"Melding the mystery of a missing person with the talent of time-manipulating twins, this delivers adventure, detection and magic in equal measure."
Chosen by Guest Editor, Abi Elphinstone as her Book of the Monthy, May 2024 - "Twins, Merry and Spike, don’t expect much from Fox House, the dusty old building they plan to spend the holidays in. And yet it’s full of secrets. A missing woman, a baby left on the doorstep, a locked study… Merry and Spike launch an investigation. They can stop time, after all. But can their strange power help them solve a decades-old crime? A thrilling mystery told by one of my favourite writers."
----------------------------------
Sizzling with strange powers, secrets and detection, Michelle Harrison’s Twice Upon a Time is an enthralling treat for fans of twisty mysteries. Boasting a cast of memorable characters, with gothic atmosphere coming courtesy of its rambling old house setting, it’s the kind of story that’ll keep readers guessing, perched on the very edge of their seats, until the very end.
Twins Merry and Spike aren’t best pleased when their art restorer mum starts a new project at Fox House over the school holidays. But their fears of boredom are soon cast aside when they discover that the house simmers with the decades-old mystery of a missing woman.
After befriending Ben, an adorable boy who was left on the doorstep of Fox House as a baby, the twins call upon their unusual talent to solve the mystery. As Merry explains: “Clocks do strange things when we’re around them. If I touch them, things slow down for a few seconds, and if Spike does, everything speeds up. I only have to look at a clock too long and it’ll start ticking backwards.”
Add to that Merry’s portentous visions, “dastardly” Alistair who believes he’s the heir to Fox House, and the stage is set for a peril-packed novel of detection and adventure.