Blog Tour – The Lonley Lighthouse of Elston-Fright

Today I am very pleased to be joining the blog tour for The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright by Reece Carter. This chilling middle grade adventure is the sequel to A Girl Called Corpse and was released by Usborne on the 10th October, just in time for Halloween.

To celebrate this release of The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright by Reece Carter, Usborne are giving away free copies of the first book in the series, A Girl Called Corpse. To win a copy all you have to do is leave a message here on my blog about this series.

The spooky cover art for both books was by Maxine Lee-Mackie and the inside illustrations were beautifully done by Eleanora Asparuhova. the title lettering was by Kristy Lund-White with additional lettering by Sarah Coleman.

Here is a little more information about both books:

Blurb for A Girl Called Corpse

“A spooky, funny, magical and atmospheric adventure with a compelling hero you will adore.” Jessica Townsend, New York Times bestselling author of Nevermoor

Maybe some ghosts enjoy walking through walls and being invisible – not me. I never asked to be a kid ghost.

With no memory of the kid she was before she was taken by the Witches, Corpse is bound to haunt the rock-that-doesn’t-exist for ever.

Until she learns of a treasure, one that can reunite Corpse with her family and her name. She must set off for answers, on a journey across the stormy sea, battling magic, zombie-skeletons and monsters. But the Witches want the treasure too.

And they’ll do anything to get to it first.

Welcome to Elston-Fright, a forgotten town where witches lurk, sea monsters roam and a girl is on the hunt for answers…

Previously published in the UK as The Girl, the Ghost and the Lost Name.

Blurb for The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright

The thing about magic is that it likes to stay hidden…

Flip Little’s family have always been Lightkeepers, guardians sworn to protect the town of Elston-Fright from magical, monstrous threats. And Flip is no stranger to magic; only he knows about the two ghost-girls haunting a rock out at sea.

When their spider friend, Simon, is spider-napped by ancient Poltergusts, weather ghouls out to cause mayhem, Flip, Girl and Corpse set out to rescue him. But first they must find and return the missing Light to the lighthouse, restoring its magic.

Only nothing in Elston-Fright is quite as it seems. Questions bubble up from the deep. Dark secrets emerge. And soon, Flip and his friends learn that in order to beat the Poltergusts they need to understand what happened in the past.

First Impressions of The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright

Due to the late arrival of this book, I have unfortunately been unable to finish in time for my stop on the blog tour but I can give you my first impressions.

The first few chapters of the novel are very well-written and do draw you in. Even though there are a few false starts you get a great sense of voice and the Lighthouse setting is very vivid and definiely eerie.

It is written in dual narrative from the points of view of corpse and Flip who yearns for adventure and the kid-ghost Corpse from the previous book. Flip is short for his age but does not let this hold him back. Corpse can fly with the aid of her Cemetery Stone. I particularly liked the way we got Flip’s view of Corpse and her view of Flip. The supporting characters Girl who is also a ghost and Simon the Spider who has gone missing are also well-developed.

I always love a map in an adventure book and both books in theseries do not disappoint. Here is the map so you can an idea of what I mean:

I look forward to completing the novel.

Extract from The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright

If there’s one thing I know, it’s this: being a Lightkeeper is Very Serious Business. Protecting an entire town from dangerous magic? That’s a big responsibility. Seriously big. But somebody’s got to do it. After all, you can’t just let your home become overrun by wickedness and shadow, can you? You can’t allow briny bogey people and wily wraiths to roam about freely, hurting people as they go. No, you have to defend your home. You have to protect it from harm. And when it comes to the fishing town of Elston-Fright that I call my home, the person who’s always protected it from bad magic has been a Little.

Like me. I’m a Little – Flip Little.

And Littles are Lightkeepers.

My family’s been doing it for ever – taking care of Elston-Fright, that is – ever since my great-great-great-grandfather Lionel Little built the lighthouse where, these days, I live with my nan. The town wasn’t much more than a handful of cottages back then, and the wharf was no more than a single crooked jetty. The fish mill hadn’t been built yet, and the town hall didn’t even have its bell. The lighthouse was one of the very first buildings to crop up in Elston-Fright, and it quickly became the most important. It was from the lighthouse, at its far-flung place on the point, that Littles would fulfil their duty to protect. Ever vigilant, Lightkeepers would keep an eye – both eyes, actually – on Elston-Fright, ready to respond to whatever magical threat might be the next to arrive on its shores. That’s why, after seeing the very-weird-and-totally-not-normal thing that I saw from my window this morning, I knew it was up to me to investigate. Strange things don’t just happen, after all. Mysteries don’t solve themselves.

Somebody has to look into it – who better than a Little?

Bertie’s motor growls loudly. My hand is squeezed so tightly around the tiller that if I looked back at it, I’m sure my knuckles would be bone white. I don’t look back, though. I look forwards, towards my destination, with my eyes narrowed against the morning sun. The wind whipping off the ocean is icy, and every now and again Bertie’s bow crashes into a wayward wave and kicks water up in my face. It gets in my mouth, salty and sharp, and it goes up my nose too, but I quickly wipe it away with my free hand and urge Bertie to move faster. My heart thumps in my chest.

Bertie is my little yellow dinghy, by the way. Or, well, it’s my nan’s little yellow dinghy. I’m only borrowing it.

Does it count as borrowing if Nan doesn’t know about it?

I shake the thought from my head. There’s no time for thinking about all that right now. It’s one of the first rules of Lightkeeping: there are times for thinking, and there are times for acting. After spotting the mystery-in-question from my window, now definitely counts as a time for acting.

Besides, I’m about as used to breaking rules as a person comes.

But before I can investigate the very-weird-and-totally-not-normal thing, there’s something else that I need. Every hero needs their sidekicks, and so that’s why right now I’m racing across the water at full speed, headed for backup. Directly ahead of me, breaching the waters like some kind of supersized whale, is the rock where I’ll find it. It’s the rock where my very best friends live.

About the Author

Reece Carter is a high-profile Australian nutritionist who has written two non-fiction books for adults, appeared on many of Australian’s major television networks, and written for magazines like GQ. He grew up in rural Western Australia and now lives in Sydney.

To discover more about Reece Carter and his books take a look at his website: https://www.reececarter.com.au/ You can also follow him on Instagram: @herbnerdreece and X: @herbnerdreece.

To follow the rest of the tour take a look at the schedule below: