Face Stealer

The Face Stealer

A puzzling mystery pulls the thieving Fitzglen family back to a shocking crime committed in the time of Catherine the Great in this third instalment of the spellbinding Theatre of Thieves gothic mystery series, set in Victorian England. London, 1909. The Fitzglens combine running London’s finest theatre with a very profitable side-line in stealing. But while they might be thieves, they still have principles. They never pinch anything their victim couldn’t afford to lose. When a stranger approaches Jack Fitzglen after a performance, claiming that a Fitzglen has committed a grave crime in his village in faraway Russia, Jack knows exactly who’s to blame: the unpleasant Saintly Simeon, who was chucked out of the family for breaking their code. Simeon has stolen three valuable, and oddly frightening, Stone Heads, the likenesses of children who vanished over a century ago. The Heads were locked away from the world in a remote Russian monastery . . . though whether to protect the priceless sculptures, or to protect the villagers from the Heads themselves, no one can say. Jack joins forces with fellow actor Viola Gilfillan to retrieve the stolen goods and put things right. But as they investigate, peeling the layers of history back to the treacherous court of Catherine the Great herself, the ominous power of the Stone Heads begins to draw them down into a darkness from which they may never be able to escape . . . This unsettling gothic historical mystery from acclaimed British author Sarah Rayne will appeal to fans of Daphne du Maurier, Laura Purcell, Rebecca James, Sarah Waters and Stuart Turton.

Face Stealer

Enemy of Magic

To tame her darkness, she’ll have to trust an enemy of magic. Skylar’s best friend, Mia, is missing, leaving behind nothing but a cryptic note as to where she went. Worse, a deadly fugitive has escaped a high-security prison in Paris; and all clues indicate that he wants Mia. If they’re going to find them both in time, Skylar and her friends have to become fugitives themselves. But with allies and enemies alike after them, this quest’s gearing up to be harder to take down than a rabid dragon with a kidney stone. But as they search, a shocking revelation comes to light: the fugitive has the same magic—the same darkness—as Skylar does. And it seems the powers they both possess are far more dangerous than she ever imagined, threatening her, her kinda-sorta-boyfriend Asher, and everyone else she cares about. Skylar has to get this power under control before it destroys her. And the crazy thing is, the prisoner might be the only one who can teach her how. If they can find him. And if he doesn’t kill them first. Enemy of Magic is the third book in the *now complete* YA fantasy Darkness Within series. If you like snarky, fast-paced fantasies full of magical academies, mysteries, and a slow-burn enemies-to lovers romance then you’ll love this series!