Now that Susan is 18, she is determined to move to London to find her father. Over the years her mother has been very vague about him, letting slip a clue or three along the way, but hardly anything for Susan to go on.

First stop is to visit ‘Uncle’ Frank, a man who has regularly sent cards and kept in touch with her mother over the years. It’s not long in his company that Susan realises Frank isn’t her dad and just as she is about to leave, Frank is attacked. The attacker is a good-looking and very stylish guy called Merlin.

Merlin is a bookseller. Well, actually that’s just his disguise, even though he really does love reading. He is part of an organisation that observes and polices the movement of all manner of creatures and beings invading from the Old World. This is a place full of magical, ethereal and often, if not most of the time – dangerous beings!  Now that Susan has seen ‘Uncle’ Frank disposed of, she is whisked away, all the while as she is demanding answers.

She is swept up in a world of Left-handed Booksellers. There are connections to the police, unbelievable powers revealed, flying arrows, giant insects and more introductions to be made. She learns that Merlin and his sister are on a quest of their own. They want to know who and why their mother was killed outside a florist shop.

The more they follow leads, the more they realise their separate quests to find the truth are connected. Who or what is Susan? Why are creatures from the Old World pursuing her? Is there a traitor among the Left-handed Booksellers?

18 year-old Susan is determined to find her father. Giant Wolves, ancient swords, and strange people with magical powers are surprising but are not going to get in her way. In fact, they just might be the answer she could never wangle from her often vague mother’s past.

In the age old fight between good and evil, The Left-handed Booksellers of London is set in an slightly altered 1980’s, which (as a teen of that era) is entertaining, often funny, full of arrows, guns, swords and knives and magical cures. With a touch of The Traitor and the Thief (Gareth Ward), a smidgeon of Harry Potter (JK Rowling), and a huge dollop of Lockwood & Co (Jonathon Stroud), this story is fast-paced, imaginative and surprising at every turn. Gripping!

Author – Garth Nix

Age – 14+

Find Teacher’s Notes and an Excerpt here

Read a review for the next in the series (Click on the Cover)

(2022, Allen & Unwin, Series, Paranormal, Ghosts, Murder, Police, Alternate Universes, Magic, Powers, London, Humour, Funny, a touch of Romance, Sassy, Siblings, Father, Secrets, Control, Booksellers, Action, Gunfight, Archery, Betrayal, Crime, Fantasy, Greed, Grief, Historical, 1980’s, Horror)