Book Two:

Former London journalist Elspeth Reeves is trying to carve a new life for herself in the sleepy Oxfordshire countryside until she’s sent to cover the excavation of a notorious local witch’s grave.

Three hundred years ago, her name mixed up with murder and black magic, Agnes Levett was hanged and then buried under an immense stone, to prevent her spirit from ever rising again. Elspeth investigates but soon finds there is far more to the old tale than meets the eye, as the surrounding area is rocked by a series of mysterious and brutal murders, all of people somehow connected with the dig.

She and her childhood friend DS Peter Shaw race to uncover the truth, but secrets lain buried for centuries are not easily discovered.

First Book Out: September 2017 Cover Used

Link to Book One Review

Second Book Out: September 2018

George Mann:

George Mann is an author and editor, primarily in genre fiction. He was born in Darlington, County Durham in 1978.
A former editor of Outland, Mann is the author of The Human Abstract, and more recently The Affinity Bridge and The Osiris Ritual in his Newbury and Hobbes detective series, set in an alternate Britain, and Ghosts of Manhattan, set in the same universe some decades later.
He wrote the Time Hunter novella “The Severed Man”, and co-wrote the series finale, Child of Time.
He has also written numerous short stories, plus Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes audiobooks for Big Finish Productions. He has edited a number of anthologies including The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, The Solaris Book of New Fantasy and a retrospective collection of Sexton Blake stories, Sexton Blake, Detective, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock.

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

I had previously read and reviewed the first book of the Wychwood series, see link above.

I decided since a whole year had passed to re-read and then review the second book.

George Mann is a very talented writer with a clever premise to write about. Folklore, urban legends and a creepy old witch with a curse will keep you glued to the pages. The first book did well to set up the characters and introduce their inner workings; it also helped set up the setting surrounding them.  The second book had a more fantasy, mystical feel to it with a deeper and darker mystery.

Mann has an excellent voice for this genre and really is doing well with building this series one wicked stone at a time. If you love crime-thrillers mixed with supernatural horror all wound together with intrigue and mysteries, then you’ll love this series. Buckle up and prepare for a hair-raising ride!

I gave this book and series: