Pinch Perkins and the Midsummer Curse

Fans of magical fantasy adventures are being well served by publishers at the moment and Cathy Fitzgerald’s debut, Pinch Perkins and the Midsummer Curse, is guaranteed to please them. Pinch lives in The Crooked Mile, a magical street adjacent to but separate from the human, or Humdrum world. With friendly neighbours and a happy family, all is fine, if a little claustrophobic. Things change when someone – or something – starts stealing souls, putting their owners into a coma-like sleep, Pinch’s mum amongst them. Pinch will do whatever it takes to save her mum and sets out into the Humdrum world to find other magical places and beings who can help. She’s accompanied by Henry de Sallowe, neighbour and nemesis at the start of the story, close friend by the end. Gathering clues and trying to unravel the mystery brings the two children into contact with some scary figures, the King and Queen of the fairies for example, while there are two giant, utterly ruthless thugs on their trail too. They find allies however, King Lancelot’s knights among them, also cursed and transformed into standing stones for 364 days of the year. The sense of urgency to it all is heightened when Pinch discovers the clock is ticking; if she wants to save her mum, she’s going to have to be quick. As fantasies go, this is particularly fast-moving and lively with a large and very memorable cast of characters, and a strong sense that we are there with Pinch and Henry in the race to lift the curse. The tone is mostly light though there are some genuinely scary moments and real tension when it seems as though Pinch might be too late to save her mum. Cathy Fitzgerald’s world building is very good, her imagination clearly huge, and readers will be looking forward to Pinch’s next adventure.