Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell

I picked up Witches of Lychford from a Tor.com promotion. I'm always happy to pick up a few things to read for free, as my meagre budget is about to be taken over by repaying student loans. This is a book that was unlikely to have passed my way otherwise, so I was happy to read it.

However, I can't say that this is one that I loved. It's not one I hated, either. It occupies that dread middle ground where I don't feel very strongly one way or another. It is perfectly competent, without being compelling. It's also very short, more a novella than anything else. And there's nothing wrong with novellas! But with less space, you kind of need a way in which the book packs a real punch.

This is the story of Lychford, a town in England that is apparently one of the linchpins keeping the world of humans and the world of supernatural beings, including the Fae, at bay. There are walls and protections that most people in the town have long forgotten about, except one old witch, Judith, who finds that most of her neighbours regard her as an amusing crank.  (And unfortunately, the one twist with her character was telegraphed a mile away. It's not a bad plot development for her character, but as with so many twists, I wish the author had introduced it sooner so we could explore what the implications are, instead of hinging it all on readers not guessing.)

Two younger women (probably in their thirties?), Amber and Lizzie, are now-feuding childhood friends. Lizzie is an Anglican minister struggling with a loss of faith after the death of her husband. Amber runs a new age shop, but tells herself that her own sojourn in Faerie was mental illness, nothing more.

Into this trio of women comes a large superstore, wanting to set up business in the town, which will probably wreck all local businesses, and will certainly break the remaining protections keeping worlds apart. This is deliberate, it turns out. The executive in charge may not be who he appears to be, and so not only is this a big evil corporation, it's a big evil corporation.

Judith is caught up in the campaign to stop the superstore, while Lizzie has to deal with a rather large wad of cash the executive left in her collection plate that just feels...wrong. Not many other supernatural things happen for a while - it's mostly about these women and their connection to others in the town. Then beglamoured red sigils start to show up on doors of those who oppose the store opening there, and we drive quickly towards a climax.

There's nothing at all wrong here, and if the description above sounds like something you'd like to read, you probably would. I felt like there was a bit too little meat to the story, but there was never a moment while I was reading it where I was irritated or bored. Which is something.