Set in an alternate Earth where Ice Age animals like mastodons have survived into the Victorian era, Barlough's superb fourth Western Lights fantasy (after 2004's Strange Cargo
) introduces the quiet English village of Market Snailsby, whose lovingly described inhabitants would be at home in a P.G. Wodehouse or Agatha Christie novel. One spring afternoon, while driving a cart through the dark woods outside the town, Jemma Hathaway, “a substantial citizen of Market Snailsby,” spies two small children at the side of road who appear to be lost. When she tries to rescue them, she has a frightening vision. Subsequent reports of ghostly apparitions amid the trees prompt Jemma and her brother, Richard, to investigate. The engaging plot and the artful writing elevate Barlough's work far above most other contemporary genre fiction and should send new readers in search of the three preceding books in the series. (Aug.)
