Fiendish Deeds: Joy of Spooking #1by P. J. Bracegirdle

It's the terrible town on the hideous hill -- and Joy Wells is a proud resident. A fan of classic horror stories, Joy is convinced that famous author E. A. Peugeot based his spine-tingling tales on Spooking. Take the eerie similarities between the nearby swamp and the setting of his masterpiece, "The Bawl of the Bog Fiend." Could the story be true? Could the bog fiend be on the loose?Things become truly horrifying when Joy learns that Darlington, the despicable suburban city where she is forced to go to school, is planning to build a water park over her beloved bog. It is up to her to safeguard the endangered area and its secrets. Little does she know that there is someone determined to destroy not only the bog but the town of Spooking itself -- and anyone who dares stand in his way. (goodreads.com)

Funny story about this book... back in August when us Montreal Book Bloggers got together and hit the town, I picked up a bookmark from Babar en Ville that caught my eye. This bookmark was colourful and fun and I even talked about it in the IMM video I posted from that weekend (but I had to cut it out due to time).

I had never heard of The Joy of Spooking series, but from that bookmark I knew I wanted to. I kept it visible so that I would have the books in mind the next time I went on a shopping spree.

Cut to a month later when I received an email from Simon & Schuster Canada about a book launch happening in September for this same series! The author's third and final book in the Joy of Spooking series is out this month and on September 17th we're invited to the launch (wrap) party! More on that later!

If you follow the link at the top of this post, you'll see that the cover on Goodreads is very different from the one in my own image. In fact, that book was one I have picked up numerous times in the store, but always put down because I just couldn't afford one more book. (You know how that goes).

Fiendish Deeds is a spooky, creepy, fun story about a girl named Joy and other residents of the town of Darling and Spooking. Joy is from Spooking, of course. And those from Spooking are looked down upon by the Darlings (as they are called). There is mystery and grave yards and a bog and a bog fiend and a not-so-very-nice man who is trying to destroy Spooking.

The creepy factor does not come hand in hand with a gross factor (as I find middle grade "creepy" stories are wont to do). This isn't quite Goosebumps but it has the same sort of dark and sinister feel to it. The type of book you want to read on a stormy, autumn evening. There is also humour, as Joy has somewhat of a dry and sarcastic wit about her. The bog itself does wonders with setting the spooky, mysterious atmosphere. Who doesn't love a creepy bog, I ask?

I am rather happy that fate brought this book (series) and I together. I am very excited to go to my first ever book launch (that I wasn't a part of as an employee). I look forward to meeting Mr. Bracegirdle and picking up the next two books in the series.

If you're in the Montreal area and you think this launch might intertest you, I now present you with the invitation that links to the event page on Facebook. Please join us and certainly let me know if you do!

The Joy of Spooking

1. Fiendish Deeds
2. Unearthly Asylum
3. Sinister Scenes