#44: Diana Wynne Jones, The Pinhoe Egg (Chrestomanci #6)

[kareila]

Joe & Marianne Pinhoe are the eldest grandchildren of old Gammer Pinhoe, the matriarch of their clan of magicians. The Pinhoes and their neighbors the Farleighs are stewards of secret ancient magics and want nothing to do with the denizens of Chrestomanci Castle just up the road. But when Gammer Pinhoe and Gaffer Farleigh start setting their magics against each other, a full blown feud is quickly stirred up, and it will be largely up to Marianne and her new friend Cat Chant to set things right.

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Having now read through all the Chrestomanci books I'm aware of, I think this the best reading order:

1. Charmed Life - introduces Cat, Christopher, and Millie
2. The Lives of Christopher Chant - Christopher's childhood
3. Conrad's Fate - Christopher and Millie as teenagers
4. The Magicians of Caprona - introduces Tonino Montana
5. Mixed Magics - two of the four short stories include Tonino while visiting Chrestomanci
6. The Pinhoe Egg - takes place immediately after Tonino's return to Caprona
7. Witch Week - not really strongly connected to the other stories at all

My library's online Hoopla service had most of these available for loan, plus a bunch of other miscellaneous DWJ stories besides. Once I figured out that my used hardback copy of The Chrestomanci Quartet was incomplete, I was grateful to be able to download the others so easily.