Pure Dead Trouble
(British title: Deep Trouble)
by Debi Gliori

The fourth adventure of the castle-dwelling Italian-Scottish Strega-Borgia family and their retinue of talking animals, mythical beasts, and servants begins with the butler lying comatose on the doorstep. As Latch recovers his consciousness and his memory, it becomes clear that something from the Pit of Hell has come calling while the Strega-Borgias were on holiday. And it will come again, searching for the Chronostone that S’tan, the infernal Boss, wants so badly.

Meanwhile, the young substitute butler Alexander Imlach is on a sinister errand of his own. A vile corporation has set up a drug-testing facility on the shores of Lochnagargoyle, resulting in lots of pollution and the horrid deaths of numerous test subjects. No one would be more deserving of having an ecoterrorist blow them up, but unfortunately “Zander” is prepared to destroy innocent people in doing so. People like Titus and his kid sister Pandora.

The result is a madcap adventure with bits of deep, dark menace stirred in. A lipstick-wearing tarantula prepares to welcome her babies into the world. An “unreconstructed male” loch monster experiences the agony of courting a dreamy, teenage dragon. The guard crocodile dreams up a dangerous get-rich-quick scheme to finance the refurbishment of his moat. Fourth-time-expectant parents Luciano and Baci grapple with mood swings, food fetishes, and morning sickness. And littlest sister Damp, the most powerful witch in training drawers, stirs up magical trouble every time she wields anything resembling a wand.

Once again, it falls to Nanny McLachlan to defend the family against the ultimate evil. With all these other adventures going on, the “ultimate evil” (a chain-smoking demon with marital problems) is almost forgotten. But Isagoth hasn’t forgotten the Strega-Borgias or the enormous diamond in their possession, a diamond that can give absolute power to its wielder. As Nanny McLachlan realizes that nothing in life can keep the Chronostone out of Isagoth’s claws, the question becomes: will she be able to protect the Strega-Borgia family any longer?

Robbie Fischer
USA

Recommended Age: 12+

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