The Glass Demon

by

Helen GRANT

305 pages

June 14, 2011 – Bantam

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

Helen Grant’s books are charming. I enjoyed very much The Vanishing of Katharina Linden. The Glass Demon is more clearly a YA book that the previous one.

It may not be top notch literature, but it is very lively, with a great sense of suspense, some scary stuff if you enjoy those, and you can even learn a lot about Medieval art, and art inspired from the Bible, if you take time to research what she’s talking about. When she writes about Durer, why not go and look at some of his engravings online, for instance? He is such an incredible artist, maybe not enough known in the US.

Grant’s young heroes and heroines are smart kids, curious, adventurous, and with a good heart, very lovable too.

Suspense wise, though, I exceptionally identified quickly “the demon”, that is, the murderer, and saw quickly the link between the windows and the murders. It was fun then to discover that I had it right. I’m not used to reading mysteries, and I’ usually always totally off.

So in a word, this can be your beach read, or you can turn it into a great way to combine culture and entertainment. And thinking about it, isn’t it what a YA book should be?

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

The first death: Seventeen-year-old Lin Fox finds a body in an orchard. As she backs away in horror, she steps on broken glass. The second death: Then blood appears on her doorstep – blood, and broken glass.The third death: Something terrible is found in the cemetery. Shards of broken glass lie by a grave.Who will be next? As the attacks become more sinister, Lin doesn’t know who to trust. She’s getting closer to the truth behind these chilling discoveries, but with each move the danger deepens. Because someone wants Lin gone – and won’t give up until he’s got rid of her and her family. Forever. [Goodreads]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen was born in London in 1964. She showed an early leaning towards the arts, having been told off for writing stories under the desk in maths lessons at school.

Helen went on to read Classics at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, and then worked in marketing for ten years to fund her love of travelling. Her two most memorable travelling days were the one spent exploring Damascus in Syria and the day she went to the Raj Mandir cinema in Jaipur to see the romantic blockbuster Beta.

In 2001, she and her family moved to Bad Müenstereifel in Germany. It was exploring the legends of this beautiful old town that inspired her to write her first novel, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, which is set there.

Helen just moved to Scotland with her husband, her two children and her two cats. I can’t wait for books set in some obscure Scottish castles! [To read more, go to the Author’s website, from where I copied this].

On her website, there’s in particular a very interesting sort of interview, presented as a Q & A.

She also has a blog.

REVIEWS BY OTHERS

“The Glass Demon is a riveting tale from Helen Grant, who proves she is a master of suspense.  From beginning to end, I was kept guessing by this spine-tingling tale that interweaves family relationships, folklore, deadly glass, and dangerous secrets.”  —Stefanie Pintoff, Edgar Award-winning author of In the Shadow of Gotham [amazon]

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