When orphaned siblings arrive in a storm-lashed seaside town, they uncover whispers of ancient guardians and creatures that prowl the cliffs after dark. Tinged with salt, shadow, and wonder, The Whitby Witches invites you into a haunting mystery where the sea keeps its oldest secrets close.
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Start or resume Shelf TalkThese picks are popular with readers who enjoyed this book. Possible spoilers below.
In The Whitby Witches, did you enjoy ancient Celtic myth intruding on everyday life?
If what gripped you in The Whitby Witches was how the Lords of the Deep and Whitby’s folklore spill into Ben and Jennet’s daily lives, you’ll love how the Mabinogion legend of Blodeuwedd coils itself around Alison, Gwyn, and Roger in The Owl Service. Plates with an owl pattern awaken an old curse, and—much like Ben’s second sight and his bond with Nelda—teenagers find themselves repeating an ancient story that refuses to stay buried.
In The Whitby Witches, did you enjoy folklore-soaked English landscapes and customs made mythic?
If you reveled in Whitby’s lanes, tides, and the secret culture of the Aufwaders, The Dark Is Rising conjures that same dense sense of place. As Will Stanton discovers he’s one of the Old Ones, signs and traditions woven into the Thames Valley—Herne the Hunter, carols, midwinter rites—unfurl into a hidden world, much as Miss Boston’s genteel routines mask the town’s witchy undercurrents.
In The Whitby Witches, did you enjoy kids sleuthing through a haunted English town to unmask a supernatural conspiracy?
If you liked how Ben, Jennet, and Miss Boston piece together the Whitby coven’s secrets, you’ll click with Lockwood & Co. Lucy Carlyle, Anthony Lockwood, and George investigate lethal hauntings—culminating in the trap-laden Combe Carey Hall—using nerve, clues, and iron discipline. It’s that same blend of youthful courage and spooky investigation that drove the search behind the Lords of the Deep’s shadow.
In The Whitby Witches, did you enjoy a genuinely eerie, child-centered confrontation with a predatory otherworld?
If the darker edges of The Whitby Witches—sacrifices to the Lords of the Deep, threats stalking Whitby’s shore—hooked you, Coraline channels that same chill. Coraline crosses a small door into the Other Mother’s world where love is imitation and safety a trap, echoing the way danger lurks behind the ordinary in Ben and Jennet’s seaside refuge.
In The Whitby Witches, did you enjoy grim, rural English witchcraft operating just beneath ordinary life?
If you enjoyed how real-world Whitby hides sorcery—Ben’s visions, Miss Boston’s quiet vigilance, and the Aufwaders—Delaney’s tale grounds witchcraft in hedgerows and hamlets. Tom Ward trains under the Spook to bind boggarts and battle witches like Mother Malkin, mirroring the way Whitby’s cobbles concealed a war most townsfolk never saw.
