Strange Magic

British author Moore (Witch Hunt) inaugurates a promising supernatural thriller trilogy with this suspenseful novel introducing unlikely sleuth Rosie Strange. Rosie, a benefits fraud investigator, has an unusual inheritance to deal with: the Great Essex Witch Museum, which her grandfather founded to preserve the history of a part of England that was a hotbed for accusations of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries. Rosie visits the museum only to get a sense of the property’s value and to advise the staff that it will be put on the market as soon as possible. But George Chin, a university professor and expert on early modern English, upsets those plans when he shows up at the museum with an odd request. The academic offers Rosie and Sam Stone, the curator, a substantial reward if they can find the remains of Ursula Cadence, an accused witch from centuries ago who may be responsible for the demonic possession of an eight-year-old boy who has been in a coma since falling out of a tree. Moore deftly integrates a romantic subplot into the paranormal story line. (June)