666 Charing Cross Road (novel)

666 Charing Cross Road was a novel written by Paul Magrs, featuring elements introduced in Mad Dogs and Englishmen and The Brenda and Effie Mysteries. It was published by Headline Review in March 2012.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Shelley didn't expect her posh new boyfriend Daniel to be enthralled by the quintessence of evil. She's preoccupied with the surprise success of Bessie, the oddly lifelike centrepiece of her Manhattan museum show. Her great-aunt Liza is busy ordering spooky old books from the dusty vaults below Charing Cross Road, while her friend Jack prefers brand-new books and his brand-new lover. When a little leather book arrives, Liza finds it repellent, but doesn't realise it's stained with vampire blood - until too late. Its arcane magic brings Bessie to life, and gives Daniel unimaginable power.

As Daniel's supremacy grows, everyone's lives are infected. Soon the vicious vampire infestation rife in NYC threatens to spread to London - and only Bessie and her new friends can stop it...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Shelley
• Daniel
• Aunt Liza
• Jack
• Bessie
• Consuela
• K. N. Wright
• Mr Danby
• Mr M

Referenced only[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Helene Hanff

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Audiobook cover

• The book's name is an homage to 84, Charing Cross Road.
• Bessie appears here as a rougher sibling to Brenda. In the original 1998 BBC Radio 4 audio story Never the Bride (which would become the basis for The Brenda and Effie Mysteries) the character who would become Brenda was named "Bessie".
• This novel was released as a digital-only audiobook on 21 May 2021 complete and unabridged as part of the Iris Wildthyme and Friends series by Big Finish Productions and read by Louise Jameson.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Fox Soames is the editor of the Books of Mayhem series. (PROSE: Kept Safe and Sound, To the Devil — a Diva!)
• Bessie was discovered in a mad scientist's laboratory with a sister. (PROSE: Brenda's B&B, et al.)

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

• 666 Charing Cross Road at Headline Review (an imprint of Hachette Publishing)
• Official 666 Charing Cross Road page at bigfinish.com