Jacqui Dempster

PJ and the Paranormal Pursuers

28 Jul 2021

After his mom dies, PJ reluctantly leaves his New York home and everyone he loves, to live with his Aunt Katie in Edinburgh. A series of strange events begin when his aunt’s elderly neighbour and her cat Azrael convince him that his mom, weirdly, is still very much with him.

At a bereavement counselling group, PJ makes a new group of friends, all of whom have lost loved ones. Drawn together by their shared experiences, they soon discover they have something else in common; an interest in the supernatural. Freya is the daughter of a white witch, Sunny has a scientific and enquiring mind and Shuggie, a superfan of ghost hunting programmes. Led by PJ, they try to prove that there is life after death and that their loved ones are still with them. The team receives strange messages leading them to investigate Greyfriars Kirkyard where they experience terrifying paranormal activity and PJ is drawn into the clutches of the evil Mackenzie Poltergeist after reciting a famous rhyme that invites the restless spirit to draw back the bolt of his scary mausoleum to allow him entry. There, he finds himself in a fight of good against evil with the ghost of Sir George Mackenzie.

“If you are, or know someone who is a teenager with a newfound interest in the supernatural and paranormal, this is the book for you.”

The Courier and Advertiser (Fife Edition)

“PJ and his friends make a great group of characters, and there’s lots of laughter to be had as well as scares, while ‘auld reekie’ provides the perfect backdrop for these ghostly goings-on.”

LoveReading4Kids & LoveReading4Schools

“This is a terrific story for teen readers to devour on a spooky autumn evening.”

The School Librarian (TSL)

Born and raised in Glasgow, Jacqueline Dempster has a law degree and qualified as a solicitor in 1999. She worked as a partner in her own firm, specialising in employment law and also ran performing arts schools, directing and producing shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. She has an interest in all things paranormal and took the Koestler Parapsychology course through Edinburgh University to gain insight into the science of the paranormal and the themes that run through PJ and the Paranormal Pursuers. She has written two adult fiction novels, Charon’s Children and The Thirteenth Pillar of Artemis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PJ and the Paranormal Pursuers – The Phantoms of Pittenweem

28 Apr 2024

After moving from New York to Edinburgh to live with his aunt, PJ very quickly discovered the parallel worlds of the living and the dead when he was forced to battle the evil Mackenzie Poltergeist at Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Now, PJ and his fellow ghost-hunting friends are invited to stay in the picturesque fishing village of Pittenweem in Fife, a place which, unbeknown to them, has haunting echoes of its witch-hunting past.

However, their holiday promises to be anything but peaceful, as witchcraft and superstition threatens to bring terror and chaos to the villagers and the Paranormal Pursuers must face off with the malevolent spirit of a young boy, Patrick Morton. Can they find a way to prevent him from reviving the dark and sinister past of Pittenweem before it’s too late?

 

Jacqui Dempster is a qualified solicitor who now works for an education and qualifications authority. She lives in Dunfermline, Fife, with partner, Andrew, and various ‘borrowed’ doggies who visit regularly. Her first children’s book in this series, PJ and the Paranormal Pursuers – The Mackenzie Poltergeist, was published by The Book Guild in 2021.