This last Chrestomanci novel to be published is also the latest within the setting's chronology and the final volume in author Diana Wynne Jones's suggested reading order. I don't know that it completely works as a grand finale for the series -- nor if it was intended as such, since it was released only a few years before the writer's death -- but it's certainly a fun low-stakes adventure to go out on. I like the idea of all these hedge witches secretly practicing their rustic magic right underneath the enchanter's refined nose, although that would admittedly be a richer development had the earlier books spent more time here at the castle rather than jet-setting around the multiverse.

As usual, we've got big squabbling families, peculiar spells, temperamental cats, and children who are tasked with stepping in and sorting things out when the grown-ups aren't acting responsibly. I've enjoyed reencountering these stories as an adult myself, and I'm glad they were a part of my early experiences with the fantasy genre.

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