‘The Little Wax Doll’ is one of Norah Lofts’s contemporary novels, yet with it being set in 1959 it felt like historical fiction to me.

This is another well-plotted original with vivid characters. Written in the third person, the focus is on a forty-four-year-old schoolteacher called Miss Mayfield. Her first name is Deborah, which is rarely mentioned.

I feel it suited the character perfectly to be referred to Miss Mayfield instead of her Christian name, as hers is a serious personality and someone who deserves respect. Serious, yes, but kind with a sense of justice. It’s this sense of justice that puts her in danger more than once.

I was intrigued throughout the narrative to see where events would lead next. It’s a horror tale, albeit a mild one. Don’t expect graphic atrocities or people being hacked to death with an axe. Although there is some violence, in the main we have a sense of unease, with Miss Mayfield sensing something isn’t right with the idyllic little village she’s moved to, with her perfect house and position as head teacher.

On the whole, this is a damn good novel. My admiration for Norah Lofts’s literary skills grows with every title of hers I read. ( )

Interesting ...
It reminded me of a book we might have read in school, where we were to write the ending because it doesn't quite end very clearly. ( )

This one has it all - middle aged spinster with no family, secluded English village with mysterious goings on and eccentric inhabitants, children in peril, devil-worshippers. If you enjoy a well-written suspense/horror heavy on the suspense and implied horror, or are a fan of the old Hammer horror movies of the sixties, this is the book for you. Written by Norah Lofts under her suspense nom-de-plume of Peter Curtis, and also published as The Witches and Little Wax Doll.

This book was actually made into a Hammer horror movie in 1966, starring the fabulous Joan Fontaine as the lady who begins to suspect that something is 'not quite right' in the village where she goes to become a school teacher. Highly recommended. ( )

You know what they say about things being too good? When Canon Thorby offers Deborah Mayfield a position as headmistress at a prestigious London school, a little cottage and a cat, she can hardly believe her good fortune. After twenty years as an African missionary and several years at a poor public London school, Miss Mayfield had really found her niche; or had she? I really enjoyed this story. Everything appears perfect but you get the feeling that sinister things could or will happen. I give it an A+! ( )