About this item
In the stunning follow up to The Secrets of Life and Death, Rebecca Alexander has created a gripping supernatural thriller that bridges time, legend and the power of blood. Following her showdown with Elizabeth Bathory, Jackdaw Hammond is running from her past, hiding from her future, and hoping to contain her newfound thirst for blood. Buying an overgrown home in the middle of nowhere seems like the perfect place to escape ... at least until she finds herself in the sights of a murderous family with a terrible secret and a penchant for dark magic. Meanwhile, her old ally Felix Guichard has gone to New Orleans to conduct his own investigation into the nature of blood magic, but is soon sucked into the intrigues of the city's occult underworld. But Jack will need Felix more than she knows, for the battle for her soul is set to begin.
About the Author
I write historical crime, with an interest in folk and superstitious beliefs. A Baby's Bones (Titan Books) asks the reader: is a dark house haunted by the dreadful violence committed there in the past, or is there a scientific explanation that triggers the darkness in the people who are working there? People rarely set out to kill someone, but their emotions can build up into a sexual obsession, and that's really what this book is about. I've always been fascinated by what makes people react the way they do, which was why I studied psychology and worked with people. I also am undecided about certain aspects of the supernatural. Do terrible events leave a mark on places and people? Can we understand every phenomenon with science? When I'm not reading crime I like to explore fantasy, and with the Secrets of Life and Death I brought a single element of fantasy into the real world and it seeped in all directions. Dr John Dee believed sorcery was possible - it was his idea of technology. I just wondered ... what if he was right? What if a child's life could be saved by magic when medicine fails? Then I had to go back and follow Dee and his sidekick, Kelley, as they did their experiments and worked out how magic works in the castle of Elizabeth Bathory, the sadistic 'Blood Countess' in The Secrets of Life and Death series. In A Baby's Bones (its sequel, A Shroud of Leaves is out April 2019) Sage Westfield is excavating a filled in well that appears to date back hundreds of years, when she finds the bones of a baby. As she struggles to interprets the finds, uncovering layers of story and folklore and trying to reconcile them with the evidence, she meets the local vicar, Nick. Together they piece together what might have happened at Banstock Manor in 1580, with the expert help of Felix Guichard, anthropologist and expert on sixteenth century sorcery. Back in 1580, the manor's steward juggles the needs of a sickly, pregnant mistress, whose previous babies have all died at birth, and the betrothal of the youngest daughter of Lord Banstock, Viola, to a man whose interests include sorcery. The embroideress who sews Viola's bride clothes grows pale, and secretive...My website is: http://www.rebecca-alexander.co.ukI blog about writing about Sage Westfield's adventures, along with those of Jackdaw and Felix at http://witchwayblogspotcom.blogspot.co.uk/ Contact me at reb@rebecca-alexander.co.uk.
