One of The Observer's 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2022 is THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. It's difficult to think that such a skilled novel is a debut. Superb. The author of Pandora's "Bewitching" and other best-selling books is Susan Stokes-Chapman. The Familiars by Stacey Halls, a Sunday Times best-selling author A captivating, eerily atmospheric story of murder, myth, and superstition that is ideal for reading as the nights grow longer. SHE'S AWARENESS... 1643 in Norfolk. Thomas Treadwater, a hesitant soldier in England's civil war, is called home by his sister when she accuses a new servant of inappropriate behaviour with their widowed father. When Thomas gets home, his father has already lost consciousness due to a stroke, and their new servant has been arrested on witchcraft-related allegations.Thomas prides himself on being a rational, modern man, but as he unravels the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers not a tale of superstition but something dark and ancient, linked to a shipwreck years before. Something has awoken, and now it will not rest. Richly researched, incredibly atmospheric, and deliciously unsettling, The Leviathan is a tale of family and loyalty, superstition and sacrifice, but most of all it is a spellbinding mystery and a story of impossible things... 'Outstanding... a seething, haunting delight' Beth Underdown, award-winning author of THE WITCHFINDER'S SISTER 'Thoroughly gripping and utterly absorbing' Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE.