Author: Hemming, Alice
Interest age: from c 10 years
Published on 14 September 2023 by Scholastic in the United Kingdom.
Paperback | 400 pages
146 x 192 x 21 | 466g
From Alice Hemming, the bestselling author of The
Dark Unicorn series, comes a brand-new story filled with vampires
and a mystery only one girl can solve.
The town of Valesti was once rumoured to be the home to a family
of twelve vampires who wreaked havoc on the towns people. Until,
that is, hunters came to kill them all. At least, they thought
they'd killed them all . . .
Years later, the rumours are mostly forgotten but some persist
- especially those around Castle Bezna , where a mysterious countess
lives. Over the years, the countess has enlisted village girls
to be her companions, but none of the girls have returned. But
when a girl named Vivi decides that the promise of an education
and boarding is too great an opportunity to turn down, she packs
up her belongings and starts work in the dusty old castle.
But soon Vivi starts to wonder if the legend of the thirteenth
vampire could be true. Can she prove the vampires existence, or
will she join the long list of girls never to return from Castle
Bezna . . . ?
Alice Hemming is a trusted author - her previous book, The
Midnight Unicorn, was selected for the 2023 Summer
Reading Challenge
Enchanting dark fairy tales with fearsome villains and inspiring
heroines
Perfect for fans of Skandar series
Great for 10+ readers who love fairy tales and Disney