By Emma Carroll (author) Part of the Dracula & Daughters series
"A cracking adventure story that is a real Gothic delight!"
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September 2025 Book of the Month
A new story from the Queen of Historical Fiction is always eagerly anticipated, but this offers something a bit different for her many fans. Like me, I am sure they will be swept away and thoroughly fascinated by this tale, which puts a unique spin on vampire mythology and, in the process, transforms the genre into an entirely age-appropriate middle grade adventure, with huge appeal to fans of mild horror stories like Jennifer Killick’s Dread Wood series.
It also has loads of potential to appeal to older readers who will enjoy the clever use of familiar names from traditional vampire tales and even TV series. For example, the three young girls at the centre of the tale are called Bella, Buffy, who has a fabulous pet raven called Poe, and Mina.
The story opens with the strange death of the popular star, Elsie Irving, on the stage of the Lyceum Theatre in Temstown, a city which is ruled by the Guildmaster, Mr Montagu Helsing, with its rules and laws, including the eating of garlic, spreading salt and carrying silver, devised to prevent Contagion starting again.
It is twenty-five years since the last outbreak of vampirism, but everything is about to change as Mina, our narrator, discovers. She has impulsively set out to rob Elsie’s grave. She believes presenting her boss, Dr Polidori, with a real corpse is the only way to get him to allow her to attend the dissection and the full medical training she craves.
There is a very compelling strand of feminism running throughout the story. Women have historically been barred from sciences and the professions, which makes Beatrix Drake, Temstown’s most successful undertaker, even more remarkable. It is her daughter Bella who discovers, alongside Mina, that Elsie has escaped her grave and a new vampire is on the loose.
During this dramatic evening Mina discovers Bella is her cousin and that they share a family secret and have special powers as half-vampires or dhampirs. Together with little sister Buffy they are determined to find and stop Elsie before the next full moon which will spread the infection exponentially.
The discovery of a way to heal rather than slay vampires, in an old neglected medical textbook written by Professor Lucy Westenra, could help save their friend Varney, the first of Elsie’s victims.
This is thoroughly convincing vampiric theory, and the redoubtable trio of girls soon realise the power of collaboration and working together, which is a lovely positive message to convey. Family and friendship are at the heart of this fabulously atmospheric, tense and highly recommended story which will have readers queueing up for the next instalment.
Packed full of atmosphere and deliciously gothic detail, the first in a brand new adventure series: when three cousins discover they're descendants of Dracula, they combine their powers to form the infamous vampire healing company, Dracula & Daughters!
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Strange happenings are afoot in Temstown. Everyone is saying vampires are to blame and the townsfolk have their stakes at the ready.
But Mina, Buffy and Bella, three unusual cousins, are about to discover a family secret - and an ancient book - that could change everything. Could their connection to Dracula give them the powers to heal - not cull - vampires?
Temstown is about to welcome its very first vampire healing company, Dracula & Daughters, and their first case is certainly close to the heart!
9+ readers will devour the atmospheric setting, the vampish powers and the gothic details - including a talking raven!... perfect for fans of Murder Most Unladylike , The Swifts and TV show, Wednesday .
‘ Dracula & Daughter s is the book of my dark, gothic heart. I truly can't wait for readers to meet Bella, Buffy and Mina, the vampire healers with Dracula blood in their veins.’ - Emma Carroll
'One of our finest writers.' - Katya Balen
‘Emma Carroll's storytelling is consistently outstanding... the kind of reading experience that takes you away from everything else, shutting out the world and its worries entirely.’ Scope for Imagination
Praise for The Houdini Inheritance
‘A page-turning, plot-twisting, mind-bending treat of a book.’ - Piers Torday
‘Bursting with excitement, action and heart.’ - Jasbinder Bilan
Once told by the poet Ted Hughes her writing was 'dangerous', it took Emma Carroll twenty years of teaching English and a life-changing cancer diagnosis to feel brave enough to give her dream of being an author a try. Nowadays, she's a bestselling writer, and has been nominated for and the winner of numerous national, regional and schools awards - including the Books Are My Bag Readers' Award, Branford Boase, CILIP Carnegie Medal, Young Quills, Teach Primary and the Waterstones Book Prize.
Emma's home is in the Somerset hills with her husband and two terriers. She still can't believe her luck that she gets to write dangerous books for a living.
The LoveReading4Kids Best Children's Books of the Year 2025
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Emma Carroll - our Guest Editor of the Month
the best books for 9-12 year olds
Three Brides for the Devil
One Thousand Dreams of Shoelace
The House with Chicken Legs
Spook's: Dark Assassin
Emma Carroll has done it again. Remaking vampire lore for a younger, modern audience. Full of atmosphere and mystery, this is a must for any burgeoning vampire fan with plenty of allusions to vampire staples through character names and references.
Full of gothic atmosphere and mystery, Emma Carroll has created a modern vampire tale for a younger audience. She has reimagined traditional vampire lore for the younger generation. This is a winner for both vampire and mystery fans with a strong female cast that are immediately likeable and charismatic. With the promise of more to come, Dracula and Daughters will surely grace many bookshelves in the coming years. Suitable for upper KS2 and KS3 children as well as older readers who are kept alert through the many allusions to traditional vampire literature and plot twists.... Read Full Review
Packed full of atmosphere and deliciously gothic detail, the first in a brand new adventure series: when three cousins discover they're descendants of Dracula, they combine their powers to form the infamous vampire healing company, Dracula & Daughters!Strange happenings are afoot in Temstown. Everyone is saying vampires are to blame and the townsfolk have their stakes at the ready.But Mina, Buffy and Bella, three unusual cousins, are about to discover a family secret - and an ancient book - that could change everything.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Dracula & Daughters and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
Dracula & Daughters features in the following genres: Featured Books for 9+ readers, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Books of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Adventure Stories, Stories about Family and Friends, Fantasy / Magical, Horror & Ghost Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
Paperback. £7.19, down from the £7.99 cover price. In Stock.
Dracula & Daughters was written by Emma Carroll and published by Faber & Faber
Dracula & Daughters has 313 pages
Yes it is part of Dracula & Daughters series
£7.19, reduced from £7.99. In Stock.
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