The Bad Luck Lighthouse

This second episode in the Seth Seppi series is, once again, filled with magic, murder and mystery. Seth is a hotel kitchen boy who has recently inherited the entire hotel after discovering some rather terrifying truths about his family. His inheritance also included some magical powers, but he struggles to make sense of them, and he is relieved when his old friend Inspector Pewter, a magical policeman, arrives at the hotel, and offers Seth the opportunity to help him crack another case… Seth leaps at the chance. 
This adventure takes place in an abandoned lighthouse on a storm-broken island, where Pewter and Seth are charged with finding out the truth behind some ghostly goings on (and the rather grizzly murder of the lighthouse’s new owner). A cast of suspects is duly assembled, featuring a cagey lawyer, a jealous sister and a clueless kitchen maid, all of whom play their part perfectly as providers of clues and red herrings. The detectives have their work cut out – and then the shadows begin coming to life and attacking people! 
The menacing presence of magic like this is used sparingly for much of the novel, allowing readers to focus instead upon the ‘whodunnit’. The story stays true to most murder-mystery tropes, but the careful sprinkle of magic here and there gives the book a broader appeal: young fans of fantasy fiction will find much to enjoy. 
As Seth unearths more and more clues, he discovers links between the crimes at the lighthouse and his own previous encounters with evil sorcery. Like the plot of the book itself, Seth’s past is full of questions and uncertainty, and readers will long to see him reveal the truth behind his own mysterious family. In the first episode of the series, Seth proved himself as courageous and resilient. In this story, it is his friendship and compassion that shine most brightly and help him develop into a character of genuine depth and quality. It is also clear that Seth has nowhere near reached his potential for sorcery yet, leaving ample opportunity for many more Seth Seppi mysteries. 
No mystery novel is complete without the big reveal at the end and Thornton succeeds in delivering a thoroughly satisfying finale, which twists and turns all the way to the last page, ready for Seth’s next exciting escapade.