Review of Of Sands and Tides by Jan Edwards
A satisfying read with true suspense and a redoubtable heroine
Jan Edwards has put together a gripping collection of eight dark tales featuring spirited government agent Captain Georgianna Forsythe (Georgi to her friends). The agency Georgi works for, The Ministry of Arcane Events, sends her on perilous missions in Britain and beyond, where she must fight horrific powers from the distant past. Set in the 1930s, the stories are rich in well-researched detail and memorable characters.
In the first of these Lovecraftian tales, Hand of the Nile, Georgi travels to Egypt on a mission to investigate strange deaths in the wake of the Tutankhamen excavation. What she finds will test her skills and courage to their limits and beyond. We are taken on a journey into true horror of mind and body as she meets Nyarlathotep, the dark deity whose influence will mark her for life.
In the second story, Crawling Chaos in Climping, Georgi is watching over an archaeological dig on the Sussex coast, where a careless and clueless Professor unearths an ancient evil – and more. Once again, Georgi’s skill is tested beyond endurance, but she discovers an ally in the most unexpected place, who introduces her to powers she did not suspect she possessed.
The Decks Below sees Georgi brought in to help the Royal Navy when the salvage of a lost submarine awakens powerful and deadly creatures. As Georgi begins to learn about her powers and how they are linked to elemental forces, she must fight for her life amidst bloody carnage in the waters of Lyme Bay.
In Tamesis and the God’s Skull, an unearthly massacre in the City of London brings Georgi face to face with the champion of a god. Who is Tamsin, the mysterious woman who arranges to meet her by the shores of the river Thames, and is she an ally – or an enemy? Georgi begins to understand who she is as she descends into a stronghold far below London.
Penumbra Over Millwall is a terrifying adventure set in the London Fog. Georgi is dispatched on a strange errand to visit an old woman who used to work for the Ministry. Chilling descriptions evoke the “pea souper” and the eerie atmosphere as Georgi makes her way from Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs, pursued by creatures from the deep.
In Below the Plimsoll Line, Georgi visits a country house, helping an old school friend whose ancestral library is plagued by more than the usual poltergeist. As Georgi encounters an evil from the family’s past, the sea and its denizens continue to haunt her.
The Loch Ness Deal sees Georgi on unfamiliar territory in Scotland when she is ordered to investigate supposed sightings of the Loch Ness Monster and foil the curious press. She must venture into the fathomless waters of the loch, and trust in her skills in combat with a mysterious creature whose origin is captured in local folklore.
The last story, Beneath the British Museum, turns on the legend of a cursed Mummy case, and terrifying screams heard in the tube tunnels below the British Museum. When Georgi ventures into the depths of the Egyptology department, she meets both a familiar ally and an old enemy who wants to keep her forever – dead or alive.
Of Sands and Tides is a fine collection of stories of derring-do, rooted in well-researched historical reality, myth and folklore. Jan Edwards is a master of detail and suspense. The stories are at their best when she marries authentic details with vividly realised magic, conjuring up horror in familiar scenes.
Georgianna herself is a great character, always resourceful, but growing through every adventure as she learns more about her powers and her true identity.
Buy Of Sands and Tides from Amazon UK, Amazon US, and wherever books are sold…
About Jan Edwards:
Jan Edwards is the UK author of the Bunch Courtney Investigations – the WW2 crime series, which gained her an ‘Arnold Bennett Book Prize’. She has 50+ short stories in horror, fantasy, mainstream and crime anthologies, including: Mammoth Book of Folk Horror, Criminal Shorts, The Book of Extraordinary New Sherlock Holmes Stories and volumes of the MX Books of New Sherlock Holmes Stories series. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association and member and past chair of the British Fantasy Society. Two titles due out in 2024 – Of Sand and Tides urban/cosmic horror and
Deadly Plot: Bunch Courtney Investigations #5.
Website | Facebook | BlueSky | Instagram | Substack | Penkhull Press
