Consider my enthusiasm for this series dampened. This was a very average effort, with a number of problems I couldn't overlook.

The biggest is the MC, Rosie. I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and say she probably has a long-range plan for Rosie's personal growth, but if so, she's not executing it well. The MC has a chip on her shoulder about being from Essex and the stereotypes involved in being an "Essex Girl"; the chip is big enough to sit firmly in soapbox/crusader territory, as she frequently fights the good fight against the idea that an "Essex Girl" is cheap, trashy, and dumb. And then proceeds to refer to vegetarians as "nut-nuts". And utterly dismiss someone's conversation about ecology, because ... who cares? And when people fail to fawn over her best friend for being the "black urban goddess" she is, her knee-jerk reaction is to dismiss them as backward conservatives. (They were polite, mind you, they just didn't fall to their knees in awe.) Not sure how she can find the time to fight the Essex Girl stereotype when she spends so much time stereotyping everyone else.

The author also seems intent on making Rosie a bit of a dim bulb through the use of scenes and dialog that are obvious choices to highlight her ignorance without showing any desire to correct it. Again, it's hard to square this with Rosie's righteous mandate to stamp out the cliches.

She also spends a lot of time drunk. Absolutely pissed. Bottles of Prosecco at a time pissed. Now, I don't care what socio-economic class you are in or are perceived to be in by others - being a drunk is not classy. I understand some cultures enjoy the plonk more than others, but sorry, drunk is tawdry in any culture and economic class.

So. MC with contradictions. It happens, and as I say, the author might have a master plan I'm just not seeing.

Unfortunately there were some egregious editing issues too. Poor and odd word choices (she kept referring to the ground as the floor - is this a common interchange in UK English?), and poorly copyedited, this 3rd instalment felt rushed to press. The pace dragged too, and the plot was all loosey-goosey. A more severe editor would have done this book more justice.

I liked the story though, once I was able to dig through all the extraneous dead-ends. I enjoy the factual elements of historical record the author uses, tying them and local legends into her modern day murder plots. If the author dropped the hypocritical chip on the MCs shoulder, matured her up, dried her out, and tightened up her plotting, she'd have a hit series on her hands. She might yet, but this book won't be a contributing factor. I'll be taking a close look at the fourth one (if/when it comes out) before I commit to reading further in this series. ( )

3.5*

Strange Fascination brings to a close Syd Moore’s“Essex Witch Museum” trilogy. The overarching story which links the three novels features as protagonist Rosie Strange, a sceptical, feisty benefit fraud inspector who unexpectedly inherits from her grandfather Septimus the eponymous witch museum in the small village of Adders Fork. This strange (ahem) legacy will lead Rosie to discover long-buried secrets related to her family and to rethink her ideas about the supernatural. Each of the instalments in the trilogy also sees Rosie and the museum's curator Sam Stone ending up embroiled in a criminal investigation with occult overtones. In "Strange Fascination", the 'mystery' revolves around the Blackly Be boulder, said to mark the final resting place of a notorious witch. Against the villagers' better judgment, developers try to move the boulder, leading to a flurry of otherworldly phenomena. And a very real murder.

I had enjoyed reading [b:Strange Sight|33376822|Strange Sight (Essex Witches, #2)|Syd Moore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1489119429s/33376822.jpg|54117884] - the trilogy's second volume - and had particularly liked the well-judged balance between ingredients of supernatural fiction and the "whodunnit". In comparison, I found this instalment rather disappointing. I felt that the action took rather longer to take off, and whilst Rosie's narrative voice is as witty and endearing as ever, the constant attempt at humour drains the tension out of what could have been genuinely scary episodes. This was less evident in the previous novel, whose emphasis was more on the "crime" than on the "supernatural" element.

On the other hand, this novel cannot be fairly considered on its own, but is best assessed in the light of its predecessors. In this regard, Strange Fascination is undoubtedly effective. It teases out the secrets and enigmas of Rosie's ancestors and, thanks to some imaginative plotting, ties up all the loose ends and red herrings planted in the previous novels. Lovers of history and folklore will also enjoy the references to history of witchcraft and folk beliefs, subtly woven into plot. ( )

Strange Fascination is the third in the quirky Essex Witch Museum mystery series but it can also be read as a stand alone. When developers move a boulder known as the ‘Blackly Be’ which supposedly lies over the grave of a witch, strange things start to happen. Stir in a couple of bodies and a murder and the cauldron is bubbling nicely.

This series of books is fun to read with Strange Fascination being no exception. There are some zany characters and they are written with a sense of humour. The mystery side in this particular book is very intriguing, although it takes a little time to get going. I like that there are one or two true facts contained within the fiction. The ‘will they, won’t they’ relationship between the two main characters, Rosie and Sam, continues. If I was Sam, I’d run a mile - Rosie is like some sort of man eater, she makes me cringe and roll my eyes at times with her euphemisms and metaphors. Just get on with it, guys! 😍. There is also progress with another thread running through the series - an old family mystery, the disappearance of Rosie’s grandmother, Ethel Rose.

All in all an entertaining, enchanting and enjoyable read. I look forward to more of Rosie and Sam’s witchy adventures. ( )