Tracey has written fiction for as long as she can remember, covering a variety of genres and subjects. She is currently enjoying success with her first stage play WITCH, a historical drama based on original English witch trial transcripts, which premiered in 2016 and has been performed continuously ever since. It has been used as Theatre In Education for Years 8 and 9 and for Exeter University undergrads and has been included as a formal seminar in two Bristol University undergrad degree courses – ‘Witchcraft’ and ‘History Outside the Box’. Its 75th performance was also its London premiere.
Tracey’s most recent publication was ‘Dark Folklore’ (2021), co-written with her husband Mark, and she has several other titles currently in progress, one of which is a non-fiction expanding on the research she undertook to write WITCH. She has written regular folklore columns for the Dartmoor newspaper The Moorlander, and is an active member of the Exeter Authors Association, a network providing support to writers and promoting a love of books and reading.
When she is not writing, Tracey can be found behind a microphone, as one of the voices behind Devon-based indie audio production house and theatre company Circle of Spears Productions. She is a freelance narrator on Audible and has a sizeable list of stage, TV and film credits. She gives talks to a variety of groups on historical subjects such as witchcraft and early modern medicine. She doesn’t relax often, but when she does, it generally involves reading, coffee and her slightly unhealthy obsession with sock yarn. She, Mark and their daughter live near the edge of a forest in mid Devon with a feline trip hazard.
My thoughts: our unnamed narrator – who later adopts the name Viktor, is running away from her dangerous father, escaped from an asylum. She runs into the mysterious Anna Stenberg while disguised as a boy. The pair head to France, where Anna has an assignment in Amiens.
For Anna is a member of the order of Guardians, dedicated to fighting the forces of darkness and protecting the peace between humans and the other creatures that live among them. Amiens has a vampire, apparently, and it is causing uproar in the town.
She sees something in Viktor, an ability she has herself. As the pair deal with the problems, which are more human in nature than supernatural, they grow into close friends, and head to Paris to the headquarters of the organisation Anna works for.
Their relationship is the centre of this book, despite Anna having many secrets and not sharing too much, she and Viktor develop a bond. There are some twists at the end that you just won’t expect, and it suggests that there is a sequel in the works. An unusual historical fantasy thriller and one that gets better as the book continues, which augers well if there is more to come.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 