The Mark of Cain

Praise

Cora, Mimi, and Roger are back—back at Bryers Guerdon and in for another dose of mysterious, creeping horror in Barraclough’s follow-up to Long Lankin (2012)…Literary, scary, and made to read with all the lights on.
—Kirkus Reviews

Cora and Roger are clearly innocents in this whole ordeal, and their raw fear at having to yet again face down a supernatural terror is weighted with an exhaustion and resignation that makes their story as heartbreaking as it is horrific. As in the previous novel, the tension builds slowly, almost painfully so, until the spectacularly frightening scene in which the girls come head to head with Aphra. Readers who were hungry for even more gruesomeness after reading Long Lankin will find their appetites sated here.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Barraclough slowly builds suspense as the girls sense things are still not quite right at home, and flashes of Aphra’s consciousness invade the narrative. Some readers may find the horror too subtle, but the creepy atmosphere is perfection, and patient readers will be rewarded with a dramatic climax.
—Booklist Online