Book Review: Mysterious Stone Circle

 Stone Certainty, by Simon R. Green (SevernHouse)

The stonecircle at Chipping Amesbury has been the subject of stories going backcenturies. It’s said to be a gateway to the Other Place, abode of monsters anddemons. When the stones were moved, the circle became quiet. Now the newlandowner is restoring them to their original gate-like configuration, and hewants to film a documentary about the re-placing of the last stone. Besides aproduction crew and two newscasters, he’s enlisted Alistair Kincaid, the youngest ever bishop of AllSouls Hollow, is an expert in Britain's ancient stone circles, andactress Diana Hunt. The twobecame notorious in their last encounter, when the pair of them hunted ghostsand solved a murder. Of course, spooky things happen: mysterious mists,bloodthirsty sounds…and a dead body, pinned to the ground in the center of thecircle with a pitchfork.

The story resembles a “haunted house” mystery, with a fixedlocation and a limited number of people who vary in their susceptibility tobelief in ghosts, demons, and the horrors of the Other Place.  But Alistair and Diana learned from theirprevious adventure that there is usually a rational explanation for weirdevents but murder is very real. Without giving away too much, Green masterfullycreates expectations, allows the reader to interpret events, and always playsfair with what he reveals. The result is a brilliant, nuanced exploration ofbelief, superstition, and persuasion.