The 5th in Mark Stay’s Witches of Woodville series sees Faye Bright returning to her Kent village to marry her sweetheart, Bertie Butterworth. It all sounds simple enough, but Fay is a witch, and her powers have been growing since they became apparent as a 16 year old in The Crow Folk – the first of the series. Britain is at war, so there is the constant threat of Luftwaffe raids. And Faye has made some powerful enemies in the occult world. And then there’s the creepy singing ghost children and the spectral burning Corn Bride deciding now is just the time to start haunting Faye.
Teaming up with her Woodville Witch mentors, Miss Charlotte and Mrs Teach, they investigate the appearance of the Corn Bride, only to find out that a powerful Bavarian Druid wants revenge and is inviting himself to the wedding.
Faye has been working away with the War Office, and on her return to Woodville, Bertie is worried that she’s changed and that the wedding won’t happen. In some ways Faye has indeed changed – growing up in the war years and being called away to help the war effort will have an impact, but in other ways, she’s the same Faye we’ve grown to know and love and root for. Fiercely loyal and protective of her friends and family and her village, she will defend them will all she has. And this time, she may need to.
The writing and storytelling is excellent as always. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments and gentle humour, which makes the unfolding events feel even more horrific. The dark and spooky elements are unsettling yet make for addictive reading, and I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the ending.
The narration of the audio is absolutely perfect – Candida Gubbins does an excellent job of creating the characters, and is a joy to listen to.
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