Temperance Crump expected to drown rather quickly after being manacled and thrown into the lake at Chipping Appleby, West England, for being a witch. Her rescue at the hands of Jenny Greenteeth, the local lake monster, was both surprising and terrifying, but she soon learns that Jenny -- for all that humans have appeared on her menu on occasion over the past few millennia -- actually wants to help her.

Temperance really is a witch, but the townspeople, egged on by their new sanctimonious, hell-and-brimstone preacher, didn't know that. Rather, they responded with typical mob mentality to the persuasive Parson Asa Braddock ... who, in fact, used a certain magical cunning to ensure they did as he wanted. Even Temperance's farmer husband and their children are under his thrall. It turns out, as Jenny's investigation into the matter quickly reveals, that Braddock is not a mortal man after all, but a skin worn by the Erl King, a powerful and evil force from mainland Europe who has migrated to this tiny village on the Caerlee River for ... well, his reasons are unknown at this time.

With the assistance of Jenny and Brackus Marsh, an itinerant hobgoblin pedlar, Temperance attempts to awaken the town from Braddock's spell through magic, but she proves too weak for the task -- even with Jenny's borrowed power. With no other options, they seek out Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Wild Hunt, for his aid. But the high fey are far removed from the mortal world and care little for its problems. Gwyn ap Nudd dismisses his guests until his wife, Creiddylad, convinces him to grant them assistance ... if they can succeed at three challenges to prove their mettle.

She even offers her dog, Cavall, to help along the way.

Their quests involve everything from an ensorcelled boar to a fallen star and a unicorn ... but succeeding at those tasks is just the beginning. The Erl King still awaits them in Chipping Appleby, and they'll have to face him without the intervention of the high fey. Before all is said and done, aspects of Arthurian lore will be involved.

Greenteeth is Molly O'Neill's first novel, and for the most part it's an overriding success. The use of an obscure figure from English folklore as a protagonist is clever, particularly given that she's primarily known as a creature who pulls people into the water to drown and, presumably, eat them. O'Neill transforms the monstrous river-hag into someone who is sympathetic, even benign ... although, let's be honest, her moral standards tend toward the gray.

As a questing adventure, the book has mixed success. It's a lot of fun overall, turning into a series of road trips involving a party of atypical companions who wander through various aspects of English, Welsh and Scottish lore. It's at times darkly humorous, although there is always a sense of real urgency and danger along the way. On the other hand, the quests are a bit formulaic, with each basically following a pattern of travel, encounter, problem, problem resolved and item retrieved.

And, I hate to say it, but the "big twist" at the end, which comes as a surprise to every character in the book, was telegraphed very early on and, frankly, I was a little surprised no one connected the dots sooner. I am fairly sure any reader who has ever read anything before this book will have seen it coming.

Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. As adventures go, this was a fun one to read, and the characters are enjoyable companions for the journey. O'Neill even goes the extra step of remembering that, at her heart, Jenny Greenteeth is a monster whose ethical nature does not always mesh with her human and goblin associates, and at times Temperance and Brackus both question her motives even as Jenny sometimes frets about not being trusted.

I look forward to seeing what O'Neill comes up with next.