Once upon a crime
The small, sleepy town of Gesternstadt is shaken to its pretty foundations when
the workshop of the local cart maker is burnt to the ground, and a body is
discovered in the ashes. It is Gretel who notices that the cadaver is missing
a finger.
Gretel and the Case of the Missing Frog Prints
Bavaria, 1776. When Albrecht Durer the Much Much Younger’s Frog Prints go missing, he knows exactly where to turn for help. Gretel (yes, that Gretel), now 35 and still living with her gluttonous brother Hans, is the country’s most famous private investigator, and she leaps at the opportunity to travel to cosmopolitan Nuremberg to take on the case.
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The Case of the fickle mermaid
Gretel’s professional interest is piqued when she begins to hear whispers of of mysterious goings-on off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein: sailors are disappearing, and there are rumors of mermaids and sea creatures and all manner of slippery, sea-based happenings.
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The sorcerer’s Appendix
As Gretel delves into the facts behind his disappearance she discovers no shortage of suspects. In fact, just about everyone she meets had reason for wanting the odious man dead. Her only clue points in one disturbing direction: the deep dark forest. So it is that Gretel, with a reluctant Hans as porter, must trek into the woods of her childhood trauma, braving all manner of discomforts and dangers—not least of which is a terrifying reminder of her past.
Read More“Bestseller Brackston (The Witch’s Daughter) melds folktale whimsy with a sardonic adult voice in the rollicking first of a new series set in 1776 Bavaria.” – Publishers Weekly
“Dances a fine line between spoof and satire, with a hearty mix of fairy-tale lore thrown in. Larger-than-life characters are balanced with a smart plot that is sure to appeal to fans of Jasper Fforde’s ”Nursery Crime” series.” – Library Journal
Meet Paula
I was born in Dorset but my family moved to Wales when I was five, so I grew up a mountain child. There was very little by way of money, people, and television. What there was in abundance was freedom and space. And the best chance for a child to develop their imagination.
Reading Guides
Here’s where you’ll find the reading guides for most of my books, with background information about the stories, and questions to hopefully spark lots of debate among Book Groups!