The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix. Now available in paperback.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn't get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.

Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.

Susan's search for her father begins with her mother's possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.

Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan's. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.

• Magical Booksellers: Meet the left-handed fighters like the dangerously charming Merlin and the right-handed intellectuals like his sister Vivien, a magical family who have policed the Old World for generations.
• An Alternate 1980s London: A city where crime bosses can be turned to dust with a hatpin, giant magical lice crawl the streets, and a hidden war between the Old World and the New is about to erupt.
• Two Overlapping Quests: Susan needs to find her father, a man she's never met. Merlin needs to solve his mother's murder. They soon discover their family histories are dangerously intertwined.
• Creatures of Myth and Legend: From terrifying entities that roam in fog to ancient goblins and giant wolves, the Old World is full of beings that are much more than just stories.