Friday, May 15, 2015

The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman

Initially I liked discovering who the bad, greedy guy was, but when it kept changing rapidly right at the end of the book, I just thought it was silly and that it kind of ruined an otherwise nicely creepy story for me.

Are there truly fairies, water nixies and other magical creatures?  Are witches real, do they really wield power?  Some folks believe and some do not.

Five of the King's men rushed through the village of Nags End on their way to Beggars Drift in search of something and never return.  Later they were found dead, one all torn up.  Believers suspected something evil.  Others just a big wolf.  

But something surely was unleashed up there and folks keep dying, some all torn up, some neatly drained of all their blood.  It was thought that the arrival of Fiona, a relative of Rowan Rose might have been the beginning.

Rowan's best friend Tom falls madly in love with Fiona just before she too is killed but no one ever really suspects him.  There is an eerie funeral at which Fiona has been placed on display in a glass casket when town's folk believe bodies fouled by evil should be burned not buried.

A royal relative of the king arrives with a young princess and all stay with Rowan's family. They supposedly looking into the deaths of the five soldiers - their real purpose is much more sinister.

Rowan and Tom's brother Jude begin to investigate and work out what is happening at Nags end and how to stop it.  Tom, though he has asked Rowan to marry him with Fiona dead, does not love Rowan and is grieving and useless in the pursuit for the truth. 

Anyone who likes to read stories filled with witches, fairies, and other such beings should like this just fine.  They might not even mind the ending.  JDW 5/15/15

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