Martha knows that it’s her fault the dead never made it back to their final resting place and now they won’t leave her alone.

Preyed upon by the spirits of those she betrayed, Martha must decipher the clues left by the Norse gods if she has any hope of surviving the ghostly onslaught of those who have gone before. Blessed (some call it cursed) with the power to see memories from one touch of a person’s clothing, Martha uses her powers to uncover the truth of the mysterious death of Nina, a young trapeze artist who haunts her, day and night. Only then will she be able to escape their wrath.

With a circus master intent on ‘the show must go on’ and a cast of performers who are unknowingly bound, in more ways than one, to the masks they wear each night, Martha is running out of time to find the killer, save the circus and herself. Her fears come to fruition when the dead take a stand and the trickster himself, Loki, manipulates her world one fracture of reality at a time. A torrent of fear engulfs Martha as she tries her best to conquer her inner demons and banish the things that go bump in the night.

You don’t bargain with the Gods and expect them to forget the promises you made.

The Crooked Mask, Rachel Burge’s creepy sequel to The Twisted Tree, will have the reader holding their breath in fear as they follow Martha into the darkness. Burge’s tremendous ability to weave an intricate ice-cold web of lies and deceit, blast the reader when they least expect it. Only for them to evolve into sleek twists and turns that form Martha’s very existence. Burge’s attention to Norse mythological detail leaves you in no doubt of the terror Martha feels amid the life-altering decisions she has to make in order to survive.

This book should come with a sticker that says ‘please read with the lights on’. My YA book of the Year, so far.

Read our interview with Rachel Burge, here.

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