For Sandra, daughter of illusionists, Adam and Ophelia, life’s never been run of the mill! But when Adam’s wandering eye lights on yet another conquest, it proves a chorus girl too far, and Sandra’s caught in the reverberations of her parents acrimonious parting. Coerced into restoring her depressed Mother to the bosom of a family Sandra never knew existed, she’s sucked into a situation that even for her is unnerving.
From being without a single relative, she suddenly acquires several she’d rather do without, and learns a few home truths she’d prefer not to know. Ophelia, it appears, has not been entirely honest about any number of things. There’s no doubt in Sandra’s mind, the sooner she puts as much distance as possible between herself, her newly discovered nearest and dearest, their peculiar tendencies and their failing hotel business, the happier she’s going to be.
Dire straits call for desperate measures and Sandra reluctantly rises to the occasion. A hanged housemaid, a fly-on-the-wall documentary, The Psychic Society and a quasi co-operative journalist all handled correctly should, she reckons, get the family business up and running, which will allow her to do the same – as fast as she can, and in the opposite direction. Things unfortunately move swiftly from bad to farce and then get a hell of a lot darker. One moment Sandra’s struggling to save the family’s income, the next, she’s battling to save their lives. Turns out, some darknesses, once buried, are best left undisturbed.
My Review: Sometimes in between all the thrillers and crime books I read I need a change of genre and recharge my batteries and one of my favourite ways is to read a book that is completely different, something either lighthearted, amusing or just bonkers and luckily Marilyn Messik’s books are usually all 3.
I absolutely LOVED her first two books Relatively Strange and Even Stranger, so I was delighted to find out she had written a new standalone book. I didn’t even bother reading the blurb to be honest as I know that I love her sense of humour and was guaranteed a wacky read.
Witch Dust has all the same ingredients as her first two books, quirky characters, amusing situations and it doesn’t take long to love Serenissima/Sandra’s view on life and her family and how she deals with the strange situations she finds herself in. Another brilliant book by Marilyn Messik and any book that makes my own dysfunctional family seem normal is guaranteed 5 stars from me.
About the Author: Marilyn was a regular feature and fiction writer for national magazines when her children were small. She set up her first business selling toys, books and party goods from home, before opening first one shop then another.
When she sold the shops, she moved into the world of travel, focusing on accommodation in New England, USA. Her advisory, planning and booking service flourished and she concurrently launched a publishing company, producing an annual, full-colour accommodation guide. In 2007 she set up a copywriting consultancy, Create Communication to help businesses shape their messages to optimum effect. She’s the author of the Little Black Business Book series.
She’s been married to her very patient husband for more years than he deserves and they have two children, five grandchildren and, somewhat to their surprise, several grand-dogs. She likes nothing more than hearing from her readers, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
www.marilynmessik.co.uk ~ www.createcommunication.co.uk
