Dead Ends

by Francesca Astraea

As an assistant in the UK's finest occult antiques shop, Sophey Cartwright is used to the bizarre, the dangerous and the ethically controversial. When Bezzina's Emporium of Magical Artefacts and Antiquities finds itself under attack from a murky organisation determined to ruin the shop's reputation, Sophey is confident she can help restore the shop's fortunes. But Sophey's mother plans to move the family abroad, Sophey's best friend Ariel is distracted by a cute girl with a mysterious past and the macabre artefacts crossing the Bezzina's Emporium threshold point to increasingly horrifying aspects of the antiques trade.

Can Sophey work hard enough to save the shop before she leaves forever? Will there be a shop to save if her efforts aren't good enough? And why, when she looks in the mirror, is she seeing eyes that aren't hers?

ebook

Expected publication October 8, 2027

About the author

Hi! I mostly use this space to keep track of books other people have recommended, but occasionally I add reviews, which are either very earnest or an absolute tyre fire of emotional vomit. I'm over on Insta, sometimes, @francescas_words. I write about books (and other things) over at francescasthoughts.com. Say hello if you see me!

Oh yeah I write books sometimes? Here's my ~professional bio~

Born in Rochford in 1995, Francesca Astraea decided at an early age that the worlds inside books and television were infinitely preferable to the real one. Initially put off the idea of being a writer because it requires one to sit alone and ignore people, she now finds sitting alone and ignoring people to be the most satisfying parts of the job. She lives in Southend-on-Sea.

You can find her short stories at https://francescaswords.wordpress.com, and support her by joining the No. 1 Readers' Club at https://patreon.com/francescaswords.