WITCH WATER

Lynn Morley's older sister Judith seems to have recovered from her brush with black magic (Witch's Sister, 1975), but now old Mrs. Tuggle is out to get Lynn's suggestible friend "Mouse" Beasley into her power. The deeper Mouse sinks into lethargy after her parents' divorce the more Lynn worries, and when nine black crows start following Mouse everywhere Lynn is sure it's part of a campaign to weaken her friend's resistance. A face-to-face accusation draws only an enigmatic reply from the old lady, leaving Lynn to stew in her own juice until a chilling climax at midnight on the night Lynn and Mouse are alone. Either Mrs. Tuggle is a witch, or Lynn is well on her way to the funny farm. Readers who doubted the circumstantial evidence of the earlier book will have a hard time explaining this one.