Ghost Diviners

by Elisabeth Mace

When Martin and his sister play with a heavy length of iron, they become caught in the distant and the not-so-distant past and are almost trapped by a long-undiscovered murder.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Christy]

It was published in 1977. Interesting premise. Brother and Sister get stuck in two different time periods in the same house. They find out about a drowning. (It's really a murder.)

[Lynne]

First read in childhood and never forgotten (apart from the actual title and name of the author...) a lot of searching went in to tracking a second hand hardback copy of this, the same edition as the one first encountered. The delivery date promised almost a month's wait (which would have been worth it) but in fact this copy sourced in the US, crossed the pond surprisingly swiftly. So, was it worth it? The answer is a resounding yes! 'The Ghost Diviners' remains as disturbing and spooky as it did all those years ago, though it's doubtful if such a novel might be published for the YA (11 and upwards as the book proclaims) audience today given the denouement and utter lack or remorse shown by certain characters.

Siblings Martin and Jackie move into a new build on a faceless estate, and being the first family in, they have no neighbours, although Martin has glimpsed the figure of a young girl going in and out of two of the still empty houses. Amid the building rubble left in what will be their garden, Martin discovers a strange metal rod which appears to possess strange, dangerous powers; not only can it be a conduit to the past but also appears to create violence in the holder.

Both Martin and Jackie encounter past occupants of what is now their new house; Sheila, whose family have moved from London to escape the Blitz, and Daisy, whose wealthy family owned the now derelict mill at the turn of the C20th. As each child grows closer to their ghost, a deadly secret is slowly revealed that has haunted the site for almost a century.

It was interesting to reread in that the language use and sentence constructions are so different from contemporary younger fiction. Mace, it seems was a teacher and this is clear. There is no patronising dumbing down and definitely no trigger warnings which would definitely be emblazoned all over the cover today..

A shocking and brilliant novel that has lived in the mind for decades.

[Capn]

Books for Keeps has an advert for this:

Martin and Jackie think they have moved into a newly built house. But from time to time it isn't there and they find themselves caught up in to past evils of an old house that no longer stands . . .'As spooky as anyone could wish..' Evening Standard

[Doodles McC]

Loved this story as a young child. Children Martin and Jackie set about solving a drowning from the past. Well written for children and enjoyable.