To my mind this is the best of Jones's shorter books for younger children. The story is well thought-out and well written; some standard ideas from children's fantasy are present (e.g. the adults try to explain away the old legends, but the children accept them and hence solve the mystery), but with plenty of freshness.

I also detect a theme found in some of Jones's teenage and adult romances: that of younger girl meeting older man, with the fantastical common ground more than compensating for any differences due to age.