The War is over, but for petty criminal Charlie his darkest days are only just beginning.

Charlie Briggs is never off-duty, even when a botched job means he’s forced to lay low in a sleepy Hampshire town for the holiday season. Always searching for his next unwitting victim, or a shiny trinket he can pilfer, he can’t believe his luck when he happens upon a rare book so valuable it will set him up for life. All he needs to do is sit tight until Boxing Day. But there’s a desperate story that bleeds beyond the pages; something far more dangerous than London’s mobsters is lurking in the shadows.

Could the book be cursed? Why is he haunted by the horrors of war? Can he put things right before he’s suffocated by his own greed?

The Haunting Scent of Poppies is a historical ghost story set just after the end of WWI. Charlie Briggs is a grifter, always looking out for an item that is going to make him a lot of money. On the run from the police he heads to a small town where he eyes up a local book shop knowing that they always have something of value inside, however, he becomes more intrigued when he sees the owner has a very rare and valuable copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

Not long after stealing the book Charlie has a funny episode where he hears and feels like he is in the trenches with the soldiers fighting. He then learns the book is supposedly cursed.

This is a very quick read at just 100 pages long I read it in one sitting. The story was fascinating and Charlie’s visions and the possible curse drew me into the plot. The book is a ghost/horror story and I suppose it depends on how easily frightened you are, but I can honestly say nothing in the book scared me and the eerie side of it felt quite mild.

The Haunting Scent of Poppies is quite an emotional book though as it features scenes of war and what happens afterward to everyone from those who were fighting and the loved ones of those killed.

Overall, this is a book that will have you trying to work out whether the ghostly visions are real or whether Charlie is simply asleep. Is the book cursed or is it just a tale that has been passed down from generation to generation? It is a satisfying read and one that will stay with you once you have closed the last page.

Victoria Williamson grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and has worked as an educator in a number of different countries, including as an English teacher in China, a secondary science teacher in Cameroon, and a teacher trainer in Malawi.

As well as degrees in Physics and Mandarin Chinese, she has completed a Masters degree in Special Needs in Education. In the UK she works as a primary school special needs teacher, working with children with a range of additional support needs including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, physical disabilities and behavioural problems.

She is currently working as a full time writer of Middle Grade and YA contemporary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, with a focus on creating diverse characters reflecting the many cultural backgrounds and special needs of the children she has worked with, and building inclusive worlds where all children can see a reflection of themselves in heroic roles.

Victoria’s experiences teaching young children in a school with many families seeking asylum inspired her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, an uplifting tale of redemption and unlikely friendship between Glaswegian bully Caylin and Syrian refugee Reema.

Twenty percent of her author royalties for The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle are donated to the Scottish Refugee Council.