Sizzling with strange powers, secrets and detection, Michelle Harrison’s Twice Upon a Time is an enthralling treat for fans of twisty mysteries. Boasting a cast of memorable characters, with gothic atmosphere coming courtesy of its rambling old house setting, it’s the kind of story that’ll keep readers guessing, perched on the very edge of their seats, until the very end.
Twins Merry and Spike aren’t best pleased when their art restorer mum starts a new project at Fox House over the school holidays. But their fears of boredom are soon cast aside when they discover that the house simmers with the decades-old mystery of a missing woman.
After befriending Ben, an adorable boy who was left on the doorstep of Fox House as a baby, the twins call upon their unusual talent to solve the mystery. As Merry explains: “Clocks do strange things when we’re around them. If I touch them, things slow down for a few seconds, and if Spike does, everything speeds up. I only have to look at a clock too long and it’ll start ticking backwards.”
Add to that Merry’s portentous visions, “dastardly” Alistair who believes he’s the heir to Fox House, and the stage is set for a peril-packed novel of detection and adventure.
A delicious mystery adventure for fans of Robin Stevens and Cressida Cowell from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Pinch of Magic series.
When the Morrow twins, Merry and Spike, arrive at dusty old Fox House, they think spending their holidays there is going to be dull. But they soon discover that there are secrets to the old house. A missing woman, a baby left on the doorstep, a locked study; As the mysteries pile up, the girls begin to investigate, using their own secret to help them: they can stop time!.
What happened in this old house? And can their strange powers help them solve a decades-old crime?
'A brilliantly plotted gothic mystery, children are going to love getting lost in Fox House' - Zohra Nabi author of The Kingdom Over the Sea
‘Twice Upon a Time is spell-bindingly good.’ - Jack Meggitt Philipps
Praise for the Pinch of Magic Adventures:
‘A spellbinding story, steeped in magic. I adored it.’ - Abi Elphinstone
‘Brilliant’ - Emma Carroll
‘What a gorgeous, funny, creepy, page-turny story! If you’re yet to discover the Widdershins sisters books, you’re in for a TREAT!’ - Lucy Strange
‘A stunner. Such great writing!’ - Peter Bunzl
‘I love Michelle Harrison - I hadn’t read much fantasy but this series hooked me! Brilliant writing, beautiful!’ - Lisa Thompson
‘Simply phenomenal’ - Sophie Anderson
‘The wry enchantment of an E. Nesbit classic’- Guardian
‘Fantasy and adventure appear on every page of this spellbinding tale’ - Daily Mail
Author
About Michelle Harrison
Michelle Harrison is a full time author who lives in Essex. Her first novel, TheThirteen Treasures, won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and is published in sixteen countries including the UK. It was followed by The Thirteen Curses and The Thirteen Secrets. Michelle has since written Unrest, a ghost story for older readers and One Wish, a prequel to the Thirteen Treasures books. The Other Alice is her sixth novel.
Michelle's path to becoming a writer was inspired by stories told by her sisters as she was growing up, one of which was so vivid it prompted her to dig in the garden looking for evidence of a dead fairy. (She didn't find anything.) Since becoming a published author she still does strange things like asking people to shut her in the boots of their cars – all in the name of research, of course – like Alice.
Michelle has a son called Jack and two black cats. She suspects one of them is a mischief, but hasn't caught her drinking tea . . . yet.
Q&A with Michelle Harrison
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words? A. I'm a 'glass half-full' type of person.
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be? A. Elvesden Manor.
Q. What’s your best quality? A. Optimism, or at least I like to think it is!
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be? A. I sometimes think I'd like to be a cat, just for the sheer amount of sleeping they do.
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you? A. My Essex accent.
Q. Who is your favourite fictional villain? A. Beatrice Lacey in Wideacre by Philippa Gregory.
Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her? A. It would be Jack the Ripper. I like to think I'd demand to know his identity, but in all honesty I'd probably run.
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve? A. People who look down their noses at others.
Q. What is your favourite occupation, when you’re not writing? A. It depends on my mood, but drawing/painting, reading or watching a film.
Q. What’s your fantasy profession? A. Being an author and an illustrator!
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you? A. Loyalty, a sense of humour, and integrity.
On Books and Writing
Favourite authors Hans Christian Andersen, Enid Blyton, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Martina Cole, Roald Dahl, Philippa Gregory, The Brothers Grimm, Julie Hearn, Eva Ibbotson, Christopher Pike, J.K. Rowling, Marcus Sedgwick, Sarah Singleton.
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
I have always been fascinated by identical twins. There’s something magical about siblings who share not only a birthday, but such similarity in appearance that they cannot be easily told apart. My son’s paternal grandmother is an identical twin, and I grew up with friends who were twins (a pair so naughty I could write a book about them alone). I loved reading Enid Blyton’s Twins at St. Clare’s, Pat and Isabel O’Sullivan, who are determined to be as difficult as possible at their new school, and later, Elizabeth and Jessica, the ‘Sweet Valley High’ twins. A few of you might even remember an 80s children’s TV drama called the Gemini Factor, about twins separated at birth, which had me glued to every episode.
Stories of twins present endless opportunities for tricks, mischief, mistaken identity, and sometimes the balance between good and evil. As a teenage aspiring author, one of the first stories I ever wrote was about a ghostly twin who was out for revenge. My stepdad was very enthusiastic about it which greatly encouraged me to keep writing.
A couple of years ago I read a news piece about twins born in California. The first arrived just before midnight on New Year’s Eve and the second a few minutes into New Year’s Day. A set of twins born not only on different days, but also different months and years. I couldn’t stop thinking about how strange it was for them to be separated by time in this way, and it was this which inspired my new book, Twice Upon a Time.
My mind began reaching for magical time-related possibilities and before I knew it, I’d created the Morrow twins, Meredith and Rose – better known as Merry and Spike – who are born on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. From the start, time misbehaves whenever the twins are around. Clocks stop, or speed up at a touch, and neither of them has ever managed to keep a watch for even a day without losing it. But this is only the beginning.
Merry, born first, sees visions into the past, while Spike has visions of the future. Together, if they utter the phrase, ‘Just a minute!’ they can even stop time – but only for sixty seconds. When their mum’s restoration work takes them to lonely Fox House on the moors, they learn it is full of secrets: a baby left on the doorstep. A girl who vanished in the night. A hooded figure on the stairs. The twins’ magical capabilities hold the key to solving a decade old crime, as well as preventing another - if they’re brave enough to turn detective. Along the way they meet a host of characters who’ll help or hinder them, including the windswept watcher on the moor and old Hattie, the house’s former nanny whose memory is as slippery as time itself.
This story contains some of my favourite ingredients: mystery, siblings, and psychic spookiness. As with all my books it is written first and foremost to entertain, but it’s also an adventure to keep you guessing and make you question: what would you do if you could stop the clocks? My hope is that like all good books this one will transport you to another place and time… or perhaps several times."
