Gruesome Globe

Museum of Magical Artefacts #5

by A.A. Albright

Annie wakes up in a cold new world…

When a powerful artefact is returned to the museum, it sets off a frightening series of events – murders, memory spells and long-lost mothers all come along for the ride in the latest adventure for Annie and the gang.

It begins, like most things in Annie’s life, with a murder at the museum. When Sorcha White’s body is found in the toilets at Halloween, everyone thinks she died of natural causes. But Annie and her friends suspect otherwise.

As they try to get to the bottom of things, more mysteries are thrown their way. There are mute ghosts, scary prophecies, crazy quests, and a boss who seems very obsessed with his latest snow globe.

As winter draws in, and they finally inch closer to the truth, things only get more frightening. Annie finds herself in a cold new world, with no idea how to escape, and no memory of how she got there. But with some help from a new friend (and from Dora, of course) Annie hopes she can find a way…

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 27, 2025

About the author

A.A. Albright lives in the Irish countryside with her husband.

She loves reading in every genre, but writing cozy mysteries is just about the most fun she's had in a decade.

To keep up to date with the latest news from A.A. and to be the first to hear about new releases, you can join her mailing list:
http://www.subscribepage.com/z4n0f4

Or visit her website: https://aaalbright.com/

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

More secrets about the museum are revealed in this outing for Annie and friends. Awakening in a strange place and under attack, she’s rescued by someone who she feels she should know. With the help of her familiar, Dora, Annie recounts the events that led her to be trapped. The return of a dangerous artefact to the museum sets off a chain of events including a murder, a powerful memory spell, family secrets, a prophecy, and a duplicitous former colleague. Can Annie escape the trap and save her new friend with the help of her museum friends?

The sheer number of secrets revealed in this episode might just have your head spinning. With a major cataclysmic event on the horizon, our heroes find that they are the fated four to save the world. However, they learned that a former museum group with surprising ties to Annie and company failed in the past leading to the animosity Ralph has shown towards Annie, and her mother’s distrust of the museum as well. Hugh learns he has a pretty amazing power and hints are dropped about Fee’s as well. This is a fast paced and carefully plotted mystery series with fascinating characters and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Valerie Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the author for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
The 'museum' books are proving to be every bit as good as this author's other works. Annie and her friends (including Dora, her familiar) are a group of colleagues drawn together in magical quests. Along the way there's more on Annie and Jake's romance, whilst the actual quest is a complex mix of murder, magic and mystery. The beautiful cover hints at the dangers within the snow globe, a new discovery within this tale but there is plenty to discover about the overarching storylines!
I love the way this author combines wonderful descriptions of magic with a twisted, complicated plotline - no simple cosy mysteries here! This story ties up a couple of loose ends whilst laying the foundations for more to come - completely addictive!

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book!

This is such a great series. Somehow, despite it being complete fantasy with characters and events that don't really exist in life, the author makes them feel real and relatable.

The characters are wonderful and quirky, the events move along fast with a lot of action, mystery, magic and humor

The book is well written, not relying on a lot of catch phrases or flowery descriptions of things.

Book 5 starts with Annie caught inside a snow globe, and then it goes back in time to explain how she got there.

The book ends with an intro to what's going to be going on in the next book, and it's going to be an adventure, for sure!

Loved, loved this - I'm ready for the next one!!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Carinkla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main characters in this book are as before diverse and lovable ( even the villains are kind of relatable.

 

The story of this part of the series is slightly different from the previous books in the series. It's more pointed towards adventure and revealing mysteries of the past than on developing relations and friendships. But that's only logical, since those are now kind of in place. 


It makes the style a little less cozy and more fast paced but also very intriguing. Even Though quite some info is revealed I still can't predict where this series it going and that makes it a wonderful read.

[Linda (ellsky) Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, some exciting stuff happened in this installment of the series! I admit I was a little confused with how the book opened, with Annie having no memory and us not knowing what was going on, but it quickly picked up when she began to tell the story of the last several months to her new friend. This book pulled in so many of the characters we've grown to love (and sometimes hate) from previous books, and it does rely heavily on the reader having knowledge of the overall series story arc. There are some major reveals and upheavals that occur in the latter part of the book that are very intriguing and will make me pick up the next book right away.

[Sylvie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book so far!

I loved it!  There's action, emotion, love, mystery, murders and connection.  The action starts from the first page and keeps you wanting more and more so you just can't put the book down!  I highly recommend it.

I received this book as part of an ARC team and this is my honest review.

[Cyndi Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm loving the progression of this. Finding a missing person and reuniting families was great. I love the main characters. They are ride or die and I love that for our lead girlie. Can't wait to see what happens next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this as a fifth entry in the Museum of Magical Artefacts series. It had that element that I was looking for from the previous four entries. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and enjoyed the overall concept. A.A. Albright has a great writing style and I enjoyed this a lot.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sabrina Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gruesome Globe is book 5 of Museum of Magical Artefacts. I loved this book. It was so interesting to read about a magic snow globe. Made me go back to my childhood on how I wished my snow globes would be magic. The mystery of it all made it even more interesting. I look forward to reading more.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jodi Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only another fantastic book in the series! This time everyone will be learning new things about the past and remembering things just out of reach. A rescue needs to happen, wands need to be found, and new quests are to be undertaken. Just another day in the life at the museum!

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this series!

I've read them one after the other, a mark of a great series! And am hoping for more..I got a little lost with Wanda and Wils storyline, I hate to admit, but this storyline flows nicely..

[Dee L · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great addition to the series. Some big mysteries cleared up, and a huge adventure for Annie inside a snow globe. Looking very forward to the next one.

[stephanie huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and entertaining