The Witching Stone

This is a totally bewitching story, in more than one sense. When the summer holidays come around, Alfie finds that he can either stay in Bristol alone, or go with his father to a small town in Lancashire, where his father is doing some IT work for a local estate agent. Having recently split with his girlfriend, Alfie decides that getting away might be a good idea. On his first day in Woodplumpton, he finds himself walking around the local graveyard, where he finds a local girl, Mia, who is making rubbings of gravestones, and he also comes across the memorial to a local ‘witch’ called Meg Skelton. When challenged to walk around the grave saying ‘I don’t believe in witches’, he does so; however, the result is not what he was expecting. What on earth is Alfie going to do with the spirit of a witch, who is determined to wreak vengeance on those who killed her and also stole her young son? It will take a lot of investigation for Alfie and Mia to find a solution and also give Meg the rest that she wants.

The subplot in this story tells us that Alfie’s ex-girlfriend discovers that she is pregnant, so he needs to think about whether he could be the father, or if it is her new boyfriend. This brings in the question of responsibility and what would be the right thing to do? This storyline links back to Meg’s circumstances, when her baby is kidnapped by the father and he then has her killed; however, Alfie has to work out for himself what is right, in his situation. The author has placed the story in the area around Preston and close to the scene of the Pendle Witch trials, which took place in 1612, nearly 100 years before Meg was accused of her crime. He has chosen a real character in that of Meg Shelton and there are quite a few references to her online, giving the reader a deeper sense of history and making the story more intense. This story is full of magic and mystery, with an edge of darkness that makes you shiver, but which keeps you reading avidly. Whilst Alfie is 16 years old, this story is suitable for the 12+ age group. Danny Weston is the pseudonym of Philip Caveney, so his many fans might like to give this book a try.