Witch Hill

Jamie, traumatised by a fire in his home, is sent to stay with his aunt and 16-year-old cousin, Alison, in a country village. The village has a history predating the English Civil War. Jamie arrives just as the villagers led by his aunt begin to clear the great chalk carving on a nearby hill (from which the village takes its name). The carving appears to be that of an old woman, not a crown as supposed, and around this hang the central threads of the plot. Events of the past begin to intrude into the present, or so it seems to Jamie, terrified of fire and now beset by grisly nightmares. Each chapter unfolds another layer and builds up tension and terror in the mind of Jamie. Chapters are prefigured by an extract from an old document which gradually reveals what it is that has troubled the village for so long. With each extract is an atmospheric wood engraving, the work of the author. While aspects of the plot are left hanging at the conclusion, this is a very readable psychological thriller, in which clever twists maintain the tension throughout.