SINCE THE DEATHS OF THEIR parents, eight-year-old Ben and his older sister, Jennet, have been asked to leave one foster home after another. Now kindly Alice Boston, an old family friend, has invited them to live with her in the picturesque seaside town of Whitby. The two children hope their move will be permanent
- if this time they can keep Ben's strange powers secret.

Unbeknownst to the children, Aunt Alice has a few secrets of her own. So does Whitby. Shortly after Ben and Jennet arrive in Whitby, it becomes clear that an evil force from the town's past is on the rise again. Suddenly, Alice's friends are mysteriously dying. A young woman dressed in white haunts Whitby's crumbling abbey. And a centuries old beast disturbs Jennet's dreams. The fate of the world is about to be decided and the secretive aufwaders are the key to its survival.

"The first time I visited Whitby, I stepped off the train and knew I was somewhere very special. It was a grey, drizzling day but that only added to the haunting beauty and lonely atmosphere of the place. Listening to Carmina Burana on my headphones, I explored the ruined abbey on the clifftop. The place was a fantastic inspiration.

In the Whitby Witches I have interwoven many of the existing local legends, such as the frightening Barguest, whilst inventing a few of my own, most notably the aufwaders."

"The appearance of the fisher-folk was based on the inhabitants of Victorian Whitby as captured in the wonderful sepia photographs of the time. Looking down from the cliff, I could imagine the wind burned and weather beaten aufwaders wandering the sands and peering into rock pools.
What were they searching for? Why was their existence hidden? What did they fear, and what were the secrets of their tribe? It was an intriguing puzzle to fathom, and one that fascinated me more as the trilogy evolved. In my mind Whitby was beset by all manner of terrors and enemies - could those simple creatures defeat the advancing storm, and escape their doom?"