- Chapter Books
- Ages 10–13
- Historical Fiction
Call of the Wraith
Book 4 of 6 in The Blackthorn KeyView the full series
Shipwrecked and stripped of his memory, Christopher wakes in a Devonshire village where children are vanishing and locals blame the ghost of the White Lady. An eerier, more atmospheric mystery about rebuilding an identity while solving a haunting.
- Best for10–13
- FormatChapter
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Literary
- Conversational
Tone
- Suspenseful
- Dark
- Exciting
- Adventurous
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Christopher Rowe has no idea who he is. Washed up alone on the Devonshire coast after a shipwreck, he wakes with his memories gone - he can still recall apothecary recipes and the name of the king, but nothing about himself, and reaching for anything personal brings a stab of pain. The villagers say he was possessed by an unseen evil until the local witch woke him. And they have worse fears than that: children are disappearing one by one, and whispers say the malevolent ghost of the White Lady has returned to steal their souls. When his friends Tom and Sally find him, they help Christopher relearn his own remarkable skills even as his past stays out of reach - and together they must uncover what is really taking the village's children before the winter closes in. Kevin Sands trades bustling London for a lonely, snowbound coast and a genuinely creepy, folklore-soaked mystery, in the most atmospheric Blackthorn Key adventure yet.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
A 10-13 read that leans into atmosphere and scares - a haunting, disappearing children and a shipwreck - more than gore. Confident independent readers are the target; it reads aloud from about 9 for families who don't mind a properly creepy story, and holds real appeal for adult co-readers.
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- Best fit · 10–13
- Read aloud · 9–12
- Independent · 10–13
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
None
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: violence, death of character, scary imagery.
Bedtime suitability
1 / 5 · Wide awake
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
3 / 5 · Some
Best for
- Historical mystery
- Spooky atmosphere
- Adventure with danger
- Confident readers
Avoid if
- Wants gentle bedtime
- Scares easily
- Sensitive to violence
Particularly good for children who are…
- Nightmares or fears
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Waking up with no idea who you are is a brilliant hook, and Christopher has to prove himself all over again - this time in a snowbound village where children keep vanishing and everyone fears the White Lady. It's the spookiest book in the series, with a mystery that keeps you guessing to the end.
- Being a detective
- Surviving danger
- Trickery and cleverness
- Secret skill
Why parents love it
Sands does something bold here - erasing his hero's memory and rebuilding him through action - inside a genuinely eerie folklore mystery. The atmosphere is thick and the danger real, so it suits sturdier readers, but the writing and the emotional throughline of a boy piecing himself back together are excellent.
- Great writing
- Conversation starter
- Educational for adult too
In the series
The Blackthorn Key.
6 books · open the series →
About the author
Kevin Sands.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
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