Mandragora — David McRobbie

Mandragora is the story of four old curses that destroyed a 19th century sailing ship, the Dunarling, and most of her passengers and crew. A hundred years later four teenagers uncover the objects that carried the curses — and the evil starts again, but this time in the small coastal town that bears the name of the doomed ship. Adam Hardy, with help from Catriona Chisholm, begins to unravel details of the curses that taunted and terrified both passengers and crew during Dunarling’s fatal voyage from Scotland to Australia.But Adam is distracted from these important discoveries by his growing attraction to Catriona. Then all too slowly he realises it’s the wrong time to take his mind off what he is finding out.Mandragora is two intertwining teenage love stories, but a hundred years apart. It’s also a tale of demonology, danger and deceit — and deduction.