprenticeship is offered, Seth is keen for the chance to study properly to become a sorcerer. But he is also worried that if someone discovers that his magic is dangerous, he’ll be banned from ever joining the world of the sorcerers.The offer of an apprenticeship means he has a chance to find someone might help him with his magic. Then he learns he has arrived in Gramichee at the worst possible time - an apprentice has been attacked and it's not the first incident.
This is the start of his most worrying case so far. Why are apprentices being targeted? Is it an accident? A prank gone wrong? Is one of the apprentices responsible, or is something much darker at the bottom of it all?
Once again, Seth will need all his wits about him and dig deep into the magical world and his own magic to find answers.
Can Seth discover who is the mysterious Apprentice Assassin before the whole apprentice scheme is scrapped and Seth’s dreams of ever becoming a sorcerer fail along with it.
I am thrilled that Seth is having another outing in his third magical mystery adventure, The Cut Throat Cafe, and hope readers will enjoy being back with Seth, Nightshade, Angelique and Inspector Pewter.
I hope you love the exciting colours by the wonderful Matt Saunders, who designed the cover images for the first two books.
So here's where you can order your copy:
- Your local independent bookshop (don't know where your nearest indie is? Check here) - including my nearest indie (who may have one or two signed copies, ahem) Mostly Books
- Waterstones, Blackwells, Foyles or WHSmith
- Amazon UK, Amazon.com or Wordery
