My thanks to Danielle at the The Reading Closet for the invitiation to join the Audiobook Blog Tour.  Thank you also to Isis Audio for the review copy of Strange Tricks.

Strange Tricks was an interesting audiobook listen over the last couple of weeks.  I have been meaning to start reading Syd Moore’s Essex Witch Museum series for a couple of years. The concept had sounded right up my street and then on my sole (brief) visit to the Harrogate book festival in 2019, the lovely Derek Farrell told me that I really must be reading these books. So when I was offered the chance to join the audiobook tour for Strange Tricks I decided this was not an opportunity I wanted to miss out on.

The verdict?  I will absolutely be picking up the earlier books and I will be back to the Essex Witch Museum, there was a lot in here I loved.  However, not having read the first five novels there was a lot of background character information I did not know and which left me slightly floundering as the story unfolded.  No reflection on Strange Tricks – if you jump into a series at book 6 you are going to have missed things.  Returning readers will get a lot more from this story and if I enjoyed it without initially appreciating lots of the nuances then the fans of Rosie and Sam will get a real kick from where this story goes.

Syd Moore (and the wonderful narrator, Julia Barrie) lulled me into a false perception of how the story may play out.  Initially events felt light, whimiscal and the lead character, Rosie Strange, fluctuated between ditzy and horny.  This was fun to listen to, particularly as Julia Barrie nailed tone of the inner dialogue within Rosie’s head – suppressed outrage, mentally slapping down her own coy flirting and second-guessing herself as she chatted to a dish called Dorcus. But the whimsy was left behind and by the end of the book I had a deeper respect for Rosie and I had mentally moved Strange Tricks from “light and entertaining” to “dark and intriguing.”

Although Rosie is our lead character I did feel her colleague, Sam, got his story moved into the spotlight.  I will not be sharing plot spoilers but it felt we were getting some background on a formerly unknown part of Sam’s history. It changes the dynamic of the relationship between Rosie and Sam and Rosie  seemed put out that her own family history (which is complex and extremely important for her to understand better) was getting pushed out of thought by Sam.

There are plot threads set up in Strange Tricks (or possibly continued through Strange Tricks) which were not addressed in full by the end of the story, more to come on that front.  There also also opportunities for Rosie to read back about her late mother through the pages of a journal – those flash-back chapters give some background assistance tied to current events and I felt Rosie’s family background will continue to distract her for time to come too.

The characters seem wonderfully deep and complex.  The Essex Witch Museum was not featured as much as I may have liked; Syd Moore made it sound a wonderfully eerie and unexpected building which was hiding more than its fair share of dark secrets.  But Strange Tricks was a road trip up North so the museum will need further expoloration when I undertake my catch-up reading.

As mentioned above, narration is wonderfully handled by Julia Barrie.  Rosie is an Essex Girl and has a strong Essex accent, some events in the book are set in Northern England so the conversations change and another regional accents dominates your listening. Growing up near Glasgow means I too have a *bit* of an accent so it is always refereshing to listen to an audiobook where regional representation is wonderfully delivered. If you want an old-school classic BBC annunciated accent then this is not the audiobook for you as Strange Tricks gives you locals, comfortable in their corners of England.

In brief: A top production from ISIS Audio, an unsettling story from Syd Moore and a great performance from Julia Barrie. If you know the series I highly recommend listening.  If, like me, you are new to the stories there will be spoilers on earlier books and some conversations in Strange Tricks may not fully make sense initially – but by the end of the book you will be more than glad you stayed onboard for the ride. A new series for me to follow – that’s the best outcome.

Strange Tricks releases on 3 June 2021 and is available in paperback, digital and audiobook format.  You can get your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08LDWCLN7/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0