Pure Dead Brilliant
by Debi Gliori

As fans of Pure Dead Magic and Pure Dead Wicked already know, Strega-Schloss is an Austrian-style castle in the west of Scotland, owned by an Italian family that apparently bears some resemblance to the author’s own Italian-Scottish family. Besides the operatic parents Luciano and Baci – one the son of an enormously rich mafioso, the other a very mediocre student-witch – there are almost-13-year-old Titus (a computer genius who is about to inherit his mafioso grandfather’s millions), 10-year-old Pandora (whose best friends are a talking tarantula and two talking rats), and their 2-year-old sister Damp (who is actually the most powerful mage in the world). And lest we forget, the “help” is really part of the family: the mysteriously ageless nanny, the worst French cook in the world, the unflappable butler, the friendly moat monster, and the mythical beasts – a yeti, a griffin, and two dragons – who live in the dungeons. Oh yeah, I almost forgot Strega-Nonna, the great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother who lives in cryogenic freeze in the basement, and is only thawed out for special occasions.

Amazingly, each of these characters (with the possible exception of Strega-Nonna) is vibrantly depicted, and often wildly funny. But they’re only the start. In this “Pure Dead” adventure, the family castle is invaded by Signora Strega-Borgia’s study group from her course on witchcraft. Among the interesting characters in this group is a demon in disguise – or rather, a Second Minister of the Hadean Executive. The demon only wants three titchy things: an ancient stone of unbelievable power which has been hidden for generations in Strega-Schloss... the soul of young Titus, which was sold by a distant ancestor along with the souls of all his male heirs...and, as a fetching bonus, a certain blossoming, 2-year-old mage.

Even though no one really knows what is going on, and even though the Strega-Borgia home is in even more chaos than usual thanks to their twelve weird houseguests, and even though an armed and deadly assassin is bearing down on the family for his own greedy, vengeful reasons, and even though Astoroth has powers at his/her command that only a demon from Hades can summon, he/she won’t have an easy time overcoming the wackiness, the magic, and the love that binds the Strega-Borgias together. Add to the mix an “alarming clock” that allows you to re-set not the hour and the minute, but the year; a giant monster that sleeps at the bottom of a nearby Loch; and an infant who conjures scenes out of fairy tales simply by waving any oblong that happens to be in reach, and you almost pity the bad guys; they haven’t got a chance!

By the time I found this third book in Debi Gliori’s “Pure Dead” series, a fourth book, Pure Dead Trouble, had already come out. Be sure to check out the “Gliossary” of helpful Latin, Glaswegian-dialect, Italian, and French words at the end of the book.

Robbie Fischer
USA

Recommended Age: 12+

9/18/05

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