Synopsis:
The Haunting Scent of Poppies is a spine-chilling winter ghost story set in the months after the Great War. Perfect for lovers of MR James and Susan Hill.
The War is over, but for petty criminal Charlie his darkest days are only just beginning.
Charlie Briggs is never off-duty, even when a botched job means he’s forced to lay low in a sleepy Hampshire town for the holiday season. Always searching for his next unwitting victim, or a shiny trinket he can pilfer, he can’t believe his luck when he happens upon a rare book so valuable it will set him up for life. All he needs to do is sit tight until Boxing Day. But there’s a desperate story that bleeds beyond the pages; something far more dangerous than London’s mobsters is lurking in the shadows.
Could the book be cursed? Why is he haunted by the horrors of war? Can he put things right before he’s suffocated by his own greed?
Edition:
Review copy provided by The WriteReads
My Thoughts:
For such a short story (100 pages) The Haunting Scent of Poppies packs a punch! It was the perfect way for me to start winter – which is starting bizarrely late in the mid-western United States this year.
It’s wintery, a tad bit Christmas-y (it takes place in the days leading up to Christmas), and it’s really spooky. Charlie is a wonderfully grey character. You definitely don’t love him, but honestly, nothing he does is really bad enough where you want to see harm come to him. And that’s too bad, because he’s having a really bad time of it. Is his stolen book cursed? Why is Charlie suddenly besieged by ghosts of a war he managed to dodge? Why does he keep smelling poppies?
I’m going to stop there, because with a story this short it is so hard to say anything without giving the whole thing away, but I will say this – the amount of atmosphere in this one little book is truly magical. This is pure, spooky Christmas-time escapism. I’m so happy that I was invited to participate in this tour!
About the Author:
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
Rating:
At under 60 pages, it would be silly not to make this part of your Christmas this year.
The Haunting Scent of Poppies: a Ghost Story By Victoria Williamson Little Thorn Books Published: October 31, 2022 ISBN: 9798367079098 Paperback, E-book 100 pages
