All is not well at StregaSchloss, home of the bizarre but lovable Strega-Borgia clan. Mum's attempts to improve her witchcraft skills are failing miserably. Dad has stormed out in a fit of pique. Titus is virtually umbilically attached to his computer. Pandora is seriously bored. And Baby Damp is getting her fat little fingers into everything around.

Enter wonder-nanny Mrs McLachlan - she'll soon sort out the Strega-Borgia children, and their parents too, but will she cope with the presence of mythical beasts in the basement, to say nothing of the unexpected arrival of four hit-men, including one in a rabbit suit?

Debi Gliori's first novel is an unbridled fantasy with elements of the Addams family, a hint of Gormenghast and overtones of the mafia, together with computer technology and some parody, all blended into a heavy brew that is laugh-out-loud funny * The Bookseller *
It's a gallimaufry of ghastly, giggly stuff * Financial Times *
Fluent and energetic * The Sunday Times *
Features one of the most eccentric families in children's fiction . . . A rollicking red, which rapidly draws the reader into its strange and gothic world * Waterstones Books Quarterly *
Wonderful stuff * Daily Telegraph *

Debi Gliori is the author and illustrator of many books for children, including the very popular Mr Bear series. She won the Children's Book Award picture book section, and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1997. Her backlist in Doubleday/Corgi includes Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep and The Very Small. Pure Dead Magic, which introduced the Strega-Borgias, was her first novel. It was followed by Pure Dead Wicked, Pure Dead Brilliant, Deep Trouble, Deep Water and Deep Fear.

Debi lives in Scotland, near Edinburgh.