Hello, and welcome to my weekend Read and Review, featuring an Adventure in Middle-Grade fiction.
This week, we have Book 3 in the Dog Squad series by a hugely talented artist and writer. So please bring your paws together, wag tails, and give deep rumbling purrs for Clara Vulliamy!
Any dogs or cats? Dogs, but if you look carefully, you’ll see a rather smart cat in there!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
I am exceedingly grateful to Clara, who personally sent over the digital pictures specifically so you all could enjoy them in the best possible way (IE, this week without Mrs H’s currently flour-covered fingers in the images).
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Eva, along with Wafer, her whippet, and her two friends Ash and Simone, head off to deliver parcels of supplies to local residents who can’t get out due to a storm and floods the previous day. It soon transpires that the storm ripped a hole in the roof of the local animal rescue centre. Even worse, as the shelter doesn’t have the funds to repair the roof, they will have to close, and the animals will be homeless.
Enter our team of young reporters and crimesolvers, The Dog Squad. What if the trio could raise funds for the shelter? It’s a great idea, one that their teacher thinks will work. Accordingly, he booked the school playground for the event a week hence. The fundraising event will be a Dog Show!
But if the team, Eva Ash and Simone, think they have this sorted, they have a rude awakening. After an initial keenness from their classmates to join in, there is nothing to show on the third day of planning save for two totalisers, some ruffled egos and empty chairs at the latest meeting.
What have the team done wrong? More to the point, what can they do right to save the event and the shelter. With their teacher upset at losing his wedding ring, it seems nothing can go right.
So, to find out what the kids have done wrong and what they have to do to turn things around, you will have to buy an entry ticket to the Dog Show. I assure you, there is everything to play for, sticks included, and lessons and surprises cavort, yap, bark and howl all around.
So, what did we think?
Without a doubt, this is a superb third adventure. Clara’s artwork leaps off the pages and into one’s heart.
The characters are so expressive. Big or small, as you see in this review, the images bring an extra and exciting dimension. The drama of the storm and its effect on people, property, and pets is palpable and immediately strikes a chord. Wafer is, of course, a central character, and he does lend a paw—to disastrous effect—but this particular story brings a bigger vista and adventure.
We loved every page of this all-too-short (for adults and cats) expressive delightful tale. I think all the younger readers will love it too.
So . . . . Crunch time.
A must-have new read for parents and schools wishing to educate, enthuse and bring value to reading. It engenders responsibility and caring and promotes pausing to consider others when making decisions. This adventure focuses quite ably on team building and inclusivity of all sorts to deliver results. It does this in the best way: naturally, without hammering home, and as a default setting. Many adults could learn a thing or two I can tell you.
In a society seemingly bereft of social niceties and driven by money and must-have attitudes, this is a ray of hope, one most parents will appreciate being taught.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please do consider your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
I shall leave you with an early June Selfie. And as I am a barometer for the weather, you can tell it isn’t that nice out. Bed on a dreary day is the best place to be. . .
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week a Doggy Adventure in Middle Grade Fiction.
This week, we are delighted to share book 2 in the series about Michael, a highly talented and arguably self-absorbed mind-reading sausage dog. But fair dues, he grasped the nettle, or stick, in his jaws and ran with the talent he had, and it came good. But mirroring life, things do not always go well, and lessons have to be learnt. So join Mrs. H and me now as we see what Michael and his sidekick, Stanley Big Dog are up to . . . .
AUTHOR: Terrie Chilvers
Cover & Internal Art by: Tim Budgen
Published by: Firefly Press
Publication date Paperback: 2 May 2024
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 915 444 516
UK Cover price for Paperback: £6.99
Kindle UK price: £3.49
Pages: 168
Age range: 6+
Any dogs or cats? Just dogs
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Graeme at Firefly Publishers for agreeing to give us a copy of this fine adventure for our Read & Review. We loved the first adventure, and this was a must-read for us both.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, received as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Michael the Sausage Dog has climbed the rungs of the Holywoof ladder, and after his success at the Canine Spectacular theatre show, he gets his own chat and mind-reading show – An Audience with Michael. He is the king of the hill. Well, he was. A new act in Tinsel Town has knocked back the ratings. Steve, The Stunt Sausage Dog, has caught everyone’s attention. So much so that Michael can’t get anyone to agree to come on. Nobody but Susan, the irritating Chocolate Labrador with a talent for balancing peanuts on her nose. Things really had sunk to a new low.
Things take a turn for the worse when Susan’s star caravan is found empty, turned over and smelling very much of cheese. Susan has been DOGNAPPED!!!
Detective Wrinkles, a basset hound, declares the caravan a crime scene. After a bit of searching, they discover the ransom note on a seat under Stanley’s bum. Quickly, they discover the signature calling card of notorious dog napper Dog X, a stinking wheel of exotic cheese.
The show must go on, but with no guests, our duo could be twiddling their paws. But, in a bizarre twist, Michael and Stanley Big Dog are to act in the ransom money drop! Detective Wrinkles, who really doesn’t like Michael or believe in his talents, takes them to stay at the grotty Dog House Motel in a backwaters town called Three Paw Creek. The town’s only claim to fame is that it houses the ‘World’s Biggest Stick’ attraction. Naturally, Stanley just can’t wait to take the lift to the top of this huge (and decidedly tree-like) stick!
Trapped in a seedy motel whilst Detective Wrinkles uses the rooms at the posh Bouncy Ball Hotel in the good end of town, it takes little time for Michael to feel hard done by. The chews supplied for breakfast were half-chewed, and their water bowl likely came from the puddle outside. The pair are also under strict instructions not to show their faces!
OK, as you can imagine, Michael, having a larger-than-life ego, and Stanley, being a dog of relatively little brain but full of life and a yen for seeing the BIGGEST stick in the world, soon break the rules. In fact, they are soon off investigating. Michael can see a ratings boost if he can be instrumental in saving Susan.
The ransom drop is due later that day, so what could be the harm in checking things out?
What indeed, and therein sits the root of the adventure that unfolds. If it can go wrong, it does. Which is why we have to close the review just there. If you want to learn more about Stanley and his big stick or whether Michael gets his interview and the star ratings that his super talents (and ego) deserve, you’ll just have to get the book.
So, what did we think?
This is a brilliant, dog-centric adventure. It plays to each breed’s strengths and polite stereotypes in a delightfully comic, tongue-in-cheek, and childishly innocent and cheeky fashion. There are jokes and naughty words such as ‘bum’, and an almost vaudeville/Laurel & Hardy humour that I think kids will love, and adults will smile and maybe groan at. The light lessons Michael learns along the way will resonate with kids, parents, and teachers alike.
So . . . .Crunch time.
A fun and easygoing read, delightfully illustrated by Tim Budgen, that left us with a smile on our faces and chuckles and laughs resonating through the room. It is a book that’s so easy to love, which is why we feel it is an excellent, safe buy.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, avoiding ransom gangs and stinky cheese, please head down to your local independent bookshop. Big sticks are optional. There are plenty out there (both book shops and sticks), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
I shall leave you with NOT another Sofa Selfie. This time, and to prove I don’t just sleep on the bed and or sofa, I can be seen monitoring the state of my driveway. Yup, it’s a hard job (not least because of the hard surface, MOL), but one I am always up to, weather permitting. I also get to keep an eye out for many of the transient new felines in the area who seem to think my drive is some sort of free-to-use access way!
If you have ever wondered about what life was like in the 1800s London town, the rogues and villains, and those who really were trying just to survive, then this middle-grade book is very interesting and fun and a classic period tale. Leon Garfield, who is famed for his historical children’s fiction, as well as a foray into adult literature, may well be familiar to you for works, such as Blackbeard, Jack Holburn, various adaptations of Shakespeare’s works and for completing Dickens’ unfinished novel – The Mystery of Edwin Drood. A truly talented, prizing winning, and much loved and lauded author on both sides of the Atlantic.
AUTHOR: the late Leon Garfield (1921-1996)
Cover art by noted artist: Kenny McKendry.
Published by: PUFFIN
This edition publication date Paperback: 3 July 2014
Paperback ISBN: 978-0141355214
UK Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Kindle UK price £4.99
Pages: 277
Age range: 9 – 11 and upwards
Any dogs or cats? Not really, but lots of dodgy folks
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
This is one of those finds where the cover and title spoke volumes, and having read the back cover blurb, both Mrs H and I were hooked and went straight out and bought the book.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Smith, arguably a bit of a hero, even though a pickpocket, is only twelve. But in the 1800’s he can still be hanged for his crimes, being ‘nubbed’, as the downtrodden and lower order of people called it at that time. Life in a London so very unlike that which we see today, was hard. Highwaymen and footpads prey on travellers using roads across commons and through woods that have long since formed part of the modern London urban sprawl. The side streets of London are mazes and rabbit warrens and home to dangerous folk who would kill you for a penny or the silk handkerchief in your pocket should you stray and be gone before you hit the ground.
Smith, Smut to his kin and those that know him well, is a swift of foot and finger pickpocket, in and out and away before anyone would know, let alone see his shadow. He lives below a very seedy public house, home to the worst kind. Their landlord would never give any of the villainous drinkers up to the law, leastways not for anything less than a shilling. Along with his seamstress sisters, Miss Bridget & Miss Fanny, they eke out a living. The sisters are brought the clothes of the recently executed by the prison hangman. They mend and adjust them to suit a new and presently living body for a small fee.
When Smut picks the pocket of an elderly gent seeking passage through streets he once knew, he gets more than he bargains for. Stopping to investigate the piece of paper he has picked, he sees the man stabbed to death for something he now doesn’t have – the document. There is a third man, who walks with a wooden leg. He is the one wanting the document. What Smut doesn’t know is that he was seen pickpocketing by a fourth person.
Smith flees the scene and returns home. Speculating that the paper must be of worth to warrant the old gent’s demise at the hands of two men in brown, he wants to find out what it contains. Alas, he, like most, can’t read. But when his highwayman friend Lord Tom (all dressed in green robes) suggests taking it to another (and probably untrustworthy acquaintance) to decipher, he won’t risk it, keeping it close to his chest, quite literally.
The men in brown track Smut down, and a chase through the streets ensues. But lithe Smut is too sharp and soon runs the men ragged till they give up. But he has ended up in a posher part of London town. Not looking where he’s going, knocks a gent to the ground. Mr Mansfield, the gent in question, is blind. He is also a Justice of the Peace, bad news for a thief, no matter the size. Smut offers to guide the man home. A deal is struck, and as Smut dares not return home, he gets to stop the night at the man’s home. His daughter, Miss Mansfield, is none too happy at seeing Smut, not least because he is filthy. But she agrees to have him, for she loves her father, and the urchin has helped him.
This is the central turning point in the story. What happens to Smut and his, or rather, the murdered man’s, piece of paper starts to play out and have consequences from here on in. There are twists and turns, wheels and stories within each other, that affect everyone we have met thus far and a few we have not, which naturally is why I must stop the review.
What did we think?
We had never heard of the author. This is a crying shame, as the book is incredibly appealing and so very atmospheric that you can feel and smell the world you are very quickly drawn into. We could tell straight away this is a world and period the writer made his own and was most comfortable writing about, which, from what we can see, is where many of his tales are set.
What we modern readers get isn’t Oliver Twist the musical. We see this world from the gutter and on high in the eyes of the law and those that administered it, harsh as it was.
The ever-present threats of ill health, the hangman’s noose or ending in gaol for years on end and sometimes till death for being debtor, is our backdrop.
It is a fair old and breathless chase, hindered yet emboldened and made urgent by the colourful characters, prize, risks, and the awful weather. The ending comes together quite nicely (though hardly blood, pain, or death-free) with lessons, perceptions, and understandings.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
It is a wholly satisfying, authentically created middle-grade appropriate tale. More importantly, we believe it is an excellent classic tale for all to enjoy without being over the top. Watch this space for more reviews of adventures from Leon Garfield.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please find a safe route past pickpockets, gaol, and highwaymen to your own Ye Olde Local Book Shoppe. Each is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
I shall leave you with another Sofa Selfie. Gee, you’d have thought I do nothing but nap the day – and night – away! Rest assured I have been busy doing other managerial-like things, MOL.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Adult Feline Fiction.
Mrs H has been busy this week. OK, as busy as she ever is, with the added event of a surveyor calling at the Manor House. Five hours later, after much measuring, humming and harring, along with two cups of coffee and lots of dunkable chocolate biscuits, he finished. He seemed impressed with my mouse-free attic and spacious mole-free lawns. He was less impressed with Mrs H’s cluttered bedroom but said it would do, just so long as she cleared out the laundry and her wardrobe.
Why, I hear you say? If you’re thinking I’m making room for lodgers or planning to extend my cat tree, I should advise that I have applied to adopt a lonely heat pump. Yes, it seems the UK government are asking residents to home one of these many pumps in need. They will even give us a hefty one-off payment of £7,500. In return, the pumps will heat the Manor House and provide hot water, which means we won’t have a big gas bill or pollute the atmosphere. We, of course, must provide the electricity so they can work day and night. I did my research, and whilst it seems a bit of a raw deal to expect them to work 24/7 for 6 months of the year, they do get the summer months off.
All in all, installation including the minor modifications to Mrs H’s bedroom to accommodate all their gear and a water tank will cost £500. It’s a win-win situation: the environment wins and I get somewhere nice and warm to perch on outside and read the latest HOT new releases during the summer, complete with a fan and plenty of room for afternoon tea!
But enough of my exciting tech news, let’s get on with some serious feline detective fun. This week, we bring you . . .
AUTHOR: Mandy Morton
Cover art by: Jason Anscomb
Published by: Farrago
Publication date Paperback: Latest edition October 2023
I am exceedingly grateful to Mrs H for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this 2nd book in the series.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
This week, we thought we’d give you a short list of The Characters.
Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins. Long-haired tabby cat investigators at the No.2 Feline Detective Agency, who live and work from a room behind the bakery.
Beryl and Betty. Level-headed, businesslike and charming motherly owners of the bakery and Hettie and Till’s landladies.
The Dosh Family. Rogan, Pakora, Balti, etc., own and run the increasing Dosh Store empire.
Miss Irene Peggledrip. The town’s resident Medium.
Delirium Treemint. Ever ready to serve refreshments with her trusty samovar. She is prone to breaking tea services at an alarming rate. She is also a trainee medium under Miss Peggledrip.
Crimola. A huffy, sometimes obstinate, spirit guide that lives part-time in Miss Peggledrip’s head.
Bruiser Venutious. A now elderly travelling cat, a fighter, scarred and not keen on four walls. He is a longtime friend of Hettie from her musician days on the road.
Jess. The proprietor of a charity shop where many of the townscats do business and where Tilly gets all her cardigans.
Milky Myers. Longtime past mass murder of his kin, and said to haunt the village and the house his family once lived in, now Miss Peggledrip’s home.
Mavis Spitforce. Our first but not last victim. Historian, family tree researcher, and resides opposite the local Dosh Store.
Marmite Sprat is a self-appointed historian and writer of what Hettie would call ‘Penny Dreadful’ tales under the title Strange but True, which are based more on speculation than fact.
Lavender Stamp. The jilted and curmudgeonly postmistress. Knitter of lifesize male cats for company.
Bugs Anderton. A sizeable Scottish ginger cat. President of the town’s Friendship Club and a force to be reconned with, though well-meaning.
The plot
It is Halloween evening, and our two heroes and budding investigators are settling down for a night in and a scary movie as befits the season. The two start talking about Milky Myers, who lived ‘longer ago than anyone can remember’ and murdered his family. But on Halloween, he returns to haunt the area and his old house, now the home of Miss Peggledrip. Will he walk the town that night?
The following morning dawns with the surprise arrival of Bruiser. The Butter sisters give him something to eat and Hettie and Tilly make room in the shed for him to lay his head. Loving motorbikes, Bruiser soon comes in handy to take our detectives on trips out in Miss Scarlet, their bright red motorcycle with sidecar.
Whilst Hettie is giving a lecture at the club, when the postlady, Teezle Makepeace, bursts in screaming MURDER!
Hettie goes to the house where Mavis Spitforce lives and discovers her dead, stabbed in the back, wearing a witch’s hat, eye mask and draped in a pumpkin-coloured silk cloak. Halloween had taken a nasty turn in No. 19 Whisker Terrace.
What happens next reveals that Mavis is working on an accurate history of Milky Myers. With her mouth stuffed with pages from Marmite’s book, one obvious cat is in the frame. The suspect list increases when Hettie discovers the primary beneficiary of the will is Irene Peggledrip, who bursts in on the scene and thinks Hettie has committed the murder. Realising this isn’t the case, she suggests the detectives come to one of her sessions to speak to the spirits. But should Hettie and Tilly risk going with a potential murderer?
But the more our team digs, the broader and more confusing the investigation becomes. The disappearance of Teezle the following day brings more complications and creates another suspect. No matter how they look at it, the matter appears to be linked to the Milky Myers all the years before. To solve this latest murder and those that come, they need to solve the Milky Myers murders, too! But is that possible, given it happened farther back than anyone can recall?
Joining the dots will take all the brainpower and help Hettie can get, be it spiritual or earthly, not forgetting all the cream cakes and pies they can muster to keep the energy up in the cold and strangely snowy weather. The thing is, will Hettie recognise and accept what she sees?
Through all of this, we have a family feud between the senior and younger Dosh family, and an intercultural romance to deal with. With a far-from-healthy love of gruesome, bloody murder, is Balti Dosh to be trusted? And why is the advice from the vicar of Milky Myers’ village seemingly so obtuse and evasive?
Not wishing to spoil this adventure for you, I must stop there. The best, I assure you, is still to come.
So, what did we think?
Whether or not you’re a cat lover, these adventures will draw you in. It could be the tongue-in-cheek names of locals, as seen above, or the names of villages and towns, like Much Purring on the Rug.
We have a cracking and twisty plot, better than many a cosy. Hetties, scepticism, sarcasm, frustration and even heartfelt loss and joy are palpable foils, honest reactions that we, too, may have to the quirky cast and the situations they end up in.
There is a particular moment, a strange revelation in the story, that caught us off guard and that we love. It had us going back to see if there were clues we had missed. We had missed them all. Such a clever plot. Woven into this story are a few others. Good or bad, everything is presented just right.
Whether justice is served in Hettie’s world remains for you, dear readers, to discover for yourselves. Let us just add that sometimes, like revenge, justice is served hot as well as cold.
So . . . . Crunch time.
If book one whetted your appetite, this is a must-read. Yes, you could read any of the soon-to-be thirteen books and feel at home with the cast and situation of their world. But we think it’s best to start at the beginning. We are keen observers of cosy and murder mysteries featuring felines, and this is one of the best. Buy and enjoy, then share with friends.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, jump into your own sidecar and roar down to your local independent bookshop. If you have a Dosh Store of your own, you could even try there, but maybe best to steer clear of the contents of the large cooking pot.
Farrago Book’s web page can be found HEREor type this: https:farragobooks.com/
Hettie Bagshot can be found on both Facebook and Twitter.
I shall leave you with a toe-warming selfie. I moved later on to get my front toes sorted, too. As you can see, I was not too keen on my mid-morning snack, and as is the way when that happens, I ate only the jelly.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Middle-Grade Fiction.
For our canine pals, we have a wonderful new release from Clara. It’s the second 7 to 11-year-old adventure featuring a whippet called Wafer, and his human child companions, Eva, Ash, and Simone. Together, they form the Dog Squad, up-and-coming school reporters at The News Hound paper, with an eye for the top story and ready for adventure investigation and fun.
So, without further ado, let’s find out about their latest hot-off-the-press adventure!
AUTHOR: Clara Vulliamy
Illustrated by: Clara Vulliamy
Published by: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Publication date Paperback: OUT NOW
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-00-856539-8
UK Cover price for Paperback: £6.99
Pages: 112
Age range: 7 – 11
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
I am exceedingly grateful to Clara who personally sent over the digital pictures specifically so you all could enjoy them in the best possible way (IE without Mrs H’s marmalade-covered fingers in the picture). And huge thanks for Mrs H spending her pension and cycling twenty miles in the pouring rain to the not-so-local bookshop so we could Read & Review this awesome kids’ publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Wafer is Eva’s pet whippet. She wants to help him make new pals. So, finding out there is a ‘meet and greet’ for shy dogs, down the local park the following Sunday, she decides to go. With her pals, Ash, who is non-binary, and Simone, they take Wafer for what they hope will be fun and a way to burn off some of Wafer’s heaps of energy. But it turns out to be a bit of a flop, as the dogs that turn up refuse to mix.
On the way home, they bump into Sam, from the Wags and Whiskers daycare centre. He suggests taking Wafer to do some whippet racing.
Which, having got Eva’s mum’s approval, is what the kids decide to do. But first, like the talented journalists they hope to be, they do some investigating. Armed with a training regimen for Wafer, which he takes to like a duck to water, they book him into a local event.
Now, this is a short book, and so the remaining pages deal with events at and after the races Wafer has entered. Suffice it to say, it would not be an adventure for our Dog Squad Team of investigative reporters without something going on.
We get introduced to a few characters, as well as their whippets. And from here, the Dog Squad gets a whiff of foul play and potentially dangerous goings-on for the dogs involved in the racing.
Will Wafer win the races and get a rosette? What are the series of nasty events that threaten to overshadow the day’s racing? Will the bad guys go unpunished? These questions will be answered, but you’ll need to buy the book to see how.
What did we think?
Clara has a wonderful way of bringing her art into the very fabric of the story. This book is no exception. A simple but highly entertaining plot brings action, inclusion, and a theme that supports right and fitting behaviour for our youngsters. All are brought to life in art on or across almost every page.
So . . . Crunch time.
This is a wonderful sequel. One that we just had to have. Adult books lose out for not generally having artwork, save for somewhat spurious or generic genre covers. For any younger readers, this book will be a real visual treat and well worth buying to encourage/develop their reading skills and sense of adventure.
A link to our review of Clara’s ‘Marshmallow Pie Cat Superstar’ adventure books can be found HERE.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please race down to your independent bookshop. There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire. You can’t fail to win with this book!
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Adult Fiction.
If you’re unfamiliar with Mandy Morton’s works, you’re in for a treat. We’ll be reviewing the whole series of the No.2 Feline Detective Agency, which features two tabby-furred feline detectives, Hettie Bagshot and her colleague and friend, Tilly Jenkins.
Mandy was born in Suffolk, England, and, like Hettie, had a successful music career as a singer-songwriter. She also has 6 records to her name. Later, she joined the BBC as a presenter and producer of arts programs for local and national radio. The book’s biography says that “Mandy lives with her partner, who is a fellow crime writer, in Cambridge and Cornwall, where there is always room for a longhaired tabby cat.”
That the author is a cat lover and guardian is self-evident from the stories. And whilst the feline characters bring the magic that only cats can, it is the plot, settings, and sheer deftness and pace of the telling that, with our protagonist’s natures, win the day. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into . . . .
AUTHOR: Mandy Morton
Cover art by: Unknown
Latest edition Published by: Farragoin 2023
First publication date Paperback: 2014
New edition Paperback ISBN: 978 1788 424 431
UK Cover price for Paperback: £9.99
Kindle UK price: £2.99
Audiobook price: £13 (or one subscription credit)
Pages: 257
Age range: Adult
Any cats? Cats and no humans.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
I am exceedingly grateful to Mrs H for the utter delight of getting to Read & Review, AND listen to this excellent book. She’s bought the series!
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, received as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
Foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Sitting in the Butter sisters’ one-time storeroom, now turned bedsit and office, waiting for the phone to ring, is bringing home the awkward truth to Hettie that a detective agency with nothing to detect wasn’t a good business model. Just as she was wondering where her assistant and co-sharer of the bedsit, Tilly, was, there was a strange sound. Hettie suddenly realises it’s the telephone. More importantly, it’s their first case. Marcia Woolcoat, matron and proprietor of the Furcross Home for Slightly Older Cats, has a job for them. A case of missing cats, dead cats that are now missing, stolen from their graves on the grounds of Furcross! Body snatching is alive and well, pardon the pun, in the town.
Taking the case, Hettie sets about getting evidence. Onetime TV celebrity gardener and novel writer Digger Patch, now down on his luck and very grumpy, attended to the grave duties. Nurse Mogadon arranged and completed the Dignicat final acts for the cats, and Aurelia Claws did the makeup and nail varnish for the deceased. The cook for the home is Marley Toke, a black cat from Jamaica who buoys the residents’ spirits with her excellent Jamaican cooking—most of which has potent catnip in it!
It all seems rather strange, but a case, and more importantly, an advance of their fee, is what matters. By discovering who took the bodies, where they are, and the goods they were buried with, they will earn their daily fee and a small bonus.
But, before they can get started and get into too much planning, three bodies turn up behind the Malkin and Sprinkles department store. Fearing the loss of her fee, which would help fund their food shopping and mean they can get a new TV, Hettie and old pal and Hettie’s ex-roadie, Poppa, race to the store to collect the bodies. What they discover when they do is that the cats are missing a lot of fur. In fact, the only fur left is on their faces.
As Tilly points out, the case isn’t really solved. So Hettie and Tilly start digging around, metaphorically speaking, and visit Furcross. Whilst there, they find Nurse Mogadon dead with a note saying she has taken the easy way out and is sorry for letting the awful things happen to the three former residents.
Now, things aren’t quite as solved or as easy as they first may seem. This is by far not the end of the case. In fact, it only picks up speed from here on in. Who stole the cats, their fur, and paid Nurse Mogadon to abet them? More importantly, and part of the fun of the plot, what will Beryl and Betty Butter’s pie-of-the-day be, and will there be any left come the end of the case! Oh, and if you are wondering about the TV, well, that plays an important part, too.
I’d dearly love to tell you more, but I am teetering on the brink of revealing too much. Suffice it to say, the goings-on at Furcross have not ended. There is still an awful lot of investigating, chewing over facts, pies, and a few well-earned pipes of catnip tobacco to be smoked.
What did we think?
With the plaudits from the likes of P D James and all-round praise from readers, Mrs H and I will do our best to give our own enthusiastic yet balanced review.
When we first listened to this, book one in the series some years ago, we were enthralled by something quite unique. We had already started writing our own adventure series, and Mandy Morton’s book illustrated there was a market for good, feline-centric adventures that extended beyond cats being smart yet dumb sidekicks found in many cosy mysteries. In fact, there are no humans in the series, which instantly focuses the mind.
The recent and highly articulate and clever books by L. T. Shearer, which feature Conrad, a talking and quite independent feline in a human world, provide a refreshing angle and opportunities for the cosy mystery-weary reader. Criminal investigation taken on from literally multiple levels and with characters with distinct skill sets makes for compelling reading.
The same is true of Hettie, Tilly, and their world. Here, you will find an elegant mix of feline traits and human-style interaction in human settings without annoying humans.
Just when you think you have this new world sussed, the characters do something that is wholly feline and out of place, yet on inspection, it is quite delightful, logical and well-placed. One thing you will notice is that there are no police in this book. The cats just get on with life in, so far as I can see, every other way.
It is, however, best not to overthink things but just soak it all in. Cats are, after all, not beings to shy away from licking a plate or having a whisker face or ear groomed after a meal. And boy, do they love their food. It all sounds very familiar and fun, too, as Hettie, Tilly, and friends plan meals, sweets and savouries around their investigations, murders and corpses.
We loved Hettie. She is grumpy in the mornings, at least until she’s had the first cup of tea and a cheese triangle on toast for breakfast, and does not suffer fools, though she is not perfect. But she sometimes admits to being at a loss and is ready to give up the detecting game.
But Hettie has a wonderful foil in Tilly, a much smaller, elder, and arguably wiser cat who once lived and almost died from hunger and cold on the streets. Tilly also adds extra humour by sometimes getting the wrong meaning or going off on a tangent.
Hettie is arguably our lead protagonist, but Tilly’s honest willingness to see good in all, her appreciation of being alive with a roof over her head, and her infectious positivity are way beyond what I have read elsewhere. Tilly is no Dr Watson. She has weaknesses. Her bout of cat flu almost killed her and left her susceptible. However, her passion for reading murder mysteries (which gave Hettie the idea for the detective agency) means she has a head start for solving crime, though her eagerness sometimes runs away with her. In our eyes, she is arguably an inseparable and joint lead character.
The first story gradually reveals most of the backstories of all the characters. The location for their home and office, placed in a one-time store room behind Beryl and Betty Butter’s bakery, is just right. It is home, warm and cosy, and when needed, by tidying things away into the sideboard, an instant office. Storing their clothes in a filing cabinet and hiding the telephone in the sideboard struck me as supremely practical, especially if you didn’t wish to take a call.
This first book’s plot is original, twisty-turny, and highly entertaining. I know it is wrong to laugh out loud or chuckle at a murder mystery, and I don’t think I have with any other book. But this is one where you carried along, and there is so much to enjoy. There are plenty of such moments. PD James was not wrong in their appraisal.
For an even more pleasing experience, we recommend getting this and the other stories on Audible. Jenny Funnel, the narrator, has set the perfect tone for the characters—so much so that if I heard anyone speak like the characters, I’d probably have a giggle fit. Did I mention the names? I guess I did already, but the book has characters whose names give away their profession, like the librarian Turner Page.
So . . . Crunch time.
With fun, believable characters, chuckle-worthy names of cast and places, and amazing plots well suited to felines, this book is an all-around success on a par with, you guessed it, an ‘Agatha Crispie’ novel.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please stroll with feline grace down to your local independent bookshop. (Best business macks and cardigans optional). There are plenty out there (both book shops, macks and cardigans), and each shop is just waiting to serve whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
I shall leave you with a rare mid-March sun puddle on my new old duvet cover, refashioned and upcycled by the PA at the Bionic Basil blog. Do check out their latest wild adventure story series on the Medium platform!
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week a Middle-grade Gothic Horror adventure.
We have a delightful read for you today, one that came right out of the blue when Mrs H’s book-to-be-read pile was perilously low. So without further ado, dim the lights, stoke the fire, and wrap up for an amazing read.
AUTHOR: Janine Beacham
Cover art by: Nathan Collins
Published by: Firefly Press
Publication date Paperback: 4 April 2024
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-915 444 479
UK Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Kindle UK price: N/A
Pages: 295 (in proof copy)
Age range: 9 to 12
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Graeme at Firefly Press Publishers for the delightful surprise package that gave us the chance to Read & Review this very atmospheric eerie book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read and review, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their families, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Cared for in the Home, which was run by a matron of strict sensibilities and dislike for any child that did not conform, Una is adrift. She longs to be back in the lighthouse her father and mother ran on Anglesea. The life of ‘Groundlings’ is not one she recognises or enjoys. She is a quick learner and loves all things to do with the sea. Mechanisms, too. She helped her father repair and run the big light that would save many ships and lives. He didn’t have to go to war, he was in a protected job, but he went to the war to end all wars, because of his passion for all things mechanical. Dieing in the trenches, he left his wife and daughter, Una, behind to tend the lighthouse. But when Una’s mother dies of influenza, she becomes homeless and an orphan.
Una is a dab hand at repairing things as a result, tinkering and making things. So, when Mrs and Mr Smith turn up at the Home, they seem to have found the perfect child as both have a love of turning their hands to practical things. Mrs Smith repairs dolls, whilst Mr Smith is repairing a mechanical carousel, complete with candy-twist poles attached to ponies. And Una thinks she has found the perfect parents as their motivation is to adopt the child they always wanted and don’t seem stuffy at all.
Mother and Father, as they prefer to be called, have everything Una could hope for short of a life at sea or in a lighthouse. But their recently acquired house, Copperlins, an aged large three-storey house above the village of Knifely Stifling, is close to the sea. And even though a boy at her orphanage had warned her about the house, she is determined to make it home. It may be outdated and cold, but Una has a room of her own and views. Good food abounds as Mother is always baking. Father enjoys tinkering here and there at his carousel and smoking a pipe. In fact, they are both very much the archetypal parents one might have seen in the magazines and adverts of the time.
Una is enrolled in the local school. She has never been to a groundling school before, though she did have postal lessons while on the lighthouse. It is so very different. In fact, it is very inhospitable. The villagers don’t like strangers. Worse, they fear Copperlins and what was said to lurk within after the reclusive, elderly lady owner, a doll maker, died. They have horseshoes over their doors to ward off the evil. The adults, including Una’s teachers, and the local children, shy away from Una and mutter in closed, cold groups.
But a girl called Mary soon makes friends, not least because of Una’s unusual and daring but practical short haircut. It is very movie-star-like, Mary says. Though Una has no knowledge of such things and prefers nature and her books.
Whilst settling into her new home, Una hears strange noises coming from the second floor. Could they be mice? The scratching and bumping and creaking may not be unexpected in such an old building being exposed to frigid, buffeting winds.
Mother and Father, such nice people and as good as perfect parents as she could ever hope for as an orphan, think there is nothing amiss. So Una, for fear of being sent back to the Home, steals herself, saying she is a Wexford and has endured far, far worse in the lighthouse.
But little things start happening. And little things mount up and Una is soon aware of things being moved, or worse, going missing from her room. Then, when Mary comes for a sleepover but flees midway through the night without explanation and clearly terrified, Una starts to have doubts. Could what the locals fear about the house be true? Is it haunted by malevolent spirits? Mary goes so far as to extend a safe harbour at her house if Una is too scared.
When the noises in the basement, and music from the carousel she and her father are repairing, rouse Una from her sleep, she is minded to investigate. But there is nobody in the room. Later, she ventures to investigate noises on the second floor. It is an area of shut-off rooms, closed curtains and cobwebs. When none of the rooms reveals the source of the sounds, she steals herself again to check within the last room, a broom cupboard. There she confronts the doll; child size and, if that wasn’t scary enough, it has Una’s face and hair and eyes. When telling Mother and Father, who neither heard the carousel music or other such strange sounds, Una can not find the doll to show them…..
Now things take a turn around about here, and Una actually gets to meet the Doll Twin. Ani (short for animated curiosity) is the doll’s name, and she seems to be out to copy Una completely. Is Ani bent on taking over Una’s new life and parents? What happens next is both dramatic, scary and heartwarming.
Put aside notions of scary demon dolls.
This story is far more skilled and doesn’t need such adult-style nonsense. Arguably, it is far more human than that. What we have going forwards is a series of revelations, of journeys and discoveries sewn together with twists and turns both bold and powerful and yes, at times, as chilling as the storms Una and her once family faced as lighthouse keepers. Which is where we have to leave this review.
So, what did we think?
A 1920s gothic horror-style feast of suspense, fear and automata, driven by a descriptive text that makes every page pulse and whir with life, and the senses tingle with anticipation from cover to cover.
One of the book’s great strengths is its being set after the ‘Great War’. With many children left fatherless, and as with Una Wexford, later motherless in the influenza outbreak, the book becomes very thought-provoking and powerful from the off. I can imagine this being a key point for classroom discussion, too.
There were no points where we weren’t immersed in the telling. Looking back, there were telltale clues that we just didn’t see or see clearly enough. Mrs H even peaked forwards, and with a gasp, carried on reading even quicker. She was still surprised by the final chapters; which were magnificently executed. We were raised up on a crest of hope, then sent to the depths of despair or shattered on the rocks with our characters.
Because of the writing skill, ultimately the ending was immensely satisfying. I won’t say what that is, as I don’t want to give it away. So . . . Crunch time.
A middle-grade ‘gothic’ horror, you’ll have to go a long, long way to find one better or more skillfully written. I dare say Mr King would be impressed if he were to read this. We were thoroughly entertained and devoured this in record time, and I think most other kids and parents will, too.
Steeped in atmosphere, this is one adventure not to be missed, as it has it all.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please do consider and support your local and independent bookshops and publishers.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
Mrs H has been busy chasing spiders this week. In fact, the warmer winter has meant that not only have the spiders not gone to sleep, they have been breading, too. Well, that’s my excuse. In reality, they may have come indoors with me. But, I’m not telling Mrs H that on account of the fact she’s been getting far more exercise chasing them and is wearing off all of the excess calories she put on in December.
Thankfully, we haven’t any as big as the spider in this week’s book review. Also, none are as fierce and potentially as dangerous, at least for birds. We could do with a few of those to thin out the number of pigeons that wake me each morning at 10am by doing what pigeons do on the roof.
So, without further ado, let’s get on with our arachnid-tastic adventure!
AUTHOR: KAREN OWEN
Cover art by: LOUISE FORSHAW
Published by: FIREFLY PRESS
Publication date: Paperback: 15 February 2024
Paperback ISBN: 978 191 5444 431
Cover price for Paperback: £6.99
Pages: 124
Age range: 7 – 9
Any dogs or cats? No, but B.O., the Mynah bird, has a crucial AND scary part!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful once more to Firefly Press Publishers (and NetGalley) for giving us an advance copy of this to Read & Review for you all across the world.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
This is book 3 in the series, and every bit as fun and adventuresome as the others, possibly more so.
To recap, Callie is our main protagonist. She discovered that her new hearing aids allowed her to understand and speak to Bo, a Mynah bird they adopted in Book 1. Callie and her best pal, Grace, are the two 9-year-old girls in a detective team that includes Bo. They are collectively called S.P.U.D. (Super Perceptive Undercover Detectives). is our main protagonist. She discovered that her new hearing aids allowed her to understand and speak to Bo, a Mynah bird they adopted in Book 1. Callie and her best pal, Grace, are the two 9-year-old girls in a detective team that includes Bo. They are collectively called S.P.U.D. (Super Perceptive Undercover Detectives).
It is the school holidays, and a funfair has come to the village, but the kids, including Callie’s younger brother, Luke, aren’t allowed to go until the weekend when Callie’s older cousin comes with his family. That leaves a whole week of going out with their mum and dad, with whom Grace is staying, and doing boring adult things like going to the D.I.Y. store or buying car tyres. I think we can all relate to that in one way or another!
So, having their own airborne assistant/spy in the sky, the girls send Bo off to reconnoitre the fun fair and spot the best rides. But Bo is taking far too long, and the girls are getting worried. When the mynah bird finally returns, he is rather coy as to where and what he’s been up to. He gets downright evasive as the week goes on, and he seems very sleepy and off his food, too.
Eventually, after being asked countless times by the kids if they can go to the fair and having to turn them down, they offer to take them somewhere else as a stopgap trip. The kids ultimately settle on going to a wildlife park. Callie’s parents have a dislike for snakes and spiders, and they are not keen on going. But a promise is a promise.
At the zoo, the girls learn about the tarantula, and Luke gets to see the snakes.
On leaving the spider presentation given by one of the keepers, the girls spot a giant spider, a tarantula, heading off into the hedge…
OK, what happens next really brings the story into top gear. So, that is where I must leave it. If you want to know the answer to what happens to the fearsome female spider – a bird-eating tarantula at that – what Bo has been up to, and how all the subplots mesh and come to a spooky conclusion, you’ll just have to get the book. I assure you the best, scariest and funniest is still to come!
So, what did we think?
For a review of book 2, please use our link below:-
We loved every minute of this book. There was always something happening which made it a real page-turner. Karen has ably combined the anticipation and thrill of the fun fair with the excitement and tension of an escaped tarantula and the ensuing investigation, chase and capture. There is also a mystery to unravel about where Bo went and what he was doing. As I was saying, never a dull moment.
The parent’s reactions are, as in real life, priceless. Couple this with the fact that fun and interesting facts about spiders are revealed along the way, and thoroughly engaging artwork makes this a sound, safe, responsible and enjoyable read for children of all ages.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Yes, buy this as an excellent way to pass a rainy day, to read aloud or alone, or as part of a broader classroom activity.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, minus creepy crawly and slithery add-ons, take the quickest and least scary route down to your local independent bookshop. They are out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you young reader desire. Plus, you’ll be helping small businesses stay alive and flourish.
Hello, and welcome to my first weekend Book Review of the year, featuring this week a YA Adventure in Fiction. And My, this is a real winner. So, without further ado, let’s get on with the show. This is a story, one most clever and dark, where the game contestants are dying and lying to get the prize . . . .
AUTHOR: A. J. Clack
Cover art by: N/A
Published by: Firefly Press
Publication date Paperback: 7th March 2024
Paperback ISBN: 978-1915444417
UK Cover price for Paperback: £8.99
Pages: 367
Age range: YA/Adult Thriller/Murder Mystery
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Firefly Press Publishers for reaching out to us to see if we would like to Read and Review this much-anticipated book before publication.
Having read the advance press release, we were only too pleased to read this. I do hope you will be, too, after the review.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
A little preamble. In this book’s scenario, Lie or Die is a new reality T.V. show based on the real-world social gathering/party game Mafia, or in some circles, it is known as Werewolf.
The game, usually played with 10 players, is that the assembled group is split into two sides – Mafia and Townspeople. The Mafia tries to bump off the Townspeople whilst the Townsfolk try to get shot of the Mafia. There is also a Detective and a Doctor in the mix. Their roles are pretty straightforward. The detective seeks to detect a Mafia member in each day and night cycle of the game, whilst the Doctor can save a Townsfolk member each cycle.
Each player is given a role to play. Still, nobody knows who or what any other players are until they are eliminated.
Now, during the day period of the game, the players can nominate someone to eliminate from the game, to send to the electric chair if you will. The nominated person is then put on trial and, if found guilty, removed!
During the Night segment of the game, the Mafia can eliminate a player. And so the game goes on.
In Lie or Die, the story focuses on three late teenage pals, our key protagonist, Kass, and her best mates, Lewis and Thea. Kass has fallen out with Thea after having kissed Thea’s ex-boyfriend. It is a rift that seems to be splitting the girls apart, big time. When an audition is held for Lie or Die, Thea says that Kass going for it with Thea is the only way she can trust Kass once more. Kass wants to put the whole mess behind her, so she is pressured into doing it. It turns out Thea has already entered them both, and the interviews take place soon after.
When Kass fails to pass the test, she is secretly relieved. After all, she has shown she is supportive of Thea. But, when on accompanying Thea to the studios, one of the contestants is bizarrely poisoned with seafood (even though there is none in the building), and her EpiPen is nowhere to be found; Kass, being already on the ground, is enlisted into the game.
Her fellow players are an exciting and excitable mix of quiet, calm and outright play-to-win types that would do anything in the game to win the £50,000 prize and the social media stardom that could rocket their future careers. Everything goes, especially lying. In fact, daubed across all the studio walls is the phrase “Trust no one.”!
Kass is considered the ‘Girl Nextdoor’ type. Bland and boring and not the likely fav of the audience that the show is being streamed to. What Kass does have in her favour is the ability to spot if people are lying. Telltale signs or tics that will give away their role. Also, none of the other players know she and Thea are besties.
So, with an immediate ally, things get off to a good start. But then, the rules change from the perceived norm. First, a manakin is spotted hanging from a tree in the set garden. In its leg is the EpiPen of the now-gone contestant. When that evening/night, one of the players is carded and seemingly killed by an agent, there is a surprise; only one kill a night is expected. The acting looked so real, even down to the drool from the lips and a poison bottle.
The players are, for want of a word, ‘controlled’ by an A.I. personality called Cohin. It appears hooded in a hologram projection unit where the players are forced to congregate when commanded. The projection actually morphs into various characters that have exited the game as it progresses. So, when Kass has her doubts, especially as none of the others are aware of the truth regarding the girl she has replaced, she is soon assuaged when the poisoned girl appears to speak to them via the hologram, putting the recent poisoning down to epic acting.
I think by now, you can maybe see where this is going.
The action takes off from here as the players accuse and prosecute one of their housemates.
In the surprise outcome, which I won’t spoil for you as it is a pivotal point, one player goes to the chair and, with a ghastly scream, exits the game and the house. Or do they???
As the game progresses, the ante is upped, and the contestants become more stressed, sleepless and, dare I say it, paranoid. With loud sounds and flashing bright lights, who wouldn’t be?
If you can take a breath, you should do so here before the book’s second half. You won’t want to leave this until the very last full stop.
So, what did we think?
The reality Television Mrs H and I know of is some of the worst T.V. out there. Has beens and wannabes, shameful and shameless. At least, that is our view.
The book pulls apart from the inside what reality and reality T.V. is and means, and what it can do. But it also shows the fragility and underlying motivations of the players, some worthy, some not so.
I love that Lewis points out that it is a beast we create, and whilst we may outwardly reject it, there is something that draws folks in. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s not them on the receiving end– voyeurism.
The author has skilfully manipulated our protagonist, labelled ‘as the girl next door’ by the other competitors, into the ultimate detective. Fighting to support Thea and survive and escape a deadly sealed studio.
Mrs H read this to the end, where I got so far and the tension and dread was so much that I have to admit to sneaking a look at the ending.
Let me tell you, this is one doozy of a read. Well paced and delightfully cast. Not only are there shock revelations but also extra double twists right down to the closing sentence.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
The ultimate locked room mystery – twisted, deadly, dark and seriously addictive. Turning the banal T.V. genre into a must-read hit! Thank goodness this ISN’T on T.V.!
A must-read, and one Mrs H and I both feel far exceeded our expectations to become the brilliant and gripping read it was.
Would we watch reality T.V. now? Absolutely NOT.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please place advance orders with a local bookshop, that way you’re helping maintain local shops and economies.
****** GIVEAWAY ******
One lucky commenter on this blog will receive a copy of this book thanks to Mrs H dipping into her pension and sherry fund.
To be eligible, commenters on this post will need to be in an area covered by Amazon and be able to take receipt of a package from them with a suitable delivery address. They must also be willing to furnish Mrs H with their address if they win. This address will be deleted after the successful delivery of the package.
Given the nature of the book theme, Mrs H and I are limiting this giveaway to those we know are over 18.
Comments must be made before midnight (GMT) on Saturday 13th January 2024.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Middle Grade Adventure Fiction.
This week, as the year slowly draws to an end, I offer you our final review of 2023. We have an adult book to review, called Lie or Die, by Firefly Press. It’s LONG. So, Mrs H has got a stash of mince pies in and a fresh bottle of sherry, and we’ll be busy reading throughout the rest of December. Me, I have six boxes of cat food and some long-life cream and catnip and valerian cushions to while away the quiet hours between chapters.
So, without further ado, here’s the review!
AUTHOR: Mollie Hunt
Cover art by: Roslyn McFarland
Published by: Independent Published
Publication date Paperback: This 2nd edition 7/2/2023
Paperback ISBN: 978-1984134844
Cover price for Paperback: £11.77
Kindle UK price: £4.99
Pages: 353
Age range: ADULT
Any dogs or cats? Absolutely chock full of cats, plus some interesting humans, too!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
I am incredibly grateful to Mrs H for buying me this for an early festive holiday present.
As always, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Our protagonist, Lise, awakes at night in her bed. It’s hot, and she can’t sleep. Forgoing dressing, she skips downstairs through the large, empty house. Her aged tuxedo cat, Percy, lies snuggled on the sofa. That is where the familiarity of the scene ends, for sitting on the floor is a large orange tabby. When she asked herself out loud who he was, he actually answered her. He is called Evermore Artair Eckx or plain Tom. The two cats discuss Lise’s suitability to be ‘She Who’. Tom thinks she is too big and clumsy to fit in their world. But time, it seems, is short, and their mission has to happen on Tri-Night, which is now. So, Lise is what they have to work with. But the cats head off, and Lise, for better or worse, follows. Still uncertain of what is really going on, but driven by curiosity and the guiding of the cats, she drops to all fours and dove whiskers first through the flap into the night beyond. Here marks the start of their journey and perilous mission.
The cats offer little in the way of information as to the task that must be done. But soon, it becomes clear there is a demonic-like force, an evil that has been driving and feeding off man’s wickedness and destructive nature. The name of the beast is Seh. And if he isn’t stopped now, they never will be able to.
In an old neighbourhood shed, they come across one of Seh’s minions, and it’s not pretty. The cats flee, and soon enough, Lise realises there are many cats out there to help in the fight to bring an end to Seh’s powers. It will be too late if they leave it till the next Tri-Night. Tri-nights give all sentient beings, of which cats are one, the ability to do things they could not before, like talk to each other.
It is a mission that will bring them face to face with friends and foes, some feline, others creatures of this world but turned bad within. Lise is warned by a feline she meets en route to watch out for their eyes. If they are red, they are evil and in league with Seh. The journey also takes our heroes, for that is what the ultimate band of felines is, on a quest that will transcend realms, maybe dimensions, where they will take on different forms and face not only the devilish workings of Seh but also Seh itself in a tangible form.
Like the best stories, those like LOTR, the heroes will be tested to breaking point, maybe even death. In the Alter tier– the realms cats can visit beyond their bodies and beyond the mortal world– things are not what they seem, nor people or creatures.
So as not to spoil this adventure, I shall leave my review here. I have but covered the intro to the first half of this story, which moves forward briskly to not one, but two conclusions. To say more would ruin the drama that unfolds and who features.
So, what did we think? Beware, Spoilers!!!!
The story is divided and defined by both chapters and time. It is also very descriptive; the writer has taken great pains to create a solid and compelling ambience-filled setting for the feline and human characters and the grizzly baddies in all their forms, wherever they may be. There is a very credible and clever link between the science and the fiction, which gives the story a grounding, especially in the second half.
I have to say, Mrs H and I were taken aback when, halfway through, we reached the second part and jumped 100 years. But the transition to what are effectively new characters was handled well. You’ll note I say ‘effectively new’. That will become clear when you read the story. Suffice it to say, this is a story with twice the punch. The ultimate ending (though arguably, given there are more books to come, this isn’t the ending) was gripping and heartfelt.
There is as much a journey of discovery for Lise as there is action and adventure. A higher purpose to her life, maybe the lives of all humanity. Thought-provoking.
I loved the cats, which are studies in feline behaviour and mannerisms. Knowing how skilled a cat carer Mollie is, this should be no surprise to any of her readers. This is a standout example of how we feel an excellent feline book should be for those who have neither cats nor read feline-themed adventures.
For us, there are many ways of depicting cats in adventure stories. Over the years, they have been relegated in human-based detective stories to mere sidekicks or hooks to lure cat lovers and humanitarians. Don’t get us wrong; any books featuring positive enforcement for fellow sentient creatures are to be applauded. More recently, I am pleased to see our favourite sentients, the cats, get a fair crack at the whip and move to speaking and action rolls.
I have reviewed LT Shearer’s first two books, The Cat Who Caught a Killer and The Cat Who Solved Three Murders, and was pleased with the intelligent portrayal of Conrad, the talking feline co-protagonist. It is also pleasing to see children’s/Middle-Grade books with all manner of other sentient creatures ably portrayed.
There are what we consider ‘adult’ moments in this book, which, for me, would make this an adult-only read.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
A story worthy of Ray Bradbury – Old School in the best way. Keenly written, a blend of spiritualism, fantasy and science fiction that is not overpowering yet deliciously on the edge, or rather, straddling a rift between earthly and alternate worlds.
Of the books and films we have read and seen, Mrs H thought it was like Madeleine L Engle (A Wrinkle in Time) meets Twilight Zone and Dr Who with undoubtedly a soupçon of Star Trek.
We both agreed that this book is very much a parable for humanity and a fragile, on-the-brink planet. Thought-provoking in the best way.
So, loads to love and well worth dipping more than a toe or paw in for Christmas.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, in whatever reality you may be in, please saunter, float or morph on down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, realities and bookshops, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Middle Grade Adventure Fiction. PLUS a free selfie of me doing amazing hard . . . . nothings.
Before we get going I’d like to announce the winner of a copy of LT Shearer’s first book, The Cat Who Caught a Killer, is Lynn, from the Precious blog. Lynn, if you will leave Mrs H a separate comment with your postal address (we won’t publish the address), we’ll try to get your gift out to you ASAP.
OK, so without further ado, here’s the review!
AUTHOR: Jo Clarke
Cover and Interior art by: Becka Moor
Published by: Firefly Press
Publication date Paperback:
Paperback ISBN: 978 1 915 444 394
EBOOK ISBN: 978 1 915 444 400
UK Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Pages: 219
Age range: 9 upwards
SPOILER ALERT
YES. Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to FIREFLY PRESS Publishers for giving us advance viewing so we can Read & Review this latest in-series mystery adventure, just for you.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Here is a quick recap of the back story… Libby is a pupil at a rather unique school that visits a different country each term. Libby’s aunt, Miss Agatha Mousedale, happens to be in charge of the school. The previous term had been spent in Edinburgh, and Libby and her best friend, Connie, had solved a fiendishly clever art crime under Connie’s parent’s very roof. That was quite a Christmas adventure, so do read our review of Libby Highland Heist HERE.
With Christmas and winter out the way, Libby, Connie and Aunt Agatha arrive in New York for a new term. Leaving the airport, they are surprised when Connie’s godmother and famed actress, Eloise, awaits in her chauffeur-driven limousine. Just as they pull away, Eloise picks up Count Alvarez, whose cab has been held up. They drop him off in a run-down area beside a blacked-out building. And despite having urgent business, he seems reluctant to go in. When Libby takes pictures of the buildings and area, she notices a blonde-haired lady in sunglasses watching them, but when she tries to get close, she drives off at speed.
Suspicions are kindled but put aside quickly as Libby and Connie settle into a new school building and bedroom on the top floor. Libby thinks only she and Connie are sharing, but they are soon joined by Anastasia, who is quite brash and seems boastful of having been to NY many times and knows all the best places. Libby is not amused and feels instantly pushed out as Connie and Anastasia bond instantly, and she is without a pal.
Another new face is Miss Khatun, a replacement teacher who seems very strict and stern and unusually keen on not letting Libby and her friends have fun on their own.
The students get to journey around NY in various arranged and escorted activities, and in so doing, also bump into Eloise and the Count. But something is wrong with the Count, who seems to mix up where he is from. Is it a mere mistake? And was the blonde-haired woman they see whilst in Central Park the same as the one before and following them or associated with the Count?
When Libby follows the Count to return his dropped handkerchief, he vanishes into the hotel basement. It turns out the hotel, the same one in which Eloise lives, is no longer his home, and the management is keen to speak to him about a specific matter.
One thing leads to another, and coincidences and suspicions mount. Libby and Connie join forces, dodging Anastasia, and, along with the boys, investigate what the Count is up to. But they must still persuade Aunt Agatha to let them go places and then escape Miss Khatun. When the Count loses all the funds he has raised for a local charity, Eloise steps in to organise and host a charity auction featuring famous and very expensive jewellery.
That, dear readers, is where I shall leave this review. I hope I have given you sufficient clues about what will come. Suffice it to say, things and people are not what or who they seem. And if you throw in an old adversary or two, and some surprise revelations about Libby’s parents, you have a recipe for lots of fun and guessing.
So, what did we think?
****Spoiler alert**** Don’t read on if you don’t want to know more!
In this third and definitely best adventure yet, we get embroiled in a plot that brings hints and flashes of adult adventure movies of past and present. With chases (through kitchens and train stations), heists, good guys and bad, and some scary underground shenanigans, there is a hearty Big Apple tang for the young mind to sink its teeth into and enjoy.
It is hard to show everything and every angle to life in NY in such a short and pacy story, but I loved the potted vibe and taste of NY that Jo achieved.
In many respects, this seems like a concluding book, with many threads being drawn and tied together. But, here’s the thing, in so doing, it opens out once more and the next adventure is already on the cards. As to who will feature and where it will be set, I’ll let the reader find out for themselves. It does promise a lot though…
So . . . .
Crunch time.
This is a must-have for fans, who I firmly believe won’t be disappointed.
I’ll be there ready and waiting to review this for you. I have it earmarked with the publishers to get a copy ASAP.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, and you don’t have to be in NY to do so, take the Subway, tram, bus or plain walk to your local bookstore. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America.
Mrs H came in and wanted to lie down for a bit. Taking one look she proclaimed with a huff “Take the whole bed up, why don’t you!” Which was a very kind offer, so I did. I did acquiesce in the end and off a slither to one side, legs hanging off the edge as well as the pillow space.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week, an adventure in Middle-Grade Fantasy Fiction.
But first, after enquiries from last week’s post, a quick trip to Upper Much-Mousing for a news update.
Mrs Hudson has been studying her credit card bill and is now eyeing Erin suspiciously.
“I can see that you haven’t ordered them on my card. That is good news, and I dare say we could have gotten a refund if you had, but the postage would have cost the Earth, and they always want the original cardboard boxes that one has just thrown away. And you’re sure you didn’t meet anyone strange on the way back from the village Autumn Fete, maybe someone wanting to swap them for something?” Erin had, one Christmas, been caught out by a rogue Beanstalk Trader who’d managed to secure one of Mrs H’s bottles of mature Earl Grey tea-flavoured sherry in exchange for a miniature beanstalk. The miniature giants, though they may well have been large, poorly dressed gnomes, that had then invaded the garden the following year had played havoc amongst the fruit trees and taken old Ned, the gardener, weeks to trap and then rehome to a tower block in London. The Tower of London, to be precise!
“Absolutely. No dodgy dealers, I swear. He was from the Council. Had a classic pointy hat, clipboard, a card in a plastic wallet and everything. He even left this receipt,” Erin pointed to the rolled-up parchment that, at its mention, unrolled and hovered in the air for inspection.
“Well, that does seem to be all in order,” Mrs H said a minute later, having inspected the red wax seal of the Magic Council Community Service Officer. “What I’d like to know is who volunteered us?”
Erin shrugged and gave her best ‘It wasn’t me’ innocent smile, even though it was her. “Probably got on one of those spam lists after a data leak. I heard Santa left a USB stick down someone’s chimney last year. Anyways, now they are here, I thought we could use their droppings to fertilize my catnip patch.”
“Hmm. I have my doubts Santa even knows what that is. As to giant catnip plants, that’s not going to happen. At the rate they’re eating the lawn and weeds, as well as your catnip, even if their dung was magical, it won’t be recovering anytime soon!”
The words ‘even if’ were not lost on Erin, and she gulped hard and then spluttered. “Not magical. The man from the Council said it would grow ten times the height!”
“That, Erin dear, is why you should always read the small print. As these unicorns are on Community Service, they don’t have any magical powers. Ergo, their droppings won’t be magical either. So, I think the best thing you can do to help them grow is if you go out there and start directing what the non-magical beasts eat. And maybe give old Ned a hand moving the small piles of droppings. Then, you can get them to use those pointy horns to shift the leaves. I don’t want to see you until supper time.”
With a raised eyebrow, Mrs H left the room, leaving Erin wondering if she hadn’t just been done twice and was now doing community service, too? What do you think?
With that, let’s get on to this week’s review of:-
AUTHOR: Chapter book text by Nosy Crow
Script for Television by: Adam Wilson & Melanie Wilson
Story adapted by: Mandy Archer
Based on the UNICORN ACADEMY books by Julie Sykes & Linda Chapman
Cover art by: Lucy Truman
Published by: NOSY CROW
Publication date Paperback:
Paperback ISBN: 978 1 80513 100 7
UK Cover price for Paperback: £6.99
Kindle UK price
Pages: 154
Age range: Chapter book, 7+
Any dogs or cats? No, but there is a herd of unicorns, and lots of surprising magical creatures!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Nosy Crow Publishers for the fun of getting to Read & Review this delightful book at the time of publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Unicorn Island sits in the farthest part of the bluest of oceans, shrouded by an enchanted mist. It is the centre of all magic. It is a place of magical creatures and home to dazzlingly beautiful unicorns, who, along with their riders, help protect the world from evil. It is also the home to the Unicorn Academy, where new and upcoming riders are selected. But they must first be chosen by a unicorn, and then bond with it to bring forth the unicorn’s special and unique magical talent. Only then can the training begin in earnest. Failure to be selected by or bond with a unicorn means they will be rejected from the Academy.
The unicorns and their riders, and in particular, Miles Mendoza and his unicorn, Wildstar, saved both the island and the Unicorn Academy from destruction by the evil Queen Ravenzella. But it cost Miles his life.
But Sophia, his daughter, knows none of his past or true fate. Until one day, she gets an invite to attend the Nuncior Academy. Riding her father’s chestnut mare, Mary Lou, Sophia is by far a brilliant rider for her age. The two work as one and tackle the largest of jumps fearlessly. After a ride on what appears to be a pilotless boat, she arrives at the island. She learns the Academy is, in fact, the Unicorn Academy. She is hopeful she can achieve as she rides well. But she is among some outstanding pupils, like Valentina, whose family began the Academy, or others who already knew that the Academy existed and whose brothers and sisters had already graduated from it.
Dressed in tatty jeans and her dad’s old but much-loved shirt, Sophia is quite out of place. With a good mix of kind but firm and fair teachers and headmistress, the pupils from all walks of society, both girls and boys, are left in no doubt that there are strict rules and breaking them will mean instant dismissal from the Academy.
Breaking the rules or bending them as Sophia might like to think of it as, is not something she can do, and yet she ends up doing it.
When she finally finds a unicorn and is chosen by it, it seems it wants nothing but to slow her down. In fact, it seems the beautiful creature doesn’t trust her at all!
What I need to say now is that soon after, the evil Queen Ravenzella makes an appearance, plotting her escape from a crystal prison on a far-off point of the Unicorn Island that the students are forbidden to go near. And to gain her freedom and wreak havoc on both unicorns and the Academy once and for all, she first needs something, Sophia!
And that is all I’m prepared to say. The magical adventure deepens and takes off, up and down in more ways than one, reaching its tense, perilous conclusion in the closing pages.
So, what did we think?
A high-flying magical adventure that is never short on thrills and spills and a refreshing twist on the magical school stories we have had in the past.
There is an emphasis on learning to not only communicate with but also understand their unicorns. The book strongly supports the values of teamwork and problem-solving. Equally as important are inclusivity and empathy. So many valuable skills to provide for a better non-magical society and life in our own world. We all hope for these qualities, yet are sometimes forsaken later in life.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Any child who has had or ridden a horse will fall in love with this adventure and understand its charm. Timed to be released before a NETFLIX series coming this November, I am sure it will be thoroughly enjoyed by all girls and boys alike.
So, if, like Mrs H and I, you have ridden a horse, or indeed aspire to kindle and/or share in a younger reader’s passion for same, then this is a MUST READ.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please head for your magical book store, a unicorn is optional. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure your heart desires.
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America.
So, I shall leave you with a selfie of me. I’d very kindly offered to help her with the cleaning. I suspect she didn’t quite think I meant this . . . .
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week an Adventure in Cosy Mystery Fiction.
Without further ado, except to say Mrs H is busy wrangling some unruly unicorns that landed in the garden, let’s get on with another FABULOUS cosy mystery featuring felines. Many felines, in fact. With the occasional crazy-about-cats lady, too. And more than a hint of Halloween mystery . . .
AUTHOR: Mollie Hunt
Cover art by: Leslie Cobb, cat artist.
Published by: Independently published
Publication date Paperback: 29 October 2023
Paperback ASIN: B0CGSXLYTP
UK Cover price for Paperback is £11.37
Kindle UK price £4.99
Pages: 257
Age range: Adult cosy mystery
Any dogs or cats? Need you ask with a title like that?!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
Mrs H for spending some hard-earned pension money on this new book by Mollie Hunt, a fellow CWA (Cat Writers Association) member.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
This book does contain some topics that are inappropriate for children. Thus, we rate this book as suitable for adults ONLY.
The plot
But first, a whisker of background info…
As this is the tenth book in the Crazy Cat Lady Mystery series, I will be brief on background details. The book does, however, nicely give all relevant details to enable anyone to pick this up and treat it as a standalone. However, if you read this series from the start, you will get more out of the character development that has taken place over the years. That said, each book is a delight.
Our protagonist is Lynley Cannon, a sixty-something, self-confessed Cat Lady (not crazy) who helps at the Friends of Felines cat shelter in Portland, Oregon. Her family circle is mother Carol, granddaughter Seleia, and daughter Lisa Cannon Voxx. The relationship between Lynley and her high-flying daughter, Lisa, is fraught. Lisa often berates Lynley for not making more of her life. Mother Carol is far more amiable and, at eighty, very independent and outward-going and spends most of her time with her apartment mate, Candy, watching reruns of The Rockford Files and Murder Mysteries. Seleia, with her age gap and as is oft the way, loves her great-grandmother and relates more to Lynley than Lisa.
OK, enough of the family tree and dynamics; let’s get on with the all-important plot!
Lynley passes by a house she calls ‘The Cat House’. With multiple cats in the windows and porch catio, it seems an apt title. Of the owner, there is little sign, though the locals have given her the title of Crazy Cat Lady. With nine cats of her own, Lynley can see why folks might think she was, too. When she sees a flier up for a cat sitter required at the selfsame Cat House, her curiosity gets the better of her, and she takes the job.
It is almost Halloween, and Lynley has been roped into helping Carol set up a stall at The Hawthorne All-Hallows Holiday Festival, taking place nearby in a few days. It’s a welcome distraction from things, the bad news in the world, and even locally, where four young men have vanished from within a corridor along the Interstate 5 (I5) highway between Seattle and Portland.
Seleia will also perform in an updated rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is a move that looks set to change her education and then career path and drive a wedge between her long-time friend/companion, Fredric, who has just adopted an agile, high-scaling and destructive kitten called Tarzan.
The Crazy Cat Lady Lynley goes to work for is a twenty-something lady called Darla, who actually seems, despite an outlandish dress sense on their first meeting, to be anything but. It soon appears, though, to Lynley’s ever-working mind that she may be on the point of becoming a cat hoarder. And if not that, then she certainly needs to understand felines and their needs and behaviours better.
For all that niggling, the cats are all well looked after and have all they could need. It is a point that Humanie Investigator Special Agent Denny Paris, points out. This is brought out by the contrast Lynley finds when she goes to assist Denny with a hoarding situation that has gotten out of hand, and both the owner and the vast number of cats are being affected detrimentally.
The cat-sitting job is vastly overpaid for a few hours of delightful work. But the reason may be innocent. Or it could have something to do with an answerphone message Lynley hears being left that infers Darla is dealing in drugs. Or the strange, unfeline moaning sounds coming from a locked room in Darla’s home?!
The time setting up for the fete takes a turn for the worse when one of the missing men turns up outside the fete, emaciated and wearing nothing but a piece of tarp, and is involved in a severe multi-vehicle accident.
When Fredric goes missing, and Darla arrives home one day with his kitten, saying she was given it by an out-of-area cat rescue, all the threads of the story start to be drawn together with frightening results . . .
So, what did we think?
An immensely pleasurable plot, with multiple strands that all come together for Lynley, though not necessarily how they should, or indeed how she would like, with dire circumstances.
Having read some but not all of this series, I know that Lynley’s feline curiosity and decisions get her into far deeper water than she should be if indeed she should be there at all. These decisions make for great reading (and for screaming out “DON’T DO IT!”). Along the way, certain decisions and perceptions are challenged by the author and sometimes proved or disproved.
This evergreen series is kept such by the variety of the plot lines and the down-to-earth nature, as well as true-to-life interactions between the assembled cast, be they family or friends or foes.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Another hit, and feather in the hat if such were needed to prove quality, for Mollie and Lynley. Whatever format you buy this, Mrs H and I believe this will go down well during quiet times during festivities, weekend retreats to the fireside, or before bed.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please head down to your local independent bookshop. Plenty are out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
If you’ve not seen our review for last week, The Cat Who Solved Three Murders, another excellent adult cosy murder mystery, please follow/click this link.
If you’ve not seen our review for last week, The Cat Who Solved Three Murders, another excellent adult cosy murder mystery featuring Conrad, a talking cat, please follow/click this link.
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America.
So, I shall leave you with a selfie of me taken after a hard session writing this post. Rumours that this was me whilst Mrs H was writing the post are strenuously denied (by me). 😉
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade cosy Adult Fiction. There are some books that we just HAD to read, and this is one of them. Though I have to admit, it crept up on Mrs H, and it wasn’t until the publishers contacted us directly that we knew the launch was impending. Given we haven’t been able to go outdoors due to the torrents of rain and floods, Mrs H and I, got the chores done and nestled ourselves down on the duvet and got stuck in.
LT Shearer is a calico cat and canal boat lover, and both feature, the former predominantly so, in this adventure. There is nothing finer than a mystery adventure, be it a book or movie, especially when we recorded no actual sunlight on our solar meter. So wherever you guys are, this book is the perfect remedy and Sunday or weekend treat……
AUTHOR: L T Shearer
Cover art by: Unknown at this time….
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Publication date of Hardback: 26 October 2023
Publication date for Paperback 20 June 2024
Paperback ISBN: 978-152 909 80 44
Cover price for Hardback £16.99
Paperback £9.99
Kindle price £7.99
Available on Audible. £7.99
Pages: 336
Age range: Adult
Any dogs or cats? But of course, this features Conrad the talking feline.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Charlotte and Team Conrad at Pan Macmillan Publishers for inviting us to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. And to Net Galley for hosting the ARC of the book for us.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we select to read, like, and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their family, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
We rejoin our protagonists, Lulu Lewis – retired Police Detective Superintendent, and Conrad, the calico cat who now shares her life, having decided to wander aboard her canal boat in London. Conrad is a rather erudite cat, rare for being a male calico. And even rarer, possibly unique, in so much that he can talk but does so only to Lulu.
They have arrived at the Oxfordshire country house-cum-mansion of Julia and Bernard, two long-time friends from the days when Julia and Lulu worked on the force. It is the occasion of Bernard’s 60th birthday bash, and Lulu is taking up the invite as an opportunity to catch up on old times with friends she has lost touch with in recent years.
The word ‘bash’ turns out to be a Freudian slip on my part, as on arrival, there is some turmoil in the home; the day before, both Bernard and an insurance broker that was in the home were attacked. The broker, Billy Russell, died when his head was stoved in by the fireside poker. Bernard was lucky to get away with his life, a dented head bruised aye and shock. With the theft of a group of paintings from the room, it seems like the police have a bungled robbery by two people in black and wearing masks to investigate.
But……
Old habits die hard, and Lulu senses that Bernard’s story and the placing of people and timings don’t quite add up. But is it too soon for him to remember clearly what actually happened? And then there’s the break in itself. They clearly weren’t opportunistic and could have avoided the conflict and risk by merely looking through the window. The door they entered by was even unlocked, and yet they smashed the glass. The two beefy men described by Bernard would have been more than a match for Bernard and Billy without resorting to violence. The ‘Modus Operandi’ was also unlike the recent spate of thefts from local and secluded properties. Yet there is an air of amateurishness about the crime. The pictures taken were all, relatively speaking, cheap by comparison to those nearby worth millions.
Lulu can’t help asking police officer-like questions of Julia, who was out shopping at the time. Thankfully, their friendship is good, and they talk things over, but little in the way of new evidence comes to light, or so it seems, from Lulu’s perspective. Conrad, however, on a tour of the house, spots blood on the indoor pool loungers. A fact he tells Lulu about later on.
Both Lulu and Conrad stay the night. The following day, they continue to contemplate and investigate the crime, with Lulu discussing the matter with Tracey, the police officer in charge of the case. With the birthday celebration still taking place, the police support leaves the house, and soon after, the guests arrive. It is also where the next murder takes place. That’s two thus far. This snowballs, and in the thick of the investigation, Lulu becomes a ride-along helper cum consultant to Tracey who is new to the role. Conrad, of course, goes too, riding on Lulu’s shoulders.
It would be remiss if I catually, sorry, ‘actually’ said the who, where and how. Suffice it to say, the pages start turning quickly as the investigation widens and ultimately narrows down the suspects and comes to its dramatic conclusion. A conclusion aided by Conrad stepping up his game and stepping in, so to speak, to foil a villain.
OK, so as to the actual lists of murder victims, subsequent crimes, the investigation and suspects, you will just have to read for yourselves.
So, what did we think?
Where book one set the scene for our characters, personality, etc. (see my book 1 review HERE), book two is very much about the adventure and the crimes. Don’t get me wrong, the new location and crime scene are equally appealing.
There is everything to love about these two adventures; neither seems clichéd, and each is delightfully different (arguably, poles apart) and addictive.
Of course, Conrad the cat has lost none of his magic and is a most excellent foil for ex-Detective Superintendant Lulu Lewis. There are still sage feline replies, but the banter has changed and matured as the two have grown together. One of the great things is how other humans react and interact with Conrad, and how Lulu manages to avert questions about who she is talking to. This does not mean his presence is belittled, far from it.
I have read many cosy mysteries, and the best have a special ‘je ne sais quoi’, the something extra that elevates them from the slew of similar and frankly repetitive stories. This series reminds me of the writings of the late great Lilian Jackson Braun. There is the same air of confidence and quiet style. Of course, the original cat in her book, Koko, could not talk.
I dearly loved the characterizations in this second book. The secondary characters have a depth that, I must surmise, reflects LT Shearer’s observation of life and provides a suitable twist to the plot and our perception of the evidence we are presented and the assumptions we, as readers, make. I do like that.
The plotting works really well, and whilst Mrs H and I always have suspects of our own, I never got the feeling that we knew what would happen to any of the characters. Surprisingly (or not, given the writer’s skill) the story ends with a moral question most would be pushed to answer. Where Conrad and Lulu end up next on their canal boat, called The Lark, is anyone’s guess. I understand from LT that there are another two adventures in the planning.
So . . . . Crunch time.
Without a doubt, it is as masterful a cosy mystery as ever I have read. Ably mixing cosy mystery and detective fiction with a lovely dash of (ex)police procedural.
This is a page-turner that might just have non-cat owners adopting a cat. Those already blessed with a feline of their own may well already be wondering what crime-solving skills they possess.
Whatever your take on cats, we believe this book will have something for the murder mystery fan and make a perfect Christmas present. Heck, don’t wait that long; buy a copy and pass it on!
I, for one, will be cueing up to buy them.
If you’re intrigued – and I hope you will be by this review, Mrs H is planning to do a giveaway from her pension, stored in a very deep and hard-to-fathom purse protected by a large, grump, highland hedgehog.
One commenter on this post will receive a copy of book 1, The Cat Who Caught a Killer.
Only comments received up to midnight Sunday 29th October 2023 GMT will be included in the draw. The winner will need to be in an area covered by Amazon, be able to supply a postal address to receive an Amazon delivery and have parental permission where appropriate.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please cruise down to your local independent bookshop. Of course, a feline on the shoulders and solving a crime is optional, and nothing worse than who ate the last piece of cheesecake or finished the chilled Chardonnay at that! There are plenty out there (both book shops and cats, though I doubt many like Conrad), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, cosy or otherwise, you desire.
LT SHEARER appreciates their anonymity (something we applaud) and doesn’t have an author web page, but is on Facebook as @LTShearerofficial Look for the calico cat and book cover and you’re in the right place.
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America.
I shall leave you with a casual selfie of me. I’m certainly not solving any crimes, but Mrs H says this is as criminally blatant angling for a tickle and some treats as she’s ever seen!
There is no book review this week, as we have no books to read!
Mrs H hasn’t got anything lined up for a few weeks as we (read that as she) need to focus on some home decorating, garden shed building, and pre-winter tidying. All this and doing charity knitting for the local sheep.
Why sheep, I hear you ask. Well, Farmer Clarksin tried a new sheering method. Well, let’s just say buying cheap depilatory cream from dodgy small ads is bound to go wrong!
Suffice it to say, the local WI (Women’s Institute) have a long stretch of knitting ahead of them to make suitable attire for 22 embarrassed ewes. Plans to knit one long scarf to save on making sleeves and buttonholes have now been shelved. Rumour has it Mrs Singh, from Singh’s International Food Emporium, has sponsored some of the whole thing. In exchange, she gets to advertise on the sides. She wisely decided that promoting a new range of condiments, including mint sauce, was a non-starter!
OK, enough of the frivolity, here’s my selfie!
We are joining the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America. To see the other animals in this week’s hop, please click this link.
Any suggestions as to what I was saying or thinking. No prizes, I’m afraid, just for the fun of it…..
Oh, and a huge shout out and Thank You from Mrs H and me to my awesome new doctor, Henrietta. She had been having a very trying day with some felines that had been swearing. Whilst I have been known to have a hissy fit, and get ‘hissed off’, I do not swear 😉.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. This week, we have a tremendous new murder mystery for you. It has nothing to do with the dodgy sponge recipes entered in the Upper Much-Mousing Autumn Show, though frankly, there should be some arrest for the scones that were later in an attempted smash-and-grab
That said, Mrs H’s Victoria Sponge scored a silver and a bottle of Rosehip Gin. She swapped that with Mrs Bradshaws’ third-place non-alcoholic trifle prize of a bottle of 100% proof sherry. Me thinks, I’ll not get much sense out of Mrs H this evening!
So without much more ado, and certainly before Mrs H heads to do the washing up from Sunday lunch, and then falls into a mysterious slumber, here’s the review!
AUTHOR: ALASDAIR BECKETT-KING
Cover and interior art by: CLAIRE POWELL
Published by: WALKER BOOKS
Publication date for Paperback: 5 OCTOBER 23
Paperback ISBN: 9 781 5295 05 818
Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Pages: 303
Age range: 9-12 (and adults too).
Any dogs or cats? Sadly, no. But plenty of onion-based sculduggery!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Walker Books Publishers and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends and students will enjoy.
A quick pre-amble….
This is the second adventure in the series. And whilst we have read the first, we still need to review it. Suffice it to say, both that and this float our boat humour-wise, and we can recommend both. Reading them out of sequence will not spoil the fun, either.
Our protagonist is a very capable 10-year-old, Bonnie Montgomery. Her alter ego is none other than Montgomery Bonbon, the famed French, moustached, beret and trenchcoat-wearing detective. He also speaks with a crazy mish-mash of French and German.
No one has rumbled the disguise or the fact that both are the same height and build, much in keeping with the best superheroes. Bonbon has her own version of Captain Hastings in the form of her sharply dressed ex-icecream seller grandpa, Mr Banks. Forever photographing evidence and clues, he and his still-decked-out van serve the duo as transport for their cases.
The plot
Our story opens with Bonnie and Grampa Banks travelling from their hometown of Widdlington to Odde Island for a short half-term holiday and escape from detecting. Famed for its pageant (and banning of all things onion-based, including Cheese & Onion Crisps) and its windup lighthouse, it seems a perfect getaway. Nothing is likely to happen in the week they’re away, right?
Oh, how wrong they were. Crossing the island’s tidal causeway, they get stopped by the local exciseman and ‘jobsworth’, who insists they have to declare all things onion, by order of the Order of the Golden Fleece! Bonnie’s cheese and onion puffs get flattened with a mallet, and Grandpa Banks is let off with a warning. It was, they thought, rather strange, but then this was Odde Island. They arrive at the famous Leerie Lighthouse only to find it closed after the keeper, Maude Cragge, was found dead, having been blown off the top of the lighthouse during the previous night’s storm. Maude was also the ‘Grand Maven’ of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Not a lady that was liked by many, it seems. The ‘Especial Constable’ on the island thinks it was just a tragic accident, but something about the scene was amiss. But she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Now, I don’t know about you, but if there was a hint of something not quite right and I was a clued-up detective on holiday, I’d do precisely what Bonnie does and go about checking for clues to quell any suspicions. And then, all being fine, I’d go to the beach, build sandcastles, and eat tons of ice cream.
It’s time for Montgomery Bonbon to start investigating! Bonnie enters the lighthouse in disguise and finds a dry, ‘golden fleece’ jacket. Well, it’s more a parker than a fleece. Within a pocket, she finds an IOU to Maude from someone with the initial ‘W’. Where there is evidence, there is a crime, and as Bonbon would say, “The game is afoot, mein ami.”
The investigation that follows introduces Bonnie and Banks to all manner of locals. There’s the smarmy owner of the past-its-best guest house they are staying at, Tobias Waterman. Down on her luck and short of a Manor House, Lady Wallop seems more than suspicious, especially when she was out the night Maude came a cropper and seemingly had no alibi! Then there’s second in command to Maude, Reuben Ribble, who seems far too grumpy and keen for nobody to dig into his affairs.
And what about Maanvi Mallick, Odde Island’s very own once-great reporter who’s not below digging up the dirt and a bit extra for a good story and to be noticed. As to Miss Bunch, she seems to have hidden something, or things, hiding in the school cellar. And then there is Dana Hornville, Bonnie’s classmate, who just happens to have taken a cottage on the island with her mum. The thing is, Dana has discovered Bonnie’s secret persona and might well spill the beans and ruin it all!
The next plot twist comes when one of the prominent characters comes to a sudden demise. Another tragic accident, that try as Bonbon might, he/she, cant make fit murder . . . . but those little grey cells, they are working.
Which is where we shall leave this review.
So, what did we think?
A superb and highly illustrated adventure that will capture the imagination. Fast-paced, there was never a dull page within the covers. The plot is a delight, simple but addictive.
Adults, who may ‘accidentally’ happen to pick this up thinking it’s their latest John Le’ Carrie or the Grisham they had wanted to read on the bus or train that morning, will be suitably amused.
Written by a renowned award-winning stand-up comedian, the text has a definite adult cheeky twist. No rude double-entendre, just skilful appropriate lateral wordplay and humour. Bonnie’s misunderstanding of more adult phrases actually brings a genuineness to her alter-ego’s persona, much like Poirot’s own, how you English say ‘the grasp incomplete of the English, no?’.
Of course, having Bonbon mix German and French phrases is a brilliant ploy and adds to his character. Christie never overplayed Poirot’s quirks; thankfully, this does not happen here, either. Too much of that would be a turn-off, even for kids.
The plot, whilst a typical murder mystery, is skillfully wrapped up with a great setting and a string of dubious and fun/quirky characters who all could have done it. Only by chance did we guess the villain; even then, we weren’t 100% right. In my experience, we seldom get the motives why folks do things. That was the same here, though there were clues.
So . . . . Crunch time.
Enquiring, fun-loving kids will love this well-written, easy-going, fast-paced series. This style of humour does it for us every time. Anything that can amuse Mrs H and me for a week during the stressful clatter of refurbishment works and even raise a smile and a chortle from Mrs H, having seen the debris and dust she had to clear up, is a winner. As Mrs H always says: “Money spent on an entertaining book is money and time well spent.” Fostering good cheer, an inquiring mind, and active reading for later life is always a winner.
Want to buy a copy?
To get an onion-free copy, please head on down to your local independent bookshop. Plenty are out there; each is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
********
Talking of winners, Lone Star Cats are the winner of our Thomas Taylor Eerie on Sea multi-book giveaway. CONGRATULATIONS! If you would like us to redraw the prize and pass it on to another commentor from that week, please do say.
If you do wish the prize, please send us your postal address via a separate comment below. We won’t publish the comment and will delete it after your prize is safely delivered.
After all that detecting, I shall leave you with an onion and crime-free selfie of me. 🙂 🙂
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America.
This is me and my toes looking at you. Or, more precisely, at Mrs H, who had foolishly left the bed in search of a pen and returned to find no spare space.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
This week, we have a real wonder of a book. An adventure that necessitated tons of research. OK, so we researched fish and chips, ice cream and candyfloss on a day out to the beach.
OK, OK, we don’t actually have a beach nearby, so Mrs H set up a paddling pool in the living room and filled it with sand and salted water. She then tied a hanky around her head, and we pretended it was sunny under a 100-watt light bulb bought especially for the day. No expense spared! What we can’t work out is where the donkey, high tide and the crabs came from!
But enough of my seaside ramblings, let’s get on with the review.
Author and interior art by: Thomas Taylor
Cover art by: George Ermos
Published by: Walker Books
Publication date for Paperback: 7th September 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1529 502 138
Cover price for the Paperback £7.99
Pages: 336
Age range: Kids of all ages from 9 and UPWARDS.
Any dogs or cats? Oh YES! The much-loved talking feline character, Erwin, is all aboard for the rollercoaster of an adventure.
SPOILER ALERT
Yes. As this is the conclusion of the series, there will be references to characters, plot and direction, both past and present. In fact, the brilliant cover by George Ermos is a huge giveaway, so I’ll say no more about that 😉.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Thomas Taylor, and Walker Books for giving us an ARC via NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. All artwork is reproduced by kind permission.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, we read for pleasure, and the books we review are those we love and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends and students will enjoy.
Please follow the links below to get the lowdown on the first four hugely successful and thoroughly entertaining adventures.
To get the best from Mermedusa, we strongly recommend reading books one to four first. If you do, so much will fall into place, and these five stories’ true strength and sheer brilliance will shine through in a way that Harry Potter never really did for us.
Hold on a mo! Mrs H has dug five fathoms deep into her most mysteriously capacious handbag and, snatching her purse from the jaws of a rather murderous Highland lobster, agreed to buy from her pension and give away to one lucky commenter on this week’s blog a selection of the stories. The comments will be left open for one week after this post appears, and commenters (who can’t be anonymous for obvious reasons) must be able to supply their address and be in an area covered by Amazon.
So join Mrs H and me for the final time as we head into the Lost and Founders room in the basement under the Grand Nautilus Hotel in Eerie-on-Sea. It is two days before mid-winter, and the tourists have gone. It is the time of year when the Malamander stalks the foggy beach at night . . . ..
The plot
Herbie Lemon, the hotel’s Lost and Founder, stands lost in thought at the bottom of his stairs. In his hand is a stopped and scuffed watch handed into his desk moments earlier, found by a staff member behind a radiator. The hands point to midnight, or so Violet Parmar says, to the moment when some terrible crime befell it and its owner. But why could it not be midday, Herbie asks.
In any event, they have an appointment on the beach to accompany three Americans — co-hosts and sound and cameraman — from the podcasters ‘Anomolous Phenomena’. They intend to visit the area and discover more about the Eerie’s hitherto little-heard-of monsters, the Malamander being but one, proving or disproving their existence in front of a camera. The trio comprise Professsor Newtiss (the alleged believer), Angela Song (the sceptic) and the sound recordist and video guy (whom Herbie names Fluffy Mike). Of course, it is the time of year when the Malamander’s howls can be heard from the wreck out to sea, and it stalks the beach at Eerie, looking for its companion and mate. It is a time when the locals steer clear for fear of what it might do to them in the winter fog that descends.
The foolhardy podcasters head out across the sands at low tide and towards the wreck, which we, the readers and Herbie, feel will end badly – and it does with a narrow escape for the cameraman. Enter Sebastian Eels, Eerie-on-Sea’s villain personified. Yet strangely, he saves the Fluffy Mike from an untimely demise, then stalks back to the town, but before issuing a dire warning to them all. What was he doing out there? These thoughts are forgotten when a howl from the fog drives the party back to shore and a fish and chip supper. And it is there that the professor reveals there is one real monster in Eerie – Sebastian Eels! The Prof wants Violet and Herbie to dig around and get information about his past, precisely what the words on a slip of paper mean. In exchange, he promises to give Herbie details about his past and who he is and give Violet information about her missing parents. They accept the offer.
When our two protagonists are safely in Herbie’s room, they read the piece of paper, which they think has come from Eels’ diary. It says: “When I was only twelve years old, I sold my soul for Kraken gold.”
Now, that sets the scene for what happens next. Well almost. Whilst Herbie, Violet and a deathly sickly Erwin are contemplating what these words might mean, they feel the building vibrate. Not only that, they soon feel it in their skulls, and poorly Erwin is writhing in agony. Just as they are about to pass out, the sound stops. When Erwin tries to flee the room through the window, he turns and bolts the other way, wide-eyed and fur-spiked in fear of what is outside. Flicking on their torch, a monstrous shrieking rattles the windows, sending a monster crashing away.
Giving pursuit to the fearsome Malamander is not high on Herbie’s to-do list, but Violet is off and running, so he has to go along. It is a chase that follows a trail of destruction and screams around Eerie and back to the hotel.
This is where things definitely dial up many notches on the Eerie fear scale. And thus where the story launches into a whole new world, or worlds, of adventure that entails . . . . but let’s not ruin things for you.
What I will say is that it tests our main character to the limit. It makes complete sense of all the eerie goings on from the previous books that have happened over the space of not only the year since Violet arrived into Herbie’s life but decades, nay centuries, before. Mysteries that culminate in the deepest, darkest of Eerie-on-Sea’s secrets. The secret that Eels himself has been seeking for years and robbed, and some say, killed for.
There will be tears, that I promise. There will be catastrophe, loss, and revelations of past evil doings, and not just those of Sebastian Eels. However, we get a whole new look at what makes this rogue tick and how he and Mr Mollusc are linked. Both are quite a surprise.
Surrounded by monsters, when things are at their darkest, and everything is lost, can anyone, let alone Herbie, survive the night? That, dear readers, is for you all to enjoy and find out.
So, what did we think?
I suspect this series will have been described as weird, off the wall, or similar. We have never seen it that way. It is different yet comfortably familiar, or should I say eerily familiar. We can look at churning waters, at wrecks and ageing barnacled piers with their fish and chips shops, and closed amusement arcades at the end and immediately see and thus enter Herbie’s world. How many of us have wondered what monsters, manmade or otherwise, lurk beneath the waves, in the shadows of an abandoned waxworks museum, or stalk through the foggy streets at night in search of unwary folk daft enough to be out late?
That, to us, is literary gold, the magic that radiates from within the best set up books.
Herbie’s first-person narration is a delight and really engaging. As a character, he has always been at the brunt of things, the underdog to Violet’s brash, sometimes wayward enthusiasm. He is overly cautious and the butt end of others’ ire and dislike without knowing why. It was lovely to see how he didn’t suddenly change in this last story. But he does learn and, in his own way, step up even when he doesn’t want to and, for better or worse, make decisions.
This final adventure takes us all around Eerie. We venture underground, over, into and under the sea. Chases abound, as do monsters and the perils. This is nicely balanced by emotional revelations from past and present. It is hard to recall a moment when we weren’t entirely absorbed.
Mrs H and I are lucky enough to read some of the best-of-the-best books out there for our own pleasure and to share with you and prospective buyers around the globe. This closing adventure is, without a doubt, the highlight of the year.
So . . . Crunch time.
Make no mistake, this is a powerful, no-holds-barred tour de force of a conclusion. Everything comes together flawlessly and spectacularly. Nothing is half-hearted. Thomas really has poured his soul into this; that much is evident.
He told me it was tough to write for various reasons. I can believe it with what has been woven together in this finale and the emotionally touching undercurrents and conclusion.
So, middle-grade adventure or not, you’ll not find a better read out there now. And, if you ever wanted to assemble a cast of characters, monsters, villains and heroes, there are none finer, more entertaining, and more frightening than those in Eerie-on-Sea.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy of this book or the series, please head across the shingle down to your local independent bookshop, dodging gulls, Malamanda and creepy guys named Eels. Fish and chips after your purchase are optional, but we think they are an absolute MUST after any visit to Eerie-on-Sea. There are plenty out there, both chip shops and book shops (and likely very few Mermedusa or Malamander unless you happen to be in Eerie on Sea!), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of fishy fun, adventure, mystery, and delight your hearts’ desire.
After all that reviewing, and so much ice cream, I shall leave you with a selfie of not at-all eerie little old me. 🙂 🙂
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America.
This is me looking at you. Or, more precisely, at Mrs H, wanting to know why supper is late. And it better not be anything fishy or with more legs (or tentacles) than me!
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
If you are here for my selfie, please read on down to the bottom of the page.
The latest fun gangster-style story hasn’t quite got itself finished, so there is no warm-up/B-Movie to go along with this 1930s spy adventure.
So, without further ado, please open your mind and enter the world of 1930s France, a place where German spies abound. If you are into fine eating, especially gastronomic cakes to make you drool, you’d head to Paris’s finest bakery Vive Comme L’Éclair.
ALICE ÉCLAIR, SPY EXTRAORDINAIRE! in A SPRINKLING OF DANGER.
Author: SARAH TODD TAYLOR
Artist: BEATRIZ CASTRO
Published by: NOSY CROW
Publication date: 14 September 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 183 994 88 55
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Pages: 272 (approx)
Age range: Middle Grade (9 AND upwards)
Any dogs or cats? Yes, a feline called Casper, who gets more than he bargains, AGAIN!
Yes, some as to wider plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Sarah Todd Taylor, and Hannah Prutton of Nosy Crow Publishers for the fantastic proof copy of this highly-anticipated, delectable book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Our story opens with Alice and her spy boss, Claude, overhearing the apparent demise of a French agent at the hands of Alice’s traitorous uncle Robert. It is the latest in a string of incidents where agents or their locations have been compromised, or worse. Claude believes the theft of a secret map showing the agents’ positions, the incidents and the presence of an American director, Glen Carmine, at the Palace Versaille to make a film are linked. Carmine is believed by Claude to be a traitor from the first war, though he could never prove it.
Somehow Carmine has to be sending snippets of info from the map out to foreign agents. As the current checking of the film production’s post and telephone calls has not proven anything, Alice goes undercover on the film set to keep Carmine under close observation.
When Alice presents some of her delicious macarons to the star of the film, Catrine Belle, she gains favour, a request for daily cakes, and thus access to the set. Unfortunately, Alice has been paired up with an adult agent and new recruit called Pierre, who manages to secure a role on set as Catrine’s personal hairstylist. He, however, does not like playing any sort of part with Alice. It is a conflict that only gets worse and threatens the mission. In fact, Pierre seems eager to get Alice off the set and off the case! But why? Has it anything to do with notes he is seen passing to Carmine, who is doing her best to ignore him?
When Alice is sent tumbling to the gutter to avoid being run over by Catrine’s car, it seems there is another suspect to be watched.
During her spying, Alice discovers a fake vase. Clearly, someone has stolen the original. But with the thief of a clock already fired, is there another thief in the cast and crew? Alice has a plan, and surprisingly it involves a dusting of icing sugar and more of her cake-making skills.
Help soon arrives in the form of an adult, Stella Blythe – Alice’s reporter friend from book two, but not before another attempt on her life which leaves her cold in more ways than one. It seems that the spy, or spies, are on to Alice. Stella was attending a meeting where the map was stolen from and was, as they say, in the frame. Duly freed, Stella intends to find the culprit, who Claude says is at Versaille.
Through her investigations, Alice spots the set designer going out in the snowstorm and handing over something to somebody who soon vanishes from the grounds. Could he instead be the spy?
With clues leading this way and that, will Alice bring the real master spy to justice? More to the point, will she be alive to do it. y the time the film is a wrap?
With only a radio set and a small lipstick-size flare, she sets out on what could be a mission impossible!
So, what did we think?
First, I need to caveat the above by saying I have simplified the plot slightly to preserve a lot of action, adventure and mystery. It is, for want of a phrase, just a tasty morsel of a much bigger, cream-filled, strawberry-topped gateau that is just waiting in the patisserie window with your name on it. No calories, just lots of filling.
I love that in this adventure, Alice is developing as an agent. Trusted by her boss, Claude, she isn’t just a kid with incredible baking skills. Alice has proved her worth as an asset in the service of France and the post-WW1 free world in the preceding two adventures. But, in a primarily male and adult world, she is also very vulnerable. So she fights on a few fronts, both age and gender. I think this great dynamic will appeal to most young readers. And in an age where to do what Alice and some of the characters do was to risk all, the peril we see here is well placed and informed for the Middle-Grade reader.
This is Alice’s third mission, and my, she really has quite a mountain to climb to expose the villains.
There are nice twists and turns, especially as we are never quite sure where the main characters’ loyalty lies. I do like that guessing game.
The joy of the story has to be Casper, the cat, who, in true feline fashion, willingly or unwillingly, gets himself into far deeper hot and cold water than a cat should. I doubt he’ll be going outdoors anytime soon after what he gets goes through.
We have come to expect mouth-watering cakey creations, and this adventure is no exception. They are used to very clever effect throughout the story. I’ll be wary next time I’m confronted with a sizeable multi-tier cake, I can tell you.
If I was to add anything to this story, it would be scratch-and-sniff cards to give the smell of the cakes……
So, Crunch time.
This is an excellent sequel. A super stylish, atmospheric period adventure, beautifully placed inside the Palace of Versailles and its snow and ice-covered grounds, that takes Alice to dizzying, heartstopping new heights and far greater peril.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please sail or saunter down to your local independent bookshop. Of course, a feline on the shoulders is optional. There are plenty out there (both book shops and cats), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
After all that reviewing, I shall leave you with a selfie of little old feline me. 🙂 🙂
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue. If you want to see other members on the hop, just click THIS LINK
This is me and Logi the mouse settling in for a nap together . . . Mrs H thinks I’m dreaming of cake. Me, I think it may have been cake covered in soft icing with layers of cream, and just a sprinkling of danger(ous marzipan mice) on top.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade (and YA) Fiction. And a selfie for those on the hop.
Without further ado, and as Mrs H appears to be stuck in the lotus position and will need freeing up if I’m ever to get Sunday lunch, let’s get the book review underway. . .
AUTHOR: Nicola Davies
Cover art by: Jackie Morris
Published by: FIREFLY PRESS
Publication date: Hardback: 14 September 23
Publication date: Paperback: TBA
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 913102 – 77 – 7
Cover price for Hardback £14.99,
Paperback price: TBA
Pages: 416
Age range: Teen/YA upward
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot, direction, and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Firefly Press Publishers for approving us via NetGalley to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication for you.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
One of the first pages of this book bears the quote:
“The tiger and the sturgeon and the owl are keepers of the forest. Each must speak to each other to keep the forest whole. But owl, who speaks to both the river and the trees, is the greatest keeper of them all.”
It is a quote from an ancient tale that held together a people and a land. It’s a theme that plays an integral part in the story, which, if you read the book, you will see why and understand. Glimmers of this will be apparent from the characters I shall introduce to you.
Owl is a freak; at least, that is what the circus owners and its visitors call him. A boy’s body, shortened legs and a bird’s head, he lives a sorry life. Snatched from his mother’s arms in the forest land of his birth, he and the other animal residents are effectively trapped in the circus owner Majak, and his colossal bear, Karu. Majak rules the beasts, including Karu, by fear. He is using a gift he possesses called Listening. That talent is distrusted by other humans, so he puts his animals’ amazing performances down to his skill in training rather than the pain and cruelty he inflicts by entering their minds and tormenting them into submission.
When the circus’s once proud lioness dies giving birth, Owl rescues the soul-surviving cub from being dumped into the ice-covered lake with the corpses of the others. It starts a great new friendship for Owl and the cub, named Skrimsli, who is safe, loved and cared for, at least for a while.
We are next introduced to Kal, born of a Horse people mother and a Herring people father. He walks the line between the two cultures though he inherited the Horse people’s skill at riding. He is fleeing for his life, dodging bullets. On visiting friends in the small Horse village of Talo, he witnesses two assassins dressed in strange uniforms, setting the scene of a massacre they have just committed on the unarmed village folk. The bodies they place at the location will implicate the Herring folk and start a war. In the ensuing turmoil, the neighbouring peoples of Nordsky and Rumycs sent in troops to officially help the people. In truth, gold, timber and oil were at the root of the engineered war. The people and their lands would be plundered, destroyed and shipped away for others’ benefit.
Kal’s magnificent horse, Luja, with its star-marked coat, stands out too much. It is why he was being chased. As the witness to the atrocity, he is soon labelled the villain, and a bounty is on his head. Arriving at a coastal town, Kal visits his friend Havvity and her baby son, Roko. But he needs to flee when the town comes under martial law. Disguising Luja with paint, he heads to the port to gain passage. Spotting Majak’s circus leaving the dock, he and Luja jump across the water and land aboard, thus joining the circus and securing passage. As the rain starts to reveal Luja’s actual markings, Majak shares a glance with two suspicious and creepy female acrobatic twins.
The circus heads east to the Sand City of Shamanow in Yuderan, a land of sand and hills. It is a land ruled by the Palatine, the Queen of the Desert. Sent as a diplomatic mission by the Nordsky government, it was said to be to cheer the Yuderan people who had suffered severe drought and failed crops.
If Owl thought he could keep Skrimsli safe and away from Majak’s grasp, he was mistaken. Soon enough, when the tiger was big enough, the two are separated. With a steel collar, Skrimsli is to be trained as the centrepiece of the show for the Palatine. But, Skrimsli is not for cowering and can speak into the minds of others. He is curious and wise. His wisdom and growing understanding of his power, body, and mind mean he has an edge that the other animals don’t. So he bides his time pretending to acquiesce to the circus owner’s demands for a very particular and fatal performance he has to give.
Now we come to the third part of this story: the Palatine and her mighty eagle. Given the thrown of Yuderan in preference to her brother, Yalen, there were those that thought she was not fit to rule. The trip she takes was her brother’s idea, no doubt, to make her leave the city, and so leave him the throne. She was to agree to a railway being built across the drought-stricken land. But she knew what would come with it, and it wasn’t good, and she would not sign.
Being a Listener, too, she sent her eagle up to survey the way ahead and her country’s borders. Seeing massed troops and machinery ready at the border, she knew the fate of her country, and her life would be decided at the meeting, or more likely, at the circus that was to perform in her honour.
Disguising herself as a horseback performer, and leaving her lookalike bodyguard to travel on as the Palatine, she joins the circus.
OK, so this is where I absolutely HAVE to stop. The stage is set. The characters I have told you about become embroiled in a power and resources struggle. Some are pawns, others heroes in the making. The journeys they take, alone or in groups, in a world of both machines, sailing ships and horses, will leave an indelible mark on the reader. Murder, assassination, and blackmail play their parts, and much more, both good and bad, natural or otherwise. Love, loyalty and friendship will be found tested to the limit and also lost in the face of the extremes life and nature can throw at them.
So, what did we think?
Never since reading Lord of the Rings, have I felt so attached to the characters, their troubles, their journeys, pain and joys. This is an epic tale, expansive in its atmosphere yet also intimate. It skillfully weaves stories within a story and lives within lives. Each is explored and cherished and brought together in such harmony it sings. A tale that is cleverly as relevant to our world as theirs.
Good books, those stories we pick to review, leap off the page, sell themselves, and make for easy reviews to write. This book was slightly different. It is excellent, without a doubt. It is also far more complex than I imagined and so much more than the superb cover image by Jackie Morris might suggest. There are layers and stories that I have tried very hard to set out in an unbound fashion. I hope I have kept a flavour, in simplistic terms, of all there is. But please do not assume it is simplistic. Visceral at times, maybe, given the characters, but also considered and cold like the assassins.
Finally, I always feel that my reading time has been well-spent with a book like this. I have been entertained. I have dug deeper within myself than I realised at the time of reading to make comparisons with our world, and my appetite has been whetted for more.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Anybody wishing to spend a few days with a marvellous piece of writing with characters (be they human, tiger or bear) far greater than the pages in which they abide, with thought-provoking undertones to add to the layers of imagery, should consider this book.
This is the second book within this realm. But it is a prequel to the much acclaimed The Song That Sings Us and features the origins of Skrimsli, who appears to dominate in the first book published. I have not read The Song That Sings Us (though it is on my list), but I feel/understand you could probably read either first. But given a choice, I’d take Skrimsli as my starting point.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please sail, horse ride (saddle and acrobatics optional), or prowl down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
After all that reviewing, I shall leave you with a selfie of little old feline me. 🙂 🙂
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue. Follow this link to see what they and other bloggers on the hop are up to: https://thecatonmyhead.com/catio-two-fur/
You can see Mrs H’s meditation cushion to the right. Frankly, she’d be better with one twice the size as it takes her ages to get up after a session….. Me, I prefer the grey rug. An interesting yet also disappointing purchase from Amazon. Alas, it is thin, and it isn’t at all comfortable for Mrs H to sit on, though the meagre tufts are great fun for me to scratch at 🙂.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
This week are incredibly honoured and happy to bring you the latest and most beautiful adventure from the author of the ‘Marshmallow Pie, Cat Superstar’ adventures, Clara Vulliamy. (To see my review of those fab books click this link.)
This time, she has brought the younger readers the first adventure in a new series featuring a dog and three eleven-year-old school reporters.
So, stopping only for a quick scratch behind the ear and to check the food bowl and water are topped up, let’s get straight into the review!
AUTHOR and ARTIST: Clara Vulliamy
Published by: Harper Collins Childrens Books
Publication date for the Paperback: 3 Sept. 23. OUT NOW!
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 0 – 00 – 856 533 – 6
Cover price: Paperback £6.99
Pages: 114
Age range: 7 – 11
Any dogs or cats? Oh YES! Whilst this book mainly features dogs, Frank the cat does appear.
SPOILER ALERT
Inevitably as this is a short book, there are some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful once more to Clara, who sent me a personal copy of this delightful adventure to share with you all. Clara has also sent us some of the delightful artwork from the story for you all to enjoy.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy. That is our guarantee to you.
The plot
Eva lives with her mum, elder brother, Wes, and younger sister, Macy. The story opens with a bang when Eva’s mum enters their kitchen, stops stunned, and demands to know “WHAT. IS. THAT?” That is the introduction to a scared puppy, who is soon known as Wafer, who Eva has under her chair. Alas, try as she might, Eva can’t hide the fact she has smuggled Wafer in.
Eva spotted the dog alone and scared outside a shop several times during the previous week. Having saved the pup from being run over, it followers her home.
Alas, the landlord does not allow pets. What to do? Well, mum insists Wafer can stay only one night. After that, they will need to take him to a rescue centre. This is where Eva and her two pals, Simone and Ash, get to play sleuths. They run their own newspaper, most aptly called The Newshound. Simone is not so good with interviewing people but fantastic at artwork, and so does the paper’s lettering and illustrations. Ash – they are the cleverest person in the whole world – is the Star Researcher, which leaves Eva as the lead reporter.
Finding out how such a wonderful pup came to be alone on the streets, and who their real owner is, becomes their primary concern and the latest hot article in the making for the Newshound reporters. But whilst Eva’s mum is slowly being won over to having Wafer in the flat, time and luck are rapidly running out.
Can the eager young reporters successfully unravel Wafer’s story? Can they keep Wafer from the landlord’s ever-watchful eyes? And will they get invites to what promises to be a great party but have been excluded from for being slightly different? All this will be revealed in the closing chapters!
So, what did we think?
I have to say straight up that I fell in love with Clara’s artwork from the off. I mean, who could not be captivated by such appealing images of dogs and the characterful situations they and the child protagonists find themselves in and investigating. They are on almost every page, ranging from full page to title sequences.
The images are but half of this review. The storyline is both compelling and fun, as well as displaying diversity in its lead characters, one of whom is non-binary. It rewards the young reader with healthy, balanced world-building, adventure, a pinch of mischief, and a wonderful message about caring for and the conscionable approach to adopting pets. Top Marks, and a few weepy eyes, all round.
So . . . .Crunch time.
For most adults, this will be a speedy, enjoyable read. But I think this will be a perfect book for a read-along at home over a few days or in schools to engender cognisance and discussions of broader issues whilst bringing a smile to the face. So, without a doubt, an absolute must. It’s as simple a recommendation as that.
To get a copy, please do choose your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
The winners of our GIVEAWAY prize of a copy of Michael the Amazing Mind Reading Sausage Dog are:- The cool dudes at Brians Home blog, and all the guys at The Oceanside Animals blog. Congratulations to you both! If you will both please leave us a comment (which wont be published) as to where you want Amazon to send your copy of this book.
After all that sleuthing and doggy delights, I shall leave you with a selfie of little old feline me. 🙂 🙂
We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue.
No stories this week as Mrs H is having terrible hay fever and has run out of her very special, imported and hyper-expensive natural remedy. Personally, I thought you could get the extra-mature sherry from Mrs Singh’s Hypermarket . . . 😉
Anyways, on with the selfies!
Coming Soon is a book review of a truly magnificent Teen/YA SciFi/Fantasy Adventure called SKRIMSLI by Nicola Davies. It is the second book set in a world where animals and humans can communicate by entering each other’s minds. If you have read the first book, an award-winning modern classic called The Song That Sings Us, this is very much for you. Even if like us you haven’t, don’t worry, as they can be read apart. We are halfway through this and adore it.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. If you are here for a Sunday Selfie, please head to our Blogger Site.
Without further ado, let’s get stuck into this week’s adventure.
AUTHOR: Hannah Durkan
Artist: George Ermos
Published by: Hachette Children’s Group
Publication date: Paperback, 6 July 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978 1 510 11185 1
Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Available on Kindle at £4.49
Pages: 304
Age range:9+
Any dogs or cats? No. Well, sort of.
SPOILER ALERT
YES!Lots of spoilers as to Book 1, and some as to the cast and plot direction of Book 2.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Hachette Children’s Group and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated sequel before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they and their children and friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
This is the second book in the series and picks up shortly after the events of the first. Whilst I didn’t review Book 1, Seina Starborn and the Skywhale, on this blog, I did on the NetGalley review site. That review is copied here for you:-
I was not entirely sure what to expect from this adventure but soon found myself lost in the thick smogs of a dystopian world of contrasts. Rich and poor – Aboves and Belows, spend lives and indeed continents apart from each other. They only meet at the smog line or when one is a servant or employee to the other.
Whilst the rich cruise in airships or the famed hotels built on the backs of colossal living sky whales up in the upper atmosphere, the poor work in smog and can only dream of escaping.
Zeina Starborn, 11year old daughter of an airship engineer, is lucky. She lives with her father in his workshop on the 50th floor of the Willoughby Towers and gets to see the airships and clear skies. She dreams of voyaging beyond her daily life spent in the smog and being like her heroine, the famed adventuress, Vivianne Steel. She also desperately wants to travel by airship and visit the Willoughby Whale, the largest and most luxurious of the celebrated sky whale hotels. The hotels built on 'tamed' whales' backs cruise in the upper atmosphere and visit the sights of the four known continents.
When Zeina literally bumps into Jackson Willoughby, the son of Lord and Lady Willoughby, the owners of the biggest and grandest of all the sky whale hotels, the Willoughby Whale Hotel, the adventure starts to weave itself into a series of events that make Zeina's dream become a reality. For Jackson, who doesn't really know his parents, just wants to keep his feet firmly in his earthbound velocycle, it soon becomes a nightmare. For both, there will be lessons in trust, friendship and the values that matter.
Crammed with delightfully tense, murky and high flying, suspense-filled action and adventure, this has plenty to involve the active mind. A plot filled with pirates known as Smog Rats that terrorise the airships and the rich in the floating palaces to spies and those with more deadly plans had us guessing to the end.
An excellent read. And one to provoke discussion at home and in the classroom.
All that said, let’s get on with this adventure, and it IS one heck of a ride!
Zeina and her father now work alongside the Smog Rats, which we have now discovered are fighting the tyranny of the Aboves and freeing all the Sky Whales from the abdominal diabolical ‘STAN’ systems that hold and control these sentient beings against their will to become mere means for floating hotels.
Jackson, the now orphaned son of the creators of the STAN system, won’t rest till the last whale is freed. With Vivianne Steele and his uncle Hamilton now dead, he wants to fight with the Smog Rat crews, who are the freedom fighters of the story. But it has been months since their ship, the Nightjar, was sent into action, and Jackson and Zeina are kept back from the front line.
Zeina helps her father invent devices for the cause, but she, too, wants to be doing other things. Her latest machine, to create clean energy from the sun, is stalled as she can’t rest till some other friends on a mission return home. Jackson’s stress isn’t helping matters either!
When the Nightjar’s sistership, the Osprey, returns with their friends, including Prince Katu, a Kotarth prince, it has a new passenger, an Above, called Nedra. A one-time thief and master of disguise, she escaped being a prisoner in the Above mines and now seeks refuge with the Rats, Zeina, and her friends. Katu brings a secret message for the fearsome Captain Parr, who is in charge of the Nightjar. It is a mission to seek an alliance in the Northen lands with the new King of the Feln.
They are a race of huge bearlike beings, warriors, but also guardians of the Sky Whales in all their forms. The meeting will take place in the Glacial Palace at the time of the Equinox celebration.
If the Katu and Parrs negotiations succeed, an alliance between the Feln, Kotarth and Smog Rats would be sealed. The Feln ruler, known as the Emerald King, is keen to see Zeina’s gadgets, especially the solar power unit, which promises clean energy, so very different from the pollution smog energy of the Above.
But, things are put at risk when an anonymous reporter for the Smog Rats, called Pseudonym, reveals critical and sensitive information that annoys the King. So much so, the King decides that unless Captain Parr finds and turns over for trial and punishment, Pseudonym, who, from the information disclosed, must be a part of the Smog Rats crew, the treaty and effectively the tipping point in the fight against the Above’s, is off.
Through it all, Jackson, who has been forced to go on the mission instead of rescuing Sky Whales, is seething, which spills over into his actions along the way.
When they head to the meeting by sledge rather than airship, the crew and friends realize something isn’t quite right in the land of the Feln, and their journey across the thinning ice becomes perilous.
When suddenly the King vanishes along with Zeina’s new gadget, the whole book and adventure explode into the most daring of life-threatening cliffhanging adventures.
Which is where I have to say goodbye. Rest assured, dear readers everywhere, the thrill of an action-packed movie awaits the imagination.
So, what did we think?
This sequel goes above and beyond. In fact, it voyages to a whole new level and new continents in pursuit of adventure. And my, has Hannah come up trumps!
An epic, edge-of-the-seat adventure in a world akin but deliciously different to Lyra’s from His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, but geared squarely BUT without limitation to Middle-Grade readers. Everything to love and marvel at!
The writing is bold, pacy and engaging, with twists and turns, betrayals and surprises aplenty. It is also super relevant to our lives, dealing with pollution, corruption and the broader global impact of actions and greed.
I can’t add to that, as there are heaps to enjoy and take on board with this adventure. We both gasped at the concluding chapters and then Mrs H had tears, followed by a cheer towards the end.
I may just have said too much there, but let me tell you now, the adventure was one I wish I could have been a part of!
As I sometimes say, how Hannah can raise this already very high bar, I don’t know. I, for one, will be queueing up to read and review to find out.
So . . .
Crunch time.
One to treat the adventure-loving Middle-Grade reader in your family or even in yourself!
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please DO NOT take a Sky Whale! Take a gentle stroll or even cycle, to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire. If you are taking a skyship, please remember to park sensibly!
Hello, and welcome to my Sunday into Monday Book Review and Selfie featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
This week we are proud to host the final, tail-wagging leg of a Book Tour for this new kids’ adventure featuring one determined Sausage Dog called Michael.
Before we do the honours, let’s just nip over to Upper Much-Mousing to see what Erin is up to . . . .
“What are you doing, dear?” Mrs H had just entered the Manor House’s library room. She held a tray with Erin’s mid-morning snack and a brown card-wrapped package. It had been delivered by No Brakes Home Delivery Service, an offshoot of Mrs Singh’s ever-increasing attempts to diversify her corner shop empire. Sadly, the name lived up to the quality of Farmer Clarksins’s old Land Rover, which Mrs Singh had salvaged from the village pond after a late-night revel had gone awry.
“I’m practising my clairvoyance, Mrs H,” Erin replied, taking her paw away from her temple.
“Are you any good?” Mrs H’s raised eyebrow reflected the scepticism she had come to expect from Erin’s numerous and failed endeavours, no matter how well-intentioned. There was always a first time, though; she decided to put her companion to the test. “Hmm. Well, tell me what you have divined so far?”
“Well, for starters I knew you were going to come in here at this very moment. And that you’d have a book wrapped in brown.”
Mrs H rolled her eyes and sighed. “Hardly a surprise given it was delivered by the courier, earlier and I ALWAYS bring your snack and post at this time. But go on, is there anything else?”
“Well, I knew you’d roll your eyes and say that.”
“I always say that, dear.”
“I knew you’d say that too. And if you don’t believe me, I wrote it down on this piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope I posted yesterday.” Erin pointed to the small white envelope sticking out of Mrs H’s apron. “Go on, open it.”
Mrs H did just that and raised both eyebrows in surprise. “Almost word-perfect, Erin. I am almost impressed. Tell me, though, what is in the package?”
“Hang on.” Placing a paw to her temple again, Erin closed her eyes and gave a somewhat constipated look that had Mrs H quite taken aback. “It’s coming through. Yes, it’s a free book about sausages. No. No hang on, it’s about a dog made of sausages. No, drat. The mist is clearing now and I see the name Michael and an amazing adventure.”
Mrs H delved into the cardboard packaging to reveal a red-covered book with a Dachshund on the cover. “Most impressive, dear. But tell me, how much would this morning’s special delivery cost. If it hadn’t been free that is. If you get it right I’ll let you off your chores. Wrong, and you’ll have to help me sort out my chores. How’s that sound?”
“Easy peasy.” Erin strained again and let out a low meditative chant. Her eyes snapped open, and she smiled. “It is a snip at only £6.99 from all good bookshops.”
“Sorry dear, but that is incorrect. It actually cost £699 plus a hefty tip to the courier so he can have physio on his back.”
The smile on Erin’s face disappeared instantly.”What! It can’t be. The price I paid on the site was £6.99.”
“Ahha. Got you. The price of a book may be £6.99, dear, but the price for 100 copies is one hundred times more. I think you have been, how they say, rumbled. Fortunately, I have spoken to the publisher and they will take back ninety-eight copies and credit my card.”
“Oh. Well, I guess I need to practice some more then, Mrs H. Still look on the bright side, at least you don’t have to carry them to Mrs Singhs to post back.”
Mrs H smiled. “That is one blessing for sure, dear. YOU, however, as part of your chores will be doing it. I’ll get the pony and trap ready and you can take her and the surplus books back to Mrs Singh where you can help package them up. Then you can do the shopping” With that, Mrs H turned and strolled out of the room, leaving Erin wide-eyed, stunned and wondering how her scheme had gone so terribly wrong. Which, of course, Mrs H had known all along it would, and that wasn’t down to mind reading!
And now, on to today’s main feature, the book review, and the star of the show, who really does have a talent.
This week we have a rather delightful dog called Michael, who discovers his very own superpower, which he hopes will raise him to star status . . .
AUTHOR: Terrie Chilvers
Artwork throughout by: Tim Budgen
Published by: Firefly Press
Publication date for the Paperback: 8 June 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 191 544 4134
Cover price for Paperback: £6.99
KINDLE price: £2.79
Pages: 182
Age range: 6 to 10
Any dogs or cats? Lots of super-talented dogs.
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Graeme Williams, and Karen of the Firefly Press Publishing Team for inviting us to host the final day.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Michael is a young and ambitious Dachshund. He lives in Snuffles-by-Sea, in a house he inherited from his Aunt. He is a sausage dog who just knows he is destined for fame and fortune. A superstar in the making. The only thing is, he doesn’t know what his ability is. The most famous dog in the town is a Chocolate Labrador called Susan, who won the talent show for balancing peanuts on her nose. Michael knows he can do better. But it isn’t until he is in the park one day that he discovers what he is good at. He hears a nearby dog talking to himself about his new fav stick. But when Michael looks, the dog, Stanley Big Dog, has his mouth full of stick. The penny drops and our hero realises he can read minds. But to prove it isn’t a one-off fluke, he enlists Stanley to help him practice mind reading.
One thing leads to another, and Michael and Stanley enter the Snuffles-by-Sea talent show, where the star is none other than Susan. Things don’t go as planned; Priscilla the Pug calls Michael out as a fake! When Michael cant read Priscilla’s mind, it seems to the audience her allegation is true. But Michael knows it isn’t, and for some bizarre reason, a pug’s mind is unfathomable and unreadable. Nonetheless, still determined to be a superstar, he calls a meeting in the local cafe called the Pork Chop Café. Quite by chance, Stanley’s Uncle, Humphrey Huge Dog, is in town. He happens to be on the hunt for new talent for a review show in Hollywoof, no less.
Now it’s fair to say wheels start to turn, and before too long, Michael, aided and hindered by Stanley, are embroiled in attempts to get to Hollywoof, where they hope to find fame and fortune.
Whether they succeed and how much misunderstanding, chaos, and destruction ensues, I’ll let you, dear readers, find out for yourselves. Believe me, when I say I wasn’t quite expecting the grand showdown at the end. And who knew balancing peanuts on one’s nose was such an art. Not I for sure, but then I am just a cat.
I love the concept of creatures set in their own human-like worlds, tackling human-like desires, emotions and situations. Not giving anything away here, but Michael has choices to make and rejection to face. Michael learns about more than just seeking stardom. How he rises to the occasion, or otherwise, is well dealt with.
Life’s lessons are always better told and explored through a fun medium, which this book ably does.
The message is clear that each of us has an important part to play, and nobody is an island.
I enjoyed the double act of Michael and Stanley Big Dog. Stanley reminds me of all the happy-go-lucky big dogs out there who get singularly focused on sticks and their food and who sometimes come up short in the good sense department. In fact, which of us can’t point to dogs we know that act just like the characters in this book and make us smile and love them even more for it.
So . . . . Crunch time.
A fun, easy-to-read adventure delightfully illustrated by Tim Budgen that will definitely appeal to the younger reader.
So, if you want a little something different, something to share over a weekend or a long trip, then Michael, the Amazing Mind-Reading Sausage Dog is for you. But whatever you do, don’t leave the sausages lying around!
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please head down to your local independent bookshop. Sticks spangly waistcoats and balancing peanuts are optional. There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
But hang on a mo, we also have
***** A GIVEAWAY *****
Sorry, not pork chops this time. Mrs H has checked her pension for the month and decided that two lucky commenters will each receive a copy of this as a gift from Mrs H and me, subject to there being a delivery service from Amazon to your neighbourhood!
Two names will be pulled from Mrs H’s biscuit tin on Monday 19th June 23, so don’t delay.
We are joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures, Dogs and Cats, from across the pond and around the globe.
Hello, and welcome to my weekday Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
Now we don’t often get to do Tuesday posts as Mrs H has her car mechanics classes on a Tuesday, and I visit the elderly of the parish taking various gifts. And before you say anything, I don’t present them mice. I stopped that after the live one I gave Mrs Hubbard ran up her . . . . well, least said about the damage to her mobility scooters brake lines the, the better.
But this week is half term so, rather than let this galaxy-defining adventure review be delayed, we are proud to present to you a possible cure for all those boring science lessons . . . .
AUTHOR: Dom Conlon
Cover art by: Heidi Cannon
Published by: UCLan Publishing
Publication date: Paperback is OUT NOW!!!
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-915235-38-1
Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Pages: 227
Age range: 7 to 12 and upwards
Any dogs or cats? Alas no, but the occaisional alien crops up!
SPOILER ALERT
A few as to direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to UCLan Publishing and Graeme for asking if we’d Read & Review this epic science-driven publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our galactic readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
Matilda Musk is a Middle Grader girl passionate about science, learning and snacks. In her first book/journal, Meet Matilda Rocket Builder, Matilda wanted to build a spaceship. How difficult could it be? she thought. Well, apparently, it is VERY DIFFICULT indeed. But that didn’t deter Matilda. As she said in her journal, ‘difficult isn’t the same as impossible’.
She’s still working on that project, but undeterred, she has decided in the meantime to try something simpler: – preparing to meet alien life!
To do this, she enlists her family and friends to help explain and demonstrate – prove or disprove the facts she has researched. She’s certainly not going to let a few lightyears stand between her and her goal, especially if she has a fridge full of snacks for the journey!
What she learns, and whether she gets to travel to another planet, well, only the science and reading to the ending will reveal.
So, what did we think?
Behind every good space adventure is a team of scientists solving the real problems of the universe and space travel. But to understand where we are now, any researcher worth their space dust needs to know where we came from and where we and the universe in which we are a mere speck are headed.
This excellent book explains it all through the eyes and journal of Matilda Musk, a schoolgirl science fan determined to boldly voyage into space to meet alien life, assuming she isn’t in the library or in bed.
As Matilda learns the history and gathers information on what it takes to boldly go forth, she also discovers the magnitude of the distances involved and the science behind man’s knowledge.
Matilda deftly leads us through it all, told in easy and fun chapters in a logical kids’ way. The brilliant artwork throughout the book adds just the right touch to demonstrate some of Matilda’s research and also some of her wilder ideas.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
I have yet to read a more engrossing science-based adventure. It is a delightful narrative that skillfully weaves science, galactic history and humour into one easy-to-enjoy and understandable volume.
We loved this loads, though I’m guessing you know that already. Mrs H is almost as ancient as our galaxy, yet has no head for figures unless they involve cake recipes or fine-tuning our Brough Superior motorcycle. But even she was utterly enthralled by the story and science content.
This shows that the book is spot on for any and all, especially budding space travellers, Astro scientists and curious kids (of all ages).
So, definitely, a book to buy.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please launch yourselves, minding asteroids and comets, to your local independent bookshop. I’m sure there are plenty out there, in this galaxy and elsewhere, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of science – fact and fiction, mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. If you’re here for the selfie, please scroll down!
Our book review this week is from the brilliant Irish writer, Sinéad O’Hart. As you may recall, we reviewed her recently released book, The Time Tider, a few weeks back. This adventure is quite different, though no less exciting for the younger reader. So, without further ado, gather your nearest and dearest together beside a fire, have a hot drink to hand, and settle in for an adventure into myth and legend.
AUTHOR: Sinéad O’Hart
Cover art by: Manuel Šumberac
Published by: Bonnier Books UK.
Imprint: Piccadilly Press.
Publication date for the paperback: 28 September 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1800 785 090
Cover price for Paperback £7.35
Kindle Price: £4.74
Pages: 192
Age range: 8 upwards
Any dogs or cats? A very much Not Cat kind of cat called Catshee. More on that in the story.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Sinéad, Bonnier Books/Piccadilly Press Publishers and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this exciting new release before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.
The plot
Ireland is a land of mystery, magic, legend and myth. Where time holds the truth of gods, witches, giants and all manner of creatures that helped shape their past and traditions. But the magic wanes when the magic is no longer passed down through tales, recalled around the fireside and man’s destruction of the land and old ways through ‘progress’. Dangerously so, and enough that something begins to awaken from deep within the earth, aided by a witch.
In the (fictional) town of Carriganawn, Young Rose Darke lives with her parents and twin younger brothers. Late one night, hearing a strange sound outside, she ventures into the garden, armed only with her mother’s best wooden spoon.
Before her, a large ice giant forms from the falling hail. Voiceless, it gestures she should take a reddish, oval stone from its grasp. Having done so, the strange yet unthreatening giant leaps into the sky and is gone, swallowed into a peculiar darkness.
Confused, Rose returns to bed and thinks it is a dream. But waking to find the stone is real, along with her mother’s wrath for ruining her spoon, she wonders what is going on?
Rose won a full scholarship to a posh Grammar School but comes from a poorer but good family who happens to live on a council estate on the other side of town. This fact is made clear by Emer, a girl in her year who makes her life less than good. Unfortunately, Rose can’t retaliate or cause a stink as her dad is employed by Emer’s father. It would go badly for them all if he lost his job.
Rose takes a different way to school to avoid Emer and her friends, passing along a lesser-used road with shops. Here she finds friendship in the unlikely shape of the elderly lady, Nellie, who owns a sweet shop, and Gracie, an equally older gent who owns the cobblers shop on the opposite side of the road.
Now, the stone is known to Nellie and Gracie, who have much to share with young Rose. When she ventures into their parlour for a cup of tea and to pass some time and share her woes, she is soon shown a hidden world beyond the ordinary facade of the sweet shop. The two elderly folk are not mortals but beings from long past whose job is to protect the Silver Road, the magic network of threads that crisscross Ireland, its magical lifeblood if you will. They also protect a large and mythical cauldron inset into a mound in the green garden beyond the back kitchen door. The cauldron can grant wishes if it so chooses.
But the adventure soon takes off as the purpose of the stone gifted by the Ice Giant is revealed to Rose. In fact, her destiny is to be a hero and wield the stone’s destructive power for good.
When the stone is lost and found by Emer, things worsen, and Emer falls under its power.
Through these events, the heatwave that is affecting the town is worsening. It seems the witch is the cause, and the heat is only a taste of the destruction to be unleashed when she awakens the monster that is her beloved and imprisoned husband. The light from his evil eye will scorch the earth.
With the power in the Silver Road weakening because of human kinds’ rape of the land and development, Nellie and Gracie’s powers are weakened.
With the stone lost and only a magical cobblers hammer in her belt, Rose sets off to stop an impending cataclysmic event and evil arising from the dead and depths of the mythology.
I have to let the reader discover what happens next, the surprises that follow, the support Rose gets from unlikely quarters, and the fights that take place.
So, what did we think?
Mythology and legend rewoven and told for a modern younger audience with aplomb and zest worthy of the first story weavers. I dare say Tolkien would have been impressed also!
We are not great lovers of complex names or convolutions of historical epics, but thankfully this book has both a prologue that sets the scene and an appendix to enlighten us further as to characters and their place in history, or in the case of where the author has created them, their inspiration.
The action takes off about halfway through, and I found it hard to put down, especially once the not cat becomes involved and we reach a sort of gathering of forces.
Which all makes me think of the Lord of the Rings. The eloquence of the introduction of characters, their journey, wants and needs. Friendships and enemies. Surprises and, to a degree, heartache.
We loved the cover, too, the relevance of which you’ll discover once you read the story.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
A book for lovers of Irish and Celtic mythology, as well as an excellent wholesome adventure. With some environmental undertones as well as those of friendship and responsibility.
This ticks all the boxes, and I can’t imagine any younger reader not wanting to read more about the actual characters that have lent themselves to this story in one shape or another and to read similar books.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please follow your own Silver Road – mindful of ogres, giants, ghosts and huge stags, down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there; each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mythology, factual, magical, fun and adventure story you desire.
We are joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and around the globe.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review, today featuring Adventures in FELINE Fiction.
But first . . . .
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ We have WINNERS! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Mrs H has held the draw for copies of the Forgotten Garden, the fab new book by Sharon Goosling. The winners were decided by observing the numbers on the side of 15 of Farmer Clarksin’s sheep and then seeing which were the first to escape the field.
First through the hedge was No. 32, Doris, which means that Peachy, Stippie, Angel Binky and Granny of the Angelswhisper2011 blog in the Netherlands, won the first copy of The Forgotten Garden by Sharon Gosling.
Second out the field was No. 7, Agatha, who exited the field by a rather deft shimmy under a gate. This means that Tama-Chan, Benny, Momo, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Hotesse & Heloise of The Poupounette blog in Perche, France, win the second copy of The Forgotten Garden.
Congratulations to you both. Please leave a specific comment with only your addresses. We moderate all comments so this particular comment will not be posted.
Now, on to the review!
This week we have a delightful sequel. One that is all cat. Well, cat-centric, with entertaining shenanigans from squirrels, crows and a parakeet!
Some as to plot direction and characters, including preceding adventure.
Thank you to…
I am exceedingly grateful to Mrs H for buying this book for me to Read & Review. It was on my to-buy list, and she bought it for me.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.
The plot
We join Freddie and Gemma at home in the UK. Life for them both has become better since Gemma’s attitude has eased. She is learning from reading books that life can be different. She is also learning from Freddie’s Buddhist ways that humans are not the monsters she thought. She used to blame humans for stealing her kittens and was exceptionally bitter as a result. Now, she is more accepting of what happened. At least she doesn’t now bite the hands of Mary and John, the humans she and Freddie live with.
It is, as the book so wittingly describes and titles each and every chapter, ‘today’. After the humans have headed off to work, Freddie heads off to the local park to see his squirrel friend, Rufus. There is a conflict between a large wasp colony that has made its new home in a tree and the local council. For the sake of people being stung, they intend to chop down the tree to drive the wasps, who all happen to be called Wilf, away. With arbitration, Freddie brokers peace, and all ends well.
Not long after, Freddie has some visitors. A group of crows from Holland, related to his local crow family, come in search of Freddie and Gemma obtain to obtain their services. Unbeknown to the cats, their fame has spread globally via YouTube videos of the antics in the park and catching a thief at the local library.
Should they choose to accept it, Gemma and Freddie’s mission is to travel to Holland to help the Dutch crows and Europol catch various ne’er-do-wells. In the process, they hope to unravel a large web of and bring down a far greater number of villains in and outside of Holland. The list is daunting: Mafia, human traffickers and diamond smugglers must be followed and brought to book.
It will mean travelling when their humans are away on holiday, and, for Freddie, going undercover with hair colouring (washable) so he won’t be recognised.
To add to the tension, when the two arrive in Amsterdam, they learn a contract has been put out to get them!
With mild-mannered and super-efficient Miep as their guide and carer, will the two dynamic cats, with their special rapport with creatures and humans, save the day and, more importantly, save themselves?
To find out what happens and get a wonderful feel for the majesty and culture of the city that is Amsterdam, you’ll just have to read on . . .
So, what did we think?
Our Cats in Amsterdam is a thinking cat and persons book, though that isn’t to say it’s not fun or humourous; it most certainly is.
Starting shortly after Freddie’s last adventure featured in ‘Diary of a Buddhist Cat’ (see our review HERE), we soon are into the thick of a mission that follows as much Freddie’s and Gemma’s personal development and enlightenment as it is the defeat of global ne’er do wells and villains. But these are villains we will all have heard of, broadly, in the news, which makes it more relevant and appealing.
Throughout, Gemma and Freddie discuss the requested selection of literature they have been left to read by their thoughtful Dutch hosts. The book titles and authors will, I am sure, be familiar to you all. I am ashamed to say I have read none of them. It is a fault I shall be rectifying shortly, as I put an order in for books on stoic philosophy and philosophers.
The book’s pace in parts initially struck me — metaphorically speaking and not that Mrs H was having an autistic meltdown — as slow. But I realised that this was in tune with the delightful atmosphere redolent of Amsterdam itself. A city whose gentle cycling and walking leafy thoroughfares and waterside environ create a different air to the intensity of the London or New York scene we often see in modern literature.
This is an adventure that does not require violence as a driver. However, there is threat and peril on a feline level and underlying tones in the human world, too.
But no tale with these delightful two felines, so very much like humans, would be the same without the antics at Freddie’s local library. The discourse between Freddie, his friend Angela the Librarian, and Roger, her rather scheming and doubting college, is rib-tickling and just perfect.
So . . . . Crunch time.
If you have read the Diary of a Buddhist Cat, this is an excellent enlightening, thought-provoking sequel. A must-have. If you have not, do get that first story under your belt and then read this.
This adventure is once more seen through the eyes of Freddie. It has action scenes – conflict, stand-offs, negotiations and betrayal. We read this slowly but carefully over a week and thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace and underlying message for doing good and enlightenment. The story is not without its surprises, and Mrs H and I are both wondering what will happen next and also wishing for a sequel . . .
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please saunter down to your local independent bookshop (a tulip-lined canalside route would be great but is optional). There are plenty out there, and each unique shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
We are joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and globe.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. Ok, this isn’t actually a Middle Grade book, but is from one of our favourite authors, who happens to have an awesome cat called Newt who follows her around and gets up to all sorts of mischief.
Not unlike me really, but all that is documented by Mrs H in my book. So enough of my preamble and shameless plug, here’s the low down on this rather Top Notch story!
AUTHOR: Sharon Gosling
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: Paperback
Paperback ISBN: 978-1398519176
Cover price for Paperback £8.99
Pages: 432
Age range: Adult fiction with a splash of romance and a whole lot more.
Any dogs or cats? Sorry, not this time, but plenty of gardening.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Simon & Schuster Publishers (and NetGalley) for allowing us to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.
The plot
Our story opens with our lead character, Louis MacGregor, looking out over the Austen-like grounds of Feldspar Hall, a stately home. She accompanies her boss Marianne, a self-serving lady who heads up Boswell Garden Architecture. Luisa loves gardens and plants and has created some impressive ideas, which she sketched on her iPad. It is a pad that her boss takes from her when Caroline, the stately home’s owner, takes delight in the colour scheme and a hidden bower. They are all Luisa’s ideas, but Marianne presents them as hers. It is a life she has gotten used to, hiding her own gardening training and talent away to avoid the pain of better, happier days and a marriage that ended with the death of Reuben, her husband, in a climbing accident.
When Luisa returns to the small townhouse in Carlisle she shares with her soon-to-be-wed younger sister, Jo, she reveals she has had a telephone call from Reuban’s Godfather, Owen.
Owen cares for Luisa and is cognisant of the project she and Reuben wanted to undertake to create a community garden scheme before he died. When he finds he has acquired a block of worthless wasteland in a company acquisition, it seems the perfect chance to kick the long-buried project into action and raise Luisa from her self-imposed drudgery.
The idea seems to end when Luisa declines, not wishing to open old memories and wounds. But, after a rather curt demand from her boss, and with a bit of persuasion from Jo that she really should go; after all, what harm could it do, plus it could be the galvanizing she needs to break away from Marianne, Luisa heads for the derelict land that could be the home of a new community project.
When she arrives at Collaton, a town on the Cumbrian west coast, it is a bleak and wintery wet day. The town was never a tourist attraction. Even in its heyday, it merely served as a place to house the workers of refineries and shipyards nearby. Now, with boarded-up shops and closed pub, it was little more than a ghost town, and the people survived as best they could in a community without a centre. But no, I take that back, for amid the slow urban decay, one man was trying to bring hope to the town’s youngsters. Casimir Pattanyús, Cas to his pals, a teacher by day, runs a boxing club for the kids in the evenings. With only his wage to run the place, it seems there is little hope that the spirit the club engenders will survive another year.
When Luisa’s borrowed car gets a puncture in the gloom, it is Cas and 17-year-old Harper, a bright lass with an attitude, come to her rescue. Well, it is Harper who, with a skill for all things mechanical, gets to change the tyre.
Now, behind the scenes, Harper lives with her 9-year-old brother, Max. A brighter lad you could never hope to meet. He doesn’t really mix with others and has a single-minded focus on his latest hobby. But his current passion of gardening, and lack of understanding, gets him into trouble with the neighbour from whom he’d been taking some fresh bedding plants and compost. She is understanding, but it is wearing thin. Luisa also manages to stop the police from being called when Max tries to take a gardening magazine from the newsagent. It said ‘FREE’ on the cover. To Max, this means the whole magazine is free; else, why would they say it? But of course, the ‘free’ is related to the gift on the outside and not the magazine.
With a drunk father at home, who clearly doesn’t understand Max, Harper looks after her brother and cooks and cares. Given the reputation she has, nobody dares tease or bully Max. Studying for her A-Level exams, helping part-time at the gym, and working at a local garage to earn the money they need to get by, is tough. But Harper has both grit and determination. Never more so when it comes to protecting Max from the nastiness that is the world outside his own.
But there is a downside: she has had to steal small things to help Max. It has got her into trouble, and she is only saved by Cas stepping in to convince the shop she pinched marker pens for Max from that community service at the gym was way better than the police. If the authorities found out about the situation at home, they would be split up. Now that is a heap load of pressure.
When Luisa sees in her mind that Reuben would have taken the plunge, she resigns from Marianne’s employ and takes Owen up on his offer. They will try for six months. If the garden project fails, Owen, who has many contacts far and wide, will ensure Luisa gets a job. It really is a win-win. Better yet, she can finally put Reuben’s insurance money into a project they both wanted to create and not just leave it languishing in a bank account. What better way to honour his memory?
What Luisa needs is to get the garden up and running. A community project first needs the community to come together, see the worth of what is to be achieved, and then get involved. With Harper as an unwilling helper to work off her community service hours on the project, they make a start.
Now, no story would be complete without a villain. This story’s villain comes in the form of one Darren Dixon, recently out of prison and thinking he can make a name for himself for nefarious acts like selling drugs. He is also Harper’s cousin and her enemy for trying it on with her. Worse, he has a grudge against Casimir and is determined to get even, one way or another.
When Darren and his posse of wannabe small-town thugs make a grand entry at the gym where Luisa is holding a meeting to push the garden idea, he and Cas have a standoff. It seems like hollow bravado especially given Cas is still built like the boxer he once was. But the stink of trouble Darren brings is enough to send the few interested townsfolk scattering, and with them, any hope of help goes.
With the main characters assembled, this is where the story takes off. Harper has to make a decision that ultimately spirals out of control. Other characters, too, make choices, the end of which could destroy them or be their making. One thing is certain: come the end of one night not far from this point, nobody in Collaton will ever be the same.
OK, so I can’t really say much more. Suffice it to say we were gripped and not disappointed. As Mrs H wanted me to say, “the pleasure and devil are in the plot weaving to date and what follows.” Whether the community ultimately pull together and the garden built, is for you all to discover. . . .
So, what did we think?
A book beautifully grounded in real-life situations, reflections of what is and could be, and things most of us will have seen or experienced wherever we may live.
Heartfelt and written with a sense of credibility, person and place. It is good to see disabled representation, too, for a key player. Sharon’s gardening passion is quite evident in the text, adding a palpable flavour.
The beauty of this book for us was, whilst we don’t do romantic fiction as a rule, there is so much more going on that the story takes on a larger vista driven by the subplots of Max, Harper, Casimir, and Luisa, which all came together beautifully and dramatically towards the end. And the final chapter is not what we expected either, which is always a pleasant surprise. Mrs H said she had an inkling of things that might happen later when the adventure entered the town’s scrap yard, but that was all.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
This fun, easy read enthraled and captured our senses immediately. Like ‘The Lighthouse Bookshop’, Sharon’s previous and second novel we reviewed last year (follow this link to see the review) it has the same compelling storytelling air.
Not to put any pressure on Sharon’s busy schedule or take time away from her allotment time and cuddles with Newt, her feline companion, but I can’t wait for the next tale, whatever it may be.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please head down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of romance, gardening, mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
⭐️ We have a Giveaway! ⭐️
Mrs H has kindly funded the purchase of two copies of this fabulous book out of her pension & sherry fund. Two lucky commenters will each receive a copy to enjoy, subject to local postal arrangements and Amazon availability.
All you have to do is leave a comment below, and Mrs H will, with my help, select a numbered mouse at random from our virtual hat! Entries close Saturday 22nd April 2023.
We are Joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and globe.
Any dogs or cats? No, but one very delightful bear!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Hannah Prutton and the team at Nosy Crow Publishers for the delight of getting to Read & Review this grand, children’s adventure before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or, as in this case, received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, we read for pleasure, and the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.
The plot
Nuwan is aged twelve. He lives with his parents, elder brother Krish, and younger sister, Priya, in a village in the north of Serendip, now called Sri Lanka, many, many decades ago.
The story opens with Nuwan, and his best pals, Sani and Chathura, admiring the elephants lined up outside the great Library of the North. It seems the key to a long-lost treasure, housed in a statue at the royal palace, has been discovered in the library. It is a cause for a grand celebration. The key will be presented to the Queen after a five-day procession from the library. All the time, the key to be held aloft on the elephant’s back, on display to the villagers en route.
The three want to get close enough to see the great key but can’t. If only Krish were there, as he delivers books from the library to a temple beside the royal palace. He could go in and view the key and tell them all about it.
But Krish is sick at home. Unable to pick up his delivery, the three friends think all is lost. Until that is, Nuwan decides HE will take Krish’s place and deliver the books to the temple. That way, he could legitimately enter the library and look at the key on display before it leaves for the palace. It will also mean that Nuwan can prove he can be as trustworthy as his sixteen-year-old brother and help the family rather than be expected to fail at everything he does.
It is a choice that will prove life-threateningly dangerous and also life-affirming.
When Nuwan convinces the librarian, Mrs Weerasinghe, he can undertake the urgent task instead of his brother. Too busy to argue, he is allowed to collect and deliver the books. And in so doing, he gets to see the key. So now all that’s left is to get the books to the temple. Just before he heads home to tell his parents, he notices another book tucked away. Almost lost between two wooden panels. Adding the volume of poetry to his pile, he heads home.
But when he expected to find praise for his initiative, he was told flatly he wasn’t allowed on the journey. It was, they said, far too dangerous for a twelve-year-old. Despite his protestations that Krish had done it at twelve, he was too unreliable. Later, when nobody is looking, he takes the books and begins his journey to the temple near the Kings City.
Unbeknown to Nuwan, thieves have stolen the real key and hidden it in a hollowed-out section in that same book of poetry. They replaced it with a replica key now heading to the Queen.
In a momentary rest from his trek, inquisitive Nuwan found the key in the poetry book. He quickly realised what it was and that he needed to get it to the Queen or be branded the thief himself. For safety, he has hung the key around his neck.
The head librarian and her husband are quickly revealed to be the thieves when they track down Nuwan as he makes his journey and menacingly demand the key back. In the ensuing set-to with Mrs Weerasinghe, the head librarian, and her husband, Nuhan fleas into a cave. The cave is a place of sanctuary not just for him but also for a bear. And not just any bear; this cave belongs to Karadi, a bear with one white paw and a ferocious reputation.
Now, I could leave this review here; after all, it is a climactic moment. But what follows is worth telling just to get the story really flying. With a twist in circumstance, good or bad will be for you to find out, the key ends up in Karadi’s possession, around her neck!
The story gathers pace and tension from here on in. Nuwan has some lessons to learn along the way, and life and limb are literally put at risk. Whose I shall not say.
Suffice it to add, yet again, Mrs H gasped out loud and had a tear in her eye at various points. I really do think she gets too involved in our reviews 🙂. But it is a good sign that this book hits all the right spots.
So, what did we think?
We loved the preceding adventures, all set in and around Serendip/Sri Lanka. The first was The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, and the second was The Boy Who Met a Whale. The third is The Girl Who Lost a Leopard. Do look them up and have a read.
The action is quick, and the plots, written with vest and aplomb, weave themselves through the land, jungle and oceans to a grand finale. This new adventure (like the others) touches the heart deep down, naturally and gently.
A brilliant, neat, tidy story, and the ability to draw one in to the place, characters, and action that matters.
Mrs H says she would have loved to have these growing up, though they are by no means dated. She thinks the extra magic in such stories comes from the sense of the wild, the creatures and the unexpected that flows through and punctuates all Nizrana’s stories. It is hard not to think of Kipling when reading this, though, without the talking creatures.
It would be remiss not to say how much we love David Dean’s artwork within and for all the covers; it is perfect. I get a real sense of place and time in the image styles and colours. A perfect foil for the stories.
Oh, if you are wondering about the title, well, lets just say for every action there is a consequence and a lesson to be learned.
So . . .
Crunch time.
Without a doubt, this competent series is one to read, share and enjoy.
Want to buy a copy?
Please set out on a journey to your local independent bookshop to get a copy. There are plenty out there (both bookshops and possibly bears, though hopefully not in the same place). Each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire. Of course, a bear in tow is not obligatory and will likely raise a few eyebrows. On the plus side, it will probably shorten the queues at the checkout, too!
A little about the author:
Nizran was born and lived in Columbo, the capital of Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka. Having graduated from Bath Spa University with an MA in writing for young people, she currently lives in Hertfordshire, England with her family.
We are Joining Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head blog for the weekly parade of selfies from all manner of companion creatures from across the pond and globe.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
Whilst there have been plenty of antics going on in Upper Much-Mousing to report on this week, Mrs H has been seriously pre-occupied with serious human adult stuff elsewhere. So, please bear with her on that front.
(If your here for a selfie, please scroll on down!)
This week we have a brilliant story for you. Without further ado, lets go DIGGING FOR VICTORY . . . .
Image Copyright.
AUTHOR: Cathy Faulkner
Cover art by: Harry Goldhawk
Published by: Firefly Press
Paperback Publication date:4 May 2023
Paperback ISBN: 9 781 915 444 110
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Pages: 279
Age range: 9- 12
Any companion creatures? No.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to the whole team at Firefly Press Publishers (and NetGalley) for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication and for allowing us to share examples of the text.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
A little extra info before we start: The book follows diary-like entries rather than numbered chapters and runs from December 1940 to June 1941. And depending on the story’s needs, sometimes the entries skip days or weeks.
The plot
Our book opens on Wednesday, 3rd December 1940.
12-year-old Bonnie (our protagonist) lives with her mum, dad, and elder brother, Ralph, on a dairy farm in the west of England. Ralph, aged just 19, has been accepted to fly for the RAF. The whole family are very proud. Bonnie, though, also wants to be a hero. Why can’t girls and women be heroes too?
With Ralph away, Bonnie’s parents decide to take in, billet, someone from another part of the country. It could be a child or maybe a ‘land girl’, one of the many women to take the place of the men in the fields. The last thing Bonnie wants is a boy, or heaven forefend, a shirker – a conchie, aka a conscientious objector. Nobody wants one of those.
When one Mr Fisher arrives soon after, in RAF uniform, Bonnie is unimpressed. The home’s routine is necessarily changed, but Bonnie is to ask no questions and just do what Mr Fishers wants. But all he does in the day is sleep and read by the fire. So why, she wonders, is he billeted at their dairy farm. He isn’t to help anywhere else or on the farm, and no aerodrome or squadron is stationed nearby?
These thoughts nag at Bonnie, but life moves on. With an extra mouth to feed and less help on the farm, Bonnie gets conscripted to do her bit for her family and country. She has to help DIG FOR VICTORY.
Gardening is not Bonnie’s thing. Digging garden trenches just does not seem of worth. She only did a morning of digging and would have readily swapped the spade for a gun. She wants to be a hero. She wants to be like her brother and not like Mr Fisher, who sits and does nothing.
Rumours start to fly around school that ‘stay at home’ Mr Fisher is a coward or a conchie. Maybe he’s a German spy? Worse, they brand quiet Bonnie the same!
Whatever the truth of it, the taunts by the other girls and boys soon wear down Bonnie’s best pal, Carol. Fed up with herself being taunted for siding with and defending quiet Bonnie, Carol soon caves in to popular childish beliefs, saying that it is possible he’s a conchie.
Now with no friends in the village, Bonnie is determined to find out EXACTLY what Mr Fisher gets up to when he goes out in the evening and returns before dawn. She wants to find out what he does, get proof he is playing his part in the war, and then win back her friends.
From here on in, the plot unfolds quickly. There is an alarming discovery, uncertainty, new shoots of life and bad news to shake the family to the ground. Resolve will be stretched, unlikely friendships made, friends lost, and true heroism discovered.
At the centre of this all will be a 12-year-old girl struggling to make sense of things and a world exploding around about her. The outcome I shall leave for you, dear reader, to discover for yourself. You will NOT be disappointed.
So, what did we think?
A beautiful, heartwarming story, so lyrically told and powerful enough to raise a tear and a cheer.
Dealing with the realities of wartime from a home perspective is not easy.
To do it eloquently, factually, and yet maintaining a flavour of the camaraderie of the time, without sounding like propaganda, and also the fear, doubts and misconceptions, is a challenging task. Especially when it is for a middle-grade audience who will have little or no awareness of the times, motivations and struggles.
I really can not praise this tale enough. Yes, there is a good overall vibe to the story. But it is a snapshot of a short period, a lone girl, her family, and multiple conflicting thoughts, understandings and priorities that could happen to one of us. There are home truths aplenty to make the younger reader and their families/ teachers think. War is seldom kind, at least for some, no matter the intention or outcome. I believe this is why Mrs H shed a tear.
The writing style, the lyrical way in which the story and text quite literally dances, flies and weaves across the page, makes this tale so fluid and thus just that bit extra special. Just have a look at the pages below. The words literally do reach out, call out and float along. . . .
We read this over two days and would not have missed it for the world.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
I don’t think you will find an abler story out there today, of its sort, than this. It seems only now, 80 years afterwards, that the impact of the war on children has been explored for the child reader.
A worthy and warming short read that should be on your ‘To Buy list’.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, and we hope you do, fly in to your local independent bookshop (muddy wellingtons, trowels and spades may well be frowned upon). There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
And as this is the Sunday Selfie day, we are joining the Selfies Blog Hop hosted by our American blogging pals, Janet Blue from the Cat on My Head Blog. To join in and hop around the globe and see all manner of companions and delights, just follow this LINK to take you to Janet Blue’s page
I shall leave you with a copy of none other than me with my ear to the ground listening out for more good books to review! 🙂 🙂
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
If you are here for a selfie, please scroll down.
On the good news front, Mrs H sent my Middle Grade adventure book to an editor who works for many of the top literary houses. Once it returns, well be sending on to prospective agents that have expressed an interest.
But enough from us. Lets get on with the show and reveal this weeks special adventure story….
We are exceedingly grateful to Jess at Harper Collins Publishers for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this fantastic inclusive adventure book before publication so we can get you the review you need.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends, and students will enjoy.
The plot
Let’s set the scene for you…
It is 1899, and we are in Kensington, London. Our heroine, Cosima, ‘Cos’ to her friends, is aged 12. She has, since a tiny baby, lived at a dilapidated children’s home in Victorian London. There are twenty girls in all, each most special in their own way. But every single one was willingly or unwillingly sent to The Home for Unfortunate Girls. You see, polite Victorians frown on disability. Society does not wish to see the disabled or those they perceive as different, ‘defective’, or less than, in whatever form. Better to keep them silent, out of sight and out of mind.
Cos was the first at the home, and so is child No.1. She acquired the nickname ‘Cosima Unfortunate’ because she is rather unfortunate; it soon stuck, and unlike the other girls, she has nobody of her own. Or at least, so she thought. Her disability is that her joints ache and dislocate. This means she can be in agony, sometimes needing a walking stick and other times being wheelchair-bound.
The school is run by a brother and sister team called Stains. Ever investing in get-rich-quick schemes that never would, they are always in debt. Needless to say, Cos and her pals bear the brunt of this. The girls’ rooms are unheated, and the food isn’t more substantial than gruel – three meagre daily portions. As much punishment as to earn a scant amount of keep for the home, the girls have to unpick rope and cables from ships. This is then mixed with tar or grease to make oakum, which is used to go between the planks and make the vessel watertight.
Cos and her best pals Diya, Pearl and Mary do their best to win small victories against the despicable Stains: planning raids on Miss Stains’ cake stash for guests or hiding the Stains’ things and making life as bad as they can for them. They likely always get punished, as often Cos’ plans go wrong, or she goes off-plan, but they are worth it.
What each of the friends may have lacked outwardly in the eyes of others, they more than make up for with skills. Mary is a most particular planner; everything to the ‘nth degree. Diya has a keen mind for figures and inventing and can devise almost any gadget a young girl could wish for mischief-making from the residue of the Stains’ failed purchases and schemes that litter the home. Pearl is the master crafter/artist and can create astounding lifelike copies of things using the oakum.
Cos’ latest plan involves replica cakes to replace those bought by Miss Stains to give to her well-to-do lady guests, patrons of the crumbling home. All is going well until Cos spots Miss Stains’ open ledger. Keen to see if there are any extra details of her origins, Cos goes off plan again. And whilst she discovers she arrived with only a handkerchief, the plan falls apart, and they get caught. But just before that happens, Cos overhears a conversation between Miss Stains and one Lord Fitzroy. It seems he wants to adopt all twenty of the ‘defective’ girls. Miss Stains being who she is, demands £500 for them, and they strike a deal.
Needless to say, the girls are not ‘defective’. Each may be different, but they are still human. Whatever slimy voice Lord Fitzroy wants the girls for, Cos senses it isn’t good. It seems the scientific project he is working on and in which the Stains have invested will change the world. But why does he need the girls?
Cos digs out the handkerchief from a box of the girls’ personal possessions, its relevance and importance previously unknown to all. Within its now dirty fabric and elaborate, if strange stitching is hidden a clue to Cos’ life and parents, Cos is sure of that. But what?
Armed with only an aged piece of fabric and a hunch Cos is determined to find out more about her parents. More pressingly, she is determined to stop the girls from being effectively sold to the nefarious Lord Fitzroy.
With the aid of a new-found friend, a young street magician and pickpocket, Cos and the gang come up with the most daring of plans yet. It all centres around a collection of highly precious jewels on display at the Empire Exhibition that is taking place at that very time in London. Treasures pilfered from nations within the empire by none other than Lord Fitzroy himself!
What is the girl’s plan? What plans does Fitzroy have for 20 shunned-by-society innocent girls? Who or what is the mysterious ‘The Institute’ whose symbol of a skeletal tree is tattooed on Fitzroy’s arm and scares Miss Stains so much? And who is the strange new inky-fingered lady visitor to the school who seems more interested in Lord Fitzroy and the Stains than taking tea and cake!
A fabulous adventure ensues, with a race against time, death and almost insurmountable odds. There will, I assure you be upset, fear, tension and bravery aplenty.
So, what did we think?
Undoubtedly a tale of two halves. Touching on the genuine circumstances and behaviours towards those perceived as an affront to polite (and itself morally corrupt) Victorian society, this adventure puts disabled characters firmly at the forefront of a cracking yarn where they deserve to be and each shine.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Written with such conviction, passion, and a real sense of person and place, I half expected Moriarty and Sherlock to make an appearance!
It is packed with everything a Middle Grade should be: action, adventure, gadgets, and the mysterious, the good and the bad. It shows the true worth of the human soul and a positive world amidst the bad.Definitely one for all the kids to enjoy and be empowered by.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please escape down your own homemade ladders, evading ghastly staff and well-to-do, if poorly guided gentry, and head to your local gruel and oakum free independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
Mrs H has pretty much recovered from her sore heads. So this week we return to a hastily (one hour ago) visit to Upper Much-Mousing, to see what has been going on . . . .
“Do you have to make that noise, dear?” The intermittent bursts of scratching and groans of disappointment from the chair on the other side of the fireplace finally made Mrs H look up from her knitting and crossword. She glowered at Erin over the top of her glasses.
“Umm, well, I was just trying to win big on this lottery scratch card we got from Mrs Singh. Buy any three SSS – Singh’s Super Sassy curry from her takeaway menu and get a free scratch card.”
“You got. I didn’t buy any. A complete waste of time no doubt.” Mrs H frowned. “Well, if nothing else, it accounts for the silver residue blocking the vacuum cleaner. I was begining to think the woodworm had changed diet!”
Erin eyed the large pile of cards on the table and the stack of silver shavings on the cushion, and groaned inwardly. Maybe she had gotten carried away. But then again, as she saw it, Mrs H wouldn’t have to cook supper until at least the summer.
“And what, may I ask, are the prizes? If it’s more curry, I’ll have to ban you from using the credit card this month. You can’t move in the freezer for frozen takeaways.”
Erin sighed deeply. “I’ve been trying to get the three cream pot symbols in a row. That’s the top prize! But I’ve only found one cram pot.”
Mrs H’s right eyebrow raised in half surprised half enquiring manner. “And what do you win for three pots? No, let me guess, a large pot of Mrs Singh’s spicey cat nip cheese topping?”
“No, what made you say that?” Erin looked quizically at her housekeeper.
“Well, it’s just a large jar that arrived this morning. I wasn’t sure if it was wrongly ordered when that Percy pigeon went astray last week.”
“Ahh, no. That was my prize when I got three spiders in a row.”
“Well, that’s something you don’t see too often, especially around here,” Mrs H muttered to herself, knowing how keen Erin had been to make new friends.
“No, the top prize is a year’s worth of cream! And the second, for three mice in a row, is a year’s worth of Nice Mice Vegan Treats. The third you’ll like, Mrs H – six bottles of Mrs Singh’s home brew XXX Catnip sherry!”
“Hmm.” Mrs H’s eyes widened slightly. “I think I can see a certain merit in this after all. Encourages careful meal planning.”
“Exactly” Erin nodded her head vigorously.
“Saves on use of electricty and washing up time and materials.”
“Absolutely!” Erin said, “We can spend more time relaxing.”
“Not to mention bicycle wear and tear, and the fuel and servicing the Brough Superior.” Mrs H was clearly getting into the swing of things.
“Dont forget fiscal restraint. You always tell me to do that. Save the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves, is what you always say.” Erin had leaned forwards, sending a shower of dust to the floor along with three spent scratch cards to add to the collection on the hearth rug.
“Couldnt have put it better myself, dear. Yes, I think this could be a wise move indeed. Do you have any of those cards spare? . . . . “
****
Well, folks, that is where we leave Erin and Mrs H for another week. Will the Manor House’s petty cash and housekeeping money be drained by next week? Will Erin ever get the supply of cream? Will Mrs H get to finish knitting the scarves for the orphan kittens?
To find out, or possibly not, tune in next time!
PRIZE WINNERS!!!!
Now before the selfie of the week, we are pleased to announce, somewhat late, the winners of a copy of the fabulous ‘The Lighthouse Bookshop‘ written by Newt’s mum, Sharon Gosling.
It was reviewed by Mrs H last year – see the review via this link. The winners are our USA pal Meowmeowman from the blog Animal Shelter Volunteer Life, and The J Cats, in Israel.
Congratulations to you both!
Please send me your addresses in a separate comment, which we will then delete/not publish. And we will post your prizes as soon as possible!
And now for the selfie!
We are joining the Sunday Selfies hosted by the excellent Janet Blue over at the Cat on my Head blog.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
We dive straight in to this week’s review, as Mrs H has been suffering from not one but TWO bouts of mild concussion. Sadly it hasn’t stopped her keeping tabs on how much food and the number of treats she’s given me. I wonder if it will be a case of third time lucky . . . .
Anyways, as she’s had a sore head, theres no news from Upper Much-Mousing, save to say, if theres no news, likely as not the villagers are up to no good!
On with the show!
AUTHOR: Emily Kenny
Cover art by: Flavia Sorrentino
Published by: One World Publications
Publication date for Paperback: Out NOW!
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86154-205-5
Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Pages:335
Target age range: 8 to 11. But adults will like too.
Any furry companions? Yes; a cat, dogs, and many others.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
I am exceedingly grateful to Mrs H for getting this book for me to Read & Review. It has been on my personal MUST READ list since I heard about it.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they and their children and friends and students will enjoy.
The plot
11-year-old Alice is having the worst day EVER. She’s tried to be ‘Nice Alice’. To smile. To be nice to her Gran, who packed her trunk so full of uniforms that there was no room for her favourite animal encyclopedias. To be nice Alice on the packed train, her head squished against a window that was home to at least 3 dead flies. Even when she’d to shake the sweaty hand of the teacher at the train station.
It was her Gran’s idea to go to Pebblewood boarding school (Pebbles to the students) in the seaside town of Pebblehampton. It would be a nice new start for Alice, Gran had said. She didn’t want to let her down, but things were stacking up, and Alice was struggling to stay calm. School and beaches are NOT Alice’s thing, especially together. Arriving at the Welcome Day in a tight old, bobbly swimsuit to find the other kids and families poshly dressed was terrible enough. New people to sit amidst and hot sand was really too much. The last straw was the seaweed, its horribly stinky, gloopy green and length clinging to her foot. Alice’s throat tickled, her fingers twitched, and the octopus that had been squirming in her tummy was rearing up angrily, tentacles waving. Alice’s genuine anxiety POPPED, and she screamed at Gran. All went silent on the beach, and everyone stared at Alice, doing nothing to help her stress.
Alice had to get away. Gran’s apologies and Alice’s realisation of what she had said came to her, and she had to find somewhere to calm down, relax, and destress. She wished she hadn’t come. Nobody would be her friend, especially not now. They’d all think she was weird, even the teachers. Sometimes being Alice Tonks really sucked!
Finding a spot to calm down, a friendly face in the guise of Timothy Crossley-Herbert the Third, Tim for short, comes with the gift of an ice cream to cheer her up. Dressed in a very smart and wholly inappropriate for the hot beach school uniform, he is as uncomfortable at being there as she is and as friendless.
Anyway, whilst Alice is alone in her spot, a gull lands. Having finished her ice but knowing how gulls love hot chips, she apologises and says she has none. Having furtively looked each way. “It’s not your chips I’m after, Alice Tonks,” the seagull said sternly. “We’ve got a job for you.”
The next day finds Alice actually starting school. Having made amends with Gran, she is determined to give Pebbles a go. The speaking gull was very real, or so it seemed. But she decides not to tell anyone just the same.
As she gets the first-day tour of the school, Alice, out of the corner of one eye, spots an image of a gull in the school’s stained glass window waving at her! As Tim, who was with her, didn’t, and not wishing to seem weirder, Alice let it slip.
Alice gets to share her room with Ottie, a confident, pleasant scholastic girl who is at her third boarding school. She soon helps Alice settle in. And despite Ottie wanting to put fairy lights around her bed and play music, all seems good. Alice is certainly not going to tell Ottie she’s autistic. When a few minutes later, a gull starts tapping at the dorm window, Alice knows there is something she needs to do. Find the gull and see what it wants!
Sneaking out of school and back along a path to the beach, Alice soon meets the gull. To Alice’s surprise, it does speak. It says in a somewhat put-out fashion that, of course it can! Humans aren’t the only ones that can talk! More importantly, it came to tell her something. But these are perilous times, it says, and it is not safe to talk on the beach. The peril is that wild animals and pets in the area are being taken. Vanishing without a trace! And the animals want to know why and have formed the LSPDA (the Loyal Society for the Prevention of Danger to Animals), and Alice can help them. And most importantly, to trust nobody! But before Alice can glean more, Agent T – the gull, departs and tells Alice to await his messenger.
The following day, Ottie persuades Alice to go to a secret den beneath an old oak tree on the cliff top, somewhere they can call their own special place. Tim comes along too. The threesome makes a good group, though given Agent T’s warning, she will not tell Tim or Ottie about the missing animals or talking gulls. While heading back to school in the dying light, they see and hear some men doing something in the cove and then heading out to sea. Could they be smugglers?
Now, of all the teachers, only one seems chilled out and warms to Alice. And that is Miss Jessops, the librarian. It certainly isn’t Mr Marlowe, the Head Master who has different meals and wears an air of self-importance, a disdain for children who don’t excel in his biology class, the other staff and animals. And certainly not the severe, high-heeled Mrs Salter, the housemistress, who finds sugar disagrees with her.
But suddenly, not long after being summoned out of class by Mr Marlowe, Ottie turns her back on Alice and becomes friends with two rather nasty girls. When her now sole friend, Tim, has to go to band practice, Alice ends up alone in the library. That is when she meets Constance, an educated, silver-grey tabby cat with an aloof manner. She is also a member of the LSPDA, and eventually takes Alice to a secret meeting with the animals.
She and Tim start to gather evidence. While ostensively on the smugglers in the cove, Alice thinks they are the animal snatchers. But something is up with Tim, and Alice soon realises there is something he is not sharing.
With multiple possible prime suspects among the school staff, and more members of the LSPDA vanishing, Alice’s attempt to find the villain and stop the thefts takes a dramatic turn when she loses a close friend to the snatchers. Their motives are unclear, but when Tim is turned against Alice, and she has a near-death experience, it seems time has run out.
It is hard to draw a definitive line with a story as readable as this. But I think you’ll find there is so much here to enjoy that this will just tickle your tastebuds. So that is where I’ll leave this review.
So, what did we think?
Truthfully, bedtime couldn’t come quick enough so I could catch up with Alice’s adventure, and Mrs H only put this down when she fell asleep.
I genuinely rooted for Alice, given the situations, pressures and choices she has to make, some of which we, too, have felt.
I also loved – a strong word, I know, but true – the way the creatures in this adventure had as important a place as Alice. They weren’t just the cause of her investigation but the surprising essence of the resolution. Intrigued? You’ll just have to read the book to find out about that!
Alice gets to become part of their world whilst still in her own. A hard trick to pull off well, I feel, but Emily did this with aplomb! Their characters were delightful and demonstrated a range of feelings people forget that all sentient creatures have. I think it actually touched on Richard Adams’ way of writing animals, which many younger readers won’t have come across, but I happen to love.
There are some really skilful twists in this, central and ancillary, especially towards the end. That said, the plot builds evenly throughout and is as busy as a bee with a route plan, gathering facts and setting the scene, all done in a warming, engaging fashion.
Make no mistake, this book is all about the adventure. Yes, Alice’s autism is part of who she is, as it is me, yet it is incidental. As in real life, it is one wonderful flavour amidst the many many that go to make not only Alice and this extraordinary tale so compelling, but each and every one of you out there.
The story has a lot of heart. It ably bridges different worlds and has themes of discovering friendships, trust, compassion and understanding for those sentient beings around us.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Buy this for your kids, for you. An adventure that made me hark back to the thrill of discovering Watership Down. We have Alice’s book on Audible and paperback, and we recommend both.
I am careful about using the word magical for fear of suggesting something else. And whilst Alice and Co have what I’d prefer to call ‘a special gift’ or ‘talent’, I draw no comparison to books of magic and wizards. But like most of the books we get to review for you, dear reader, this book DOES have a pinch of something special, a flavour of its own and as such deserves a place in your hearts.
It takes books like this to make the world a warmer, more compassionate and better place. And teaching this to kids is where it all starts.
There is every possibility there will be a sequel, too, so watch this space as we will review it.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, missing horrible sticky congealing seaweed and gulls who may or may not be after your chips, please head to your local independent bookshop (bobbly swimsuit optional). Like gulls and not the swimsuit (though I could be wrong), there are plenty of shops out there. Each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
Any dogs or cats? Oh YES, but are going to have to read the book to find out more.
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Nosy Crow and Hannah Prutton for the delightful and unexpected uplift to the week and a chance to share this with you on the day of publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
First and foremost, the books we review are those we like and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they and their children will enjoy.
A little about the author….
Award winning childrens author, Pamela Butchart, lives in Dundee, Scotland. She lives with her son, and two cats, called Bear and Carlos. She says in her bio that if she wasnt working as a teacher cum writer, she’d be running a really posh hotel for stray cats!
The plot
First, let’s meet our 7 to 8-year-old cast. Izzy is our narrator, and she and her friends, Zach, Jodi and Maisie, sit at the same desk in class. Jodi says she isn’t the sort that needs to be in charge, but so actually is, whilst Maisie is scared, faints, and worries far too much. As for Zach, he is ever so helpful but can’t tell a good lie if he tries. Together they conduct their secret missions and help save their school from monsters and aliens.
And then there’s Gary, Gary Petrie, the one kid in the class that really brings out the worse in Jodi. He is loud and is very sure of himself, worse for Jodi, he wants to be in charge. But he is OK, just like his dad. And as the team soon discovers, has hidden sides and talents!
So, introductions made, let’s get to the action. Something strange is happening at school. The Headmaster, Mr Graves, is acting very strangely. Crawling on his hands and knees in the corridor, ‘silent crying’ during morning assembly whilst talking about vegan sausages, and bursting into the classrooms rummaging through the cupboards.
When Gary’s dad is parked at school one morning, blocking the entrance just as Izzy and her pals are heading in, Mr Graves comes out in panic mode. He hauls Mr Petrie off to some urgent task around the back of the school in the ‘Out of Bounds’ area. It is an opportunity too good to miss, and Jodi gets everyone to follow but can’t shake off Gary. When they turn the corner, there is no sign of the adults!
Gary knows precisely where they are, and in exchange for the info Jodi so desperately needs, and much to her chagrin, he gets to join in their investigation of why Mr Graves was acting weird.
When a teacher spots the kids, Gary gets himself locked down below. Later he insists whilst there, he heard scratching sounds.
Now, as one thing leads to another, Izzy and co get invited to Gary’s place for a party, possibly with the best-tasting pizzas with the craziest toppings made by Mr Petrie. Here he spills the beans about what Mr Graves wanted and what he thought he saw in the basement. But when he mentioned the thing to Mr Graves, he was bustled out, and no more was done or said.
What happens next is a downward spiral of wild guesses, high-tech gadgets made by none other than Gary, and a lot of breaking of school rules and spying on people.
Will the gang discover what monster lurks within the school basement and whether it is guarding some long-buried treasure? Will Gary ever stop being annoying yet incredibly helpful? And will Maisie stop fainting and screaming in terror! And Why is Mr Graves increasingly fraught, scratched up and weepy?
All this and more, including a Ninja-trained cat and lots of nasty smells, will be revealed when the dust finally settles on this adventuresome comedy of errors.
What did we think?
This is the 13th book in the series featuring Izzy and her pals. Not having come across the others before, I am compelled to say that this feels like and clearly is, a popular and great series for the younger reader. I loved this one.
With titles like ‘Baby Aliens Got My Teacher’, ‘Attack Of The Killer Dinner Ladies’, and ‘A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch’, to name but three, I think you can see why.
Mrs H was chuckling, snorting and guffawing all the time. And despite my best efforts to slow her down, we finished in one sitting. We then reread it today!
The style of the books is pacy and never without fun and expression. It has an infectious exuberance and vibe that I think kids this age will love. And, being seen from Issy’s perspective, we get to see the other more flamboyant characters in all their glory.
It is filled with mayhem, mishaps and misunderstandings typical of kids when they get together. It is all brought to life in short chapters, larger fonts and bursts of enlarged, explosive text, and the images throughout (in the style of the cover) that really add to the feel and excitement.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
A great book that fosters good reading habits and is highly entertaining. Thus, for us, it is of incredible value.
The perfect antidote to a rainy afternoon, a car journey to that not-so-favourite aunt, or even a boring lesson. Just be sure to share it with the kids!
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, and avoid detention and beasts unknown definitely head to your local independent bookshop avoiding basements! There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
“Fire. FIRE! All out!” Mrs H stormed into the Drawing Room, decked out in her yellow Reserve Fire Fighters clothing and clutching an extinguisher, and a pail of water which she duly tossed over the source of the smoke. When the room cleared a bit, her look of concern turned to confusion.
“What on earth is going on, Erin?”
“Erm, ” Erin said, peering from behind a now lightly smouldering coal scuttle under the sash window. ” I was signalling, Mrs H”.
“What?”
“You know, smoke signals, like the American tribes used to say the tax man was coming.”
“I’m fairly certain they didn’t pay tax, at least not in those days. Besides, our local tax office closed after that little incident last year!” Mrs Hudson was alluding to the diplomatic incident that had seen 10 nations vying to create a new enclave and military foothold for their country within the English County of East Lambtonshire. It had all got very tense, seeing military forces from several nations infiltrating surrounding fields, woods and even farmer Clarksin’s flock to steal a march in the negotiations. It ended peaceably when the Parish Council declared the village a princelesspality – as there was currently no prince – and a neutral zone.
“No, I messaged the grocer.” Erin glanced at the piece of paper by her side.
“I’ve also messaged Mrs Singh about cancelling the papers for tomorrow. Plus, the Post Office about some parcels I’m expecting. Is there anyone I can message for you?” Erin looked earnestly at Mrs H, who was rolling her eyes and trying not to choke on the occasional acrid smell that wafted from the scuttle.
“No, I’m alright, thank you. I think it’s safer just to cycle into the village to shop. A brisk walk would do you good too! Too many of Mrs Singh’s Jumbo Mini Treats!” Mrs H gave a knowing nod and looked at Erin’s expanding midriff. “Out of interest, has anyone replied?”
Having breathed but failed to reduce the size of her tummy paunch. Erin gave up and gave an embarrassed grin. “Oh yes. Mrs Singh ran up some coded naval flags to say that your order of sherry is ready for collection. And the post office sent a message by longbow—” Erin pointed to the arrow embedded in the window frame – that says you need to renew your MOT and tax on the Brough Superior motorcycle.”
“Hmm. So no news from the butcher? I sent one of the homing pigeons off this morning. The other bird should have come home by now. Have you seen it?”
“A pale blue grey with a heart shaped white splodge on it’s chest, a slight limp and missing a few feathers?” Erin asked whilst discretely sliding a feather from view.
“The colours are right, though ours didn’t have a limp or missing feathers. . . . Erin, you didn’t, did you?!”
“Me, as though I would. No, no, no. Probably the same fox that took some of our hens. It dropped this note saying the joint will be ready Monday, and then half flew, half wobbled to the pigeon loft.” Erin smiled, innocently.
“I think, dear, before you have any more bright ideas, or we get some of our own locals demanding your scalp, we should get on with the book review!”
“OK, but before I do, is there any chance you could relight this for me, please; I was half way through ordering some fish and chips?”
Mrs H rolled her eyes and, after giving Erin a very HARD stare, went to get a mop.
That’s it from us, story wise, until next time.
And here, for all those enjoying the Sunday Selfie BlogHop hosted by Janet Blue and the Cat on My Head blog, is my Sunday Selfie 🙂 🙂
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
Before we get going, we have a quick news update from here in Upper Much-Mousing.
Sid Sparks, the village electrician, was rushed to the East Lambtonshire hospital on Thursday, having inadvertently got his wires crossed at the village telephone exchange. Doctors are keeping him over night, and say he’ll be discharged in the morning. Until then, he is powering the coffee maker and staff microwave. Mrs Beedle, the telephonist at the exchange, suffered second-degree burns to her ears and will be off work for a fortnight, leaving at least two villages short of gossip.
Industrial disputes have reached the village. The local scout troop’s upcoming Bob-A-Job week ‘Big Spring Tidy’ (named after the number of old mattresses and sofas retrieved from the roadsides) has been put on hold due to the cost of living strike by the scouts.
Negotiations broke up earlier this week when the scoutmaster, the Reverend Pews, put a cap of 50 pence per task, a plate of rich tea biscuits, and squash on the table. The scouts had demanded a fee of £5 a job, hot chocolate, and those crunchy double chocolate biscuits wrapped in gold foil. All are to be served on a tablecloth. Arbitrators from the Girl Guides are expected to propose a middle-ground offer of £1 a job, or £5 an acre for the extensive gardens, herb tea and a selection box of Tea Time biscuits.
And Finally, in other news, I can confirm reports that Mrs H was seen sporting bed hair in the middle of the day. Having attempted, unsuccessfully, to determine why the hot water heater wasn’t working, she too electrocuted herself. No actual bodily harm was done, and Mrs Trimble, the mobile hairdresser, said the smell would pass and singeing has left no lasting damage.
Mrs H has just coughed politely and indicated I need to stop waffling and get on with the review.
This week we have a great book that has a strong message. It is fun, too, as the best Middle-grade books should be. So without further ado, or interruptions, here is our book of the week . . .
AUTHOR: Sarah Ann Juckes
Cover art by: Sharon King-Chai
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication date: Paperback
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-3985-1092-0
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Pages: 260
Age range: 9 and upwards
Any creatures? Yes, and not exactly. The relevance of that you’ll find out!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
I have Mrs H to thank for buying this for me.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given by pals, or received in exchange for an impartial review.
The books we review are those we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
Year 5 student Nora Frost lives with her mum, Miri. Suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Miri’s life whilst off work is a series of good and bad days. Sadly they are mostly bad. Recovery, the doctors say, takes time. With Nora taking on a caring role, they get by. They are Fine. They DONT need any help and will get through it together, Miri says. And that is what 9-year-old Nora persuades herself and strives to achieve daily.
Life is a series of notes on the front door for Nora when she comes home from school. If there is a note, it means she’ll have to go elsewhere, stay with friends, or cook for herself. If there is life in the house, singing at breakfast, it means it’s a good day. Nora craves those days as she and her mum get to do things together and go places. Though, there is the risk that crowds of people and noisy people will cause a relapse and send Miri into the deepest darkest of places.
When one dark night, Nora awakes to a fox sitting on her, “the paws on my chest like two solid nothings”, things change. Not least because this is not a majestic creature of the woods that has somehow found its way into her bedroom, but a ghost fox. Equally as beautiful, with shimmering colour edges, the fox stays only briefly, not answering any of the questions Nora asks.
Awaking to a ‘good’ day, Nora tells her mum, who dismisses the fox as a dream. Of course, Nora knows better. Nora spots the fox at school going behind a tree on the grounds. Come break time, she searches for the fox but falls foul of Joel, the year bully. In the ensuing playground confusion, Nora escapes and heads to the tree. Whilst not finding the fox, she finds Kwame, another year 5 student hiding from Joel.
Nora isn’t in the mood for friends, or help, even if Kwame says they are the same and being bullied. But through circumstance (and Kwame’s dogged persistence), they are drawn together, and a tentative friendship forms. It turns out Kwame frequently visits his granddad, who lives opposite Nora, to escape the bedlam in his own house caused by his four brothers.
As the story progresses, Nora is visited by other ghost creatures, invisible to anyone else, each seemingly steering her towards something, somewhere. With Kwame in tow, the adventure grows, with a series of incidents that sometimes include Joel. But there are also very real and earthly dangers to face.
Through all this, Nora battles to understand and keep a lid on her life and mum’s problem. Which eventually, inevitably, spills out at school. Kwame also faces a family crisis of his own.
As this story is as much about the journey as the outcome, I would be remiss in giving more of the plot away. Suffice it to say, it picks up pace and excitement and culminates with a surprising revelation and some very real, exotic, and not-so-exotic creatures. I loved the ending, and I think you will too.
So, what did we think?
We really enjoyed watching how elegantly and persuasively the author allowed things to unravel for Nora whilst at the same time showing the dawning realisation that something had to change. For us, this story’s central theme is coping and the importance of asking for help. PTSD is a genuine disorder and very debilitating. Its effects on those around the sufferer are oft’ overlooked.
Whilst this is a pretty sad story for its portrayal of illness and the truth of what families go through, it is also very uplifting. The characters surrounding Nora, both adult and child, demonstrate ably what Nora and her mother need but reject out of misgivings and pride.
We know from experience it is not the case that there are so many people that can be bothered or willing to offer help for various situations outside of their comfort zone, especially if it is outwardly rejected. That isn’t to say people should just dive in and make matters worse. There are ways to help. In this story, Miri and Nora had both been to the doctors, but Miri had tried to tame the beast within herself and in so doing isolated Nora with her.
The real message in this book, for those in need and those with the time, resilience and patience to be there to help, is very real and relevant. The story becomes a meeting of ways. Of talking, and of acceptance on all sides and to varying degrees. Which all goes to make this book work on every level, and for every age.
The writer’s style is pleasingly different, elegant and rewarding in its description. Not surprising when you realise Sarah is a writing tutor and mentor and works for Oxford University. She has also been long and short-listed for a few literary writing awards and nominated for the Carnegie Medal Award.
Writing also for YA, Sarah’s second book, The World Between Us, published in 2021, has already gone global with multiple translations.
Sarah lives with her own (real ) cat, and partner, in the English Cotswolds.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Such an important and warming story as this should be on every school librarian’s and teacher’s reading list. Like other books that deal with subjects that some have described as either ‘not relevant’ or ‘awkward’, like family death and grief, I recommend this for all parents and children.
For a middle-grade book that deals with death and grief, Sadé and Her Shadow Beasts by Rachel Faturoti is a beautiful book that looks at Sade’s method of dealing with her mother’s death. It is a book we have read and were impressed with.
Want to buy a copy?
Please sail down to your local independent bookshop to get a copy. Ghostly beasts are optional, though I’m sure they would be allowed in. There are plenty of wonderful independents out there. Each shop waits to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
This week we head straight into our review, with a FAB set of four books, featuring a feisty feline called Marshmallow Pie!
AUTHOR: Clara Vulliamy
Cover art by: Clara Vulliamy
All interior art by: Clara Vulliamy
Published by: Harper Collins Books
Publication date: Book 1 6/8/20. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 852
Publication date: Book 2 6/8/20. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 890
Publication date: Book 3 7/1/21. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 913
Publication date: Book 4 5/8/21. ISBN: 978- 000 8355 944
The cover price for Paperback is £5.99 approx.
Pages: 128 approx
Age range: 6-9 (and all cat-loving readers everywhere!)
SPOILER ALERT
Just a few as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
Clara Vulliamy for offering insights and letting us reproduce the images from within the stories. There are so many fun pictures that we have had to limit ourselves to one from each book. I do hope they will give a flavour of the action.
Also, thanks to Mrs H for buying this series as a set of four books for me. They made my week!
As ever, our views are our own, and we only ever share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
Amelia and her father live in a small top-floor flat in the middle of a busy city. When rich Aunt Julia has to go away travelling, her white and fluffy cat named Marshmallow Marmaduke Vanilla-Bean Sugar-Pie Fluffington-Fitz-Noodle is sent away from his country house to Amelie Lime to look after. It’s quite a change for Marshmallow Pie, or Pie as Amelia calls him. But Pie doesn’t mind and has a balcony to lounge on. Better yet, Pie loves to tease Buster, the big burly dog on the balcony below. He does this by staring at him or dangling his tail over the balcony edge and just out of reach.
Life is good, and Pie pretty much rules the small apartment, taking central place on the sofa and doing everything a home-loving feline could want to do.
Then, one day Amelia finds out an audition for a local animal acting agency is taking place locally. Knowing, as all cat carers do, that Pie is super special, she enters the audition. It means that shy Amelia can get to do exciting things, whilst Pie is the one in the spotlight. So, in preparation for the audition, Amelia tries to get Pie to do tricks. Well, you can guess how that turned out.
Come the big day, whilst Amelia is very nervous, Pie knows he is a star and what to do to shine.
Amelia meets a lad from her school who has brought his kitten along, aptly named, Gingernut. Obviously, Pie is unimpressed by the youngster. When Buster turns up with his owner, things turn for the worst, a disaster. The rest I shall leave to the imagination and for you to discover!
After the antics of book 1, the woes and disasters and tears, we find Marshmallow Pie has the chance to star in a TV advert. It happens to be for Pie’s favourite treat, ‘Shrimp Crunchies’! But, the downside is he has to star alongside Gingernut, the somewhat annoying kitten belonging to Amelia’s new pal, Zack.
Come the day, Pie, Gingernutt, Amelia, and Zack arrive on set but are brushed aside by the rather obnoxious, fake-tanned director, Brad Carter.
On set, Pie gets carried away. He wants to outshine the kitten and hog the limelight.
Even when the kitten wants to help, he gives him the brush off. As is the way with cats, especially when it comes to following directions, things go wrong, and the kitten seems to get the brunt of the blame from Brad, even though Pie was mainly the cause. Day two starts well, but disaster strikes, and the set descends into cat-driven chaos. The ending is definitely not what you may be thinking! I shall leave the what, why and how for you to discover.
Book 3. Marshmallow Pie, the Cat Superstar in Hollywood.
For reasons I won’t go into for fear of spoiling book 2, Pie and Amelia find they have an offer they can’t refuse! Yes, Pie is destined for Hollywood stardom! Pie has come to the attention of big Hollywood producer Rocky Milan, who thought Pie was HUGELY talented and FEISTY! That is precisely what he was after in cat to play…… the villain’s feline companion in his new movie.
So, Pie, Amelia and her dad arrive in tinsel town. They have a beautiful hotel room and beds more immense and more sumptuous than they have ever seen! Of course, Pie takes all the glitz, the glamour and the luxury in his stride.
Like most kids her age would be, Amelia is very nervous the next day as she visits the set and gets to meet stars, cast and crew. The villainess’s daughter, Madison, an internet star in her own right and a tad older than Amelia, is there too. She has her own brand and instantly falls for Pie, saying he’ll be the perfect accessory for her. Her brash character, the opposite of Amelia’s, takes charge. She takes them all shopping between acting sessions, driven and escorted by her very own security guard, Big Barbara.
They get to meet the press and go shopping in all the best boutiques. Why, Pie is really enjoying this glamorous life. But what of Amelia, who is being increasingly pushed aside?
As filming goes on, Madison starts taking over, manipulating things and ….. OK, to say much more, I fear will take away from the second half of this adventure and a rather fun and very feline ending.
Book 4. Marshmallow Pie, the Cat Superstar on Stage.
We find Pie and Amelia are back home on the rebound from fame, fortune, and the red carpet treatment in Hollywood and global recognition. Life is good if a tad less dramatic, but stretching out on fresh laundry is just what a cat loves.
We just know this can’t last, and my, the peace and calm are shattered when Pie’s Nemesis from Book 1 gets dumped on Amelia to look after when his owner goes away. Talk about putting a cat’s nose out of joint. Well, Pie is not amused, and old rivalries ensue.
Now, as a timely relief from this, Pie’s agent, Dexter, from the Animal Acting Agency, calls with the chance to audition for a new role. It is a chance to appear in a new performance in the BEST theatre in town! What cat could say no to such an important role? Certainly not our Pie, especially when it means leaving Buster behind.
But when Amelia’s dad has to go out to a meeting, Buster has to accompany Pie to the audition as he can’t stay home alone. Pie is NOT amused.
Of course, Pie is a shoo-in for the part in a play called The Everett Emeralds, about a cat burglar and a jewel robbery. Pie plays a companion cat who helps solve the case. It is a role he excels at. But to Pie’s dismay, Buster gets hired when the producer says she is also in need of a dog.
Come the day of rehearsals, Buster seems determined to upstage Pie. Have old rivalries suddenly come home to roost and spoil the day? And what has been going on in the wings that is distracting Buster? All is most definitely NOT what it seems, and great peril awaits come the opening night. Did I mention another villain? Well, to find out how it all goes down in this, the final book, you’ll just have to wait until the books arrive from your local bookshop 🙂.
So, what did we think?
I absolutely adored the stories. Each has a moral, a lesson for Pie to learn. The interaction between Amelia and Pie is heartwarming. The interaction between Buster and Pie is very much tongue-in-cheek fun and, dare I say it, how we often think of cats v dogs.
There is a sense that Amelia is growing as much from her experiences with Pie as she does from teaming up with Zack. It is, I think, a timely reminder that not everyone is bold and brash or able to make friends just like that. It also demonstrates how much our canine and feline pals mean and what they bring to kids and families (and housekeepers).
The scrapes Pie not so much creates as wanders into and then gets out off, and how he reacts are pure feline. Clara’s observations of cats are, she tells me, from growing up with cats, six in total over the years. Alas, these days, she has no companions, only her fictional animal pals.
Clara has quite a few YouTube videos. One is about how to draw cats, and it features Marshmallow Pie. If you want to have a go, or just want to be enthralled as to how easy Clara makes this not-so-easy task seem, please follow this LINK or type https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76vVky2kyAw
It is just over seven minutes long, but time very well spent, and I think the kids will love it.
Now, if you don’t already recognise Clara’s work from her numerous other children’s stories, you may well be familiar with that of her mother, famed illustrator and author Shirley Hughes. Mrs H says her formative years were filled with images from children’s books illustrated by Shirley.
Sadly, Shirley passed away in 2022, leaving a fantastic legacy. To learn more about Shirley’s work, the illustrations, which to us are utterly captivating and timeless, please head on to Twitter, where there is a Twitter feed of her books and characters on her behalf. Use this LINK to visit https://twitter.com/ShirleyHughes_
So . . . .
Crunch time.
An absolute must-buy series of four short stories for the younger readers in your life. The artwork, which appears on nearly every page, is bold, fun, and full of life. Mrs H said she could see so many feline traits in Marshmallow Pie that she couldn’t help but wonder if, given the same situations, I’d act the same way? My answer is yes, of course!
We love to review books that have companion creatures in them, and every now and then, they feature companions as protagonists. This is one of those times, and it delivers a cracking read for ages 6 and upwards.
For dog lovers, Clara told me that the new series, starting this August, will feature canines. This is definitely one to look out for.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please head down to your local independent bookshop; auditions and accompanying pets are not necessary. There are plenty out there, and each shop just waits to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
We are joining the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by The Cat on My Head blog and Janet Blue. Here is my dazzling sleepy selfie, taken in some early afternoon sun. 🙂 🙂
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. If you’ve come for a selfie, then please scroll down.
This week’s review comes without a forward. Well, without any substantial forward because Mrs H is still suffering the after-effects of too many chefs spicing up the trifle, mince pies, and Christmas cake with extra sherry!
Suffice to say, tidying up has gone by the wayside, along with more than a few grey-haired cells!
So, without further ado and without raising my voice above a whisper, I bring you another FAB book review. This week we have The Curio Collectors.
AUTHOR: Eloise Williams
Cover art by: Anna Shepeta
Published by: Barrington Stoke
Publication date: Paperback2 March 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1800 902 008
Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Pages: 96
Suitable for ages 9+ Reading age 8
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Barrington Stoke Publishers and NetGalley for sending us the Advance Reader Copy of this adventure.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
Set in 1896, this short adventure tale opens in a field near the (real) village of Digswell Water, north of London. It is a hot day, and our protagonist, 12-year-old Lily, and her younger brother, Tom, are searching the river and bank for curios. Anything they can clean up and sell. They’ve made money from all manner of things: an otter’s skull, a bedpan, old bottles and broken toys. They take what they find back to Ma Hawker at the horse-drawn caravan they call home. They travel from place to place and put on a show to drum up trade, making up elaborate tales of the curios’ new pedigree.
But it is a hard life, and with scant pickings, the trio lives on broth devoid of substance. Lily thinks she’s solved the matter when she buys some supposedly valuable trinkets. Alas, she has been duped by the lad that sold them. When the local farmer comes to collect his rent for the field they are in, they have to flee the area. Heading to London, they soon discover that a small piece of carved walrus horn, scrimshaw in the lot Lily bought, is attracting some interest, but not all of it is good.
Ok, from here on in, I can’t reveal much more. Suffice it to say the adventure gets very exciting for Lily and has far-reaching consequences for those caught up in it.
So, what did we think?
Eloise’s magic shines summerlike in this delightful, easy-to-read tale.
It has the feel of one twice the length, like Eloise’s previous book, Honesty and Lies, which was set in Elizabethan times (see my review HERE), and has the same comfortable feeling of place and people.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
A perfect short story that delights and encourages younger and reluctant readers alike. It is something I would have loved to have read to me as a younger child, pre this age group, or love to read to a class.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please do consider your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, curio, fun and adventure you desire.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
Without further ado or comic skit from Mrs H and I, we have the distinct pleasure to introduce this weeks timely adventure….. The Time Tider
AUTHOR: Sinéad O’Hart
Cover art by: Abigail L. Dela Cruz
Published by: Little Tiger
Publication date for paperback: 2 Feb 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978 – 1 – 78895 – 330 – 6
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Pages: 223
Age range: 8+
Any dogs or cats? No
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Sinéad O’Hart, and Dannie Price of Little Tiger Publishers for arranging for us to have the advance copy of this excellent book for review.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have read and like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The Plot
Set in Ireland, our book opens with 12-year-old Mara collecting food from a City Homeless Outreach point. She pockets extra food when she can, then goes to leave. But being a solitary child, she’s caught the eye of the staff. They give chase when she won’t stop and discuss being out alone. Mara has a gift and can see what she calls a ‘soft place’ in time, bubbles if you will, that she can duck into and elude capture, which she does. A short while later, she returns home to the rickety van she has grown up in. Here her dad, Gabriel, is busy with sealed glass jars and strange, gas-like substances within.
Mara’s life since her mother died has been one long journey. Travelling by backroads and often by night, she and her father crisscross the country. Eluding the people, he says, are chasing them and meaning them harm. What he does when he goes off to see people and conduct business, she doesn’t know. At least that was until waking up one morning in an empty van, she goes to explore. Hearing voices, she watches Gabriel conduct a deal. He passes over one of the glass jars for money. The buyer drinks what’s within, and Mara thinks her father momentarily vanishes, a fact he later denies.
Mara is of the age when she needs to know. She wonders what it’s like to live an ordinary life, have friends and go to school. To be in one place. And to learn more about her mother. She also wants to know more about what Gabriel’s up to.
Whilst her father is away from the van, Mara searches his things for clues and answers. The discovery of rolled-up papers in a sealed bottle, entitled The Time Tiders Handbook, heralds the beginning of the adventure. More discoveries follow, including a picture of her mother. But before she can glean much information from her father, their pursuers catch up. In the ensuing frantic escape, with Mara at the van’s wheel, her father says he will give himself up. All Mara has to do is keep going and find someone called Lenny. Thrusting his precious and unique watch and notebook into her lap, he jumps out and is captured.
But who is Lenny? Mara has distant recollections and an idea of his location. And what does he have to do with her father being a Time Tider? Indeed, what is a Time Tider? If she is going to get her father back and get the information she needs, she has no choice but to find Lenny.
Who is chasing them and why will soon be revealed to her. But as she gets more involved, her search becomes far more deadly than any 12-year-old and her newfound friend, Jan, should be involved in. You see, the Time Tider, Gabriel, harvests unused time from the dead. It can also be taken from the living, which is something that he should never do but does to make money. The bad people want what only her father can give – extra life. They want the bottled life he has stashed away, all of it, and to take his skill. To get it, they’ll seemingly stop at nothing. They will risk everything, including the collapse of time and the world’s destruction.
So, what did we think?
The premise of the Time Tider is that time itself needs to be balanced and the extra time from those that die too early collected and stored safely and never used. The more time left uncollected and allowed to merge together, the greater the risk of cataclysmic results. This is not an idea I have read before, nor for that matter, seen in the movies. So like so many great books, it instantly appealed, and I needed to know more.
How would the writer deal with such a potentially complex Sci-Fi style subject? Would it be another out-of-this-world, and sadly, beyond-belief Marvel-Esque adventure? The only way was to ask to do a review. And I am so pleased Dannie obliged me with the copy.
Over a few nights, we became engrossed in Sinéad’s storytelling and this intelligent, pacy adventure.
The story is delightfully grounded in the here and now, atmospheric, plausible, at times heartfelt, never short on pace and utterly engaging.
The cast grows with the adventure, never pushy or unlikely for the plot. Nothing is ever too much for the reader, which reflects some clearly serious story plotting. The final chapters were addictive and demanding to be read. The conclusion, well, I can’t spoil that, though it wasn’t what I expected, which is always lovely.
Sat here now, Mrs H says it is an adventure that lingers in the mind and poses some ethical dilemmas that are not easy to answer. This adds so well to the story’s credibility.
Crunch time.
A perfect middle-grade read with a delightful cover that I think will appeal. Mara is a Brilliant young protagonist with hard decisions to make and a van full of trouble chasing and snapping at her heels. What’s not to love!
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please choose your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each shop just waits to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire. The acquisition of real-time is, however, most unlikely, though transportation to other realms is a given 😉
Such was the popularity of this little add-on story to last week’s book review of Sarah Todd Taylors latest story, we have decided to add it to our blog as a separate post. If you have commented before, there is no need to comment again………
This week Mrs H and I have opted for a touch of the 1920’s gangster movie . . .
London, 1923.
I’m standing in the fog underneath a lamppost in the seedy part of Soho’s China Town. I look at my watch and sigh. My contact with the goods is late, but aren’t they always when you’re in a rush. The swirling light coalesces around the lamp like a shifting grimy mass of cotton wool. My best Fedora hat is shrinking to my head, and, despite the department store salescat’s assurance, water seeps slowly under the raised collar of my Mack. Never buy cheap, I reminded myself for the fifth time that evening and sigh again.
Let me introduce myself. The names Shovel, Erin Shovel. Detecting and ‘special deliveries’ are the game. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Shouldn’t it be Spade, Erin Spade? That one was taken at the Detective Society. The names actually Erin Eyebrowinkwinki. And who’d have thought it, that mouthful was taken too! So, I’m stuck with Erin Shovel. It was that or Trowel. Shovel sounds way tougher anyway, which is handy in this city. Gets you a reputation, and that brings you the meaty jobs.
So that’s why you find me here, damp, miserable, and on a job at the wrong end of town packing a piece. Yeah, this cat’s tooled up, just in case.
I take one long suck on my catnip cheroot only to find it’s gone soggy. I sigh, longer this time, then shove the damp treat in my pocket. What self-respecting cat would be out on a night like this? Hungry one, that’s who.
The sudden sharp jangle of a trolley bus in the next street sends a shiver down my back and tail that quickly doubles back and reaches the tips of my whiskers. As if in unison, Big Ben strikes 6pm. Muffled by the London ‘pea-souper fog,’ it sounds like someone’s sat the bells in custard. Don’t ask me how I know that; I just do. My tummy rumbles at the thought of food once I finish this special rush job for the Guild. I resist the urge to have a snack as it will dull my appetite and make me less alert.
I freeze at the sudden skittering of a stone and the rattle of a bottle over the street cobbles somewhere ahead. The silence returns, more intensely this time, and at the edge of the gloom the fog appears to lighten just a bit. Maybe it’s nothing. Or perhaps it’s a sign the next act is about to begin.
I wouldn’t be the first cat mugged in this neighbourhood. That’s why I’m packing heat. I slowly reach into my left pocket for assurance and feel the still-warm, smooth barrel of my loaded .25 pistol. That’s a .25 litre water pistol, to you. Enough to frighten the most ardent door-to-door salescats.
Through all the thick, grimy fog seeps a scent; something exotic, spicy . . . . and cheap. Underneath it, I smell something fishy, maybe even dead. It’s a smell you don’t forget. It can mean only one thing: Frank the Fish is in the vicinity.
Sure enough, the large and fish-smelling tomcat comes rollerblading across the cobbles. I can’t say I am surprised or upset that he fails to stop in time and shoots past and back into the fog, leaving an almost visible trace of fish oil breath in the grey gloom. The sound of a dustbin being toppled by an out-of-control 25lb cat, followed by a GRUNT and swearing, means Frank has stopped. Moments later, he appears, carrying a battered and flatter-than-it-ought-to-be box. My box.
“You Erin the Shovel?” he asks, smirking. “Digging around for work, are you?” he adds to the insult with a wallop on the shoulder with his huge paw. It’s like being hit by a 10lb kipper and sends me into the lamppost, which I swear wobbles.
“Yeah, yeah. You know I is, numb butt. Now give me the goods and I can be on my way.”
Totally ignoring me, Frank pulls out a laminated card from his overalls, and, having looked furtively around, leans in far closer than a cat who eats five-day-old fish and doesn’t bother with dental hygiene should.
“What you acting like that for?” I says. “I mean, it’s not like anyone can see us in this . . . soup. Plus, if your breath gets much closer, I might have to charge you for having my whiskers straightened!”
Frank ignores my comment and clears his throat. “It says here I have to check your ID before passing over the ‘STUFF'”. His lips tremble in delight. “No ID, NO GOODS. I can accept a driving license,” he adds, as though this will somehow make life easier. I’m pretty confident he couldn’t tell a driving licence from a one-pound note, but as I’ve not got either, this could turn nasty.
“So, here’s the thing,” I says. “I need that box. My clients needed it like half an hour ago. So, we can do this the easy way or . . . .” I pat the bulge in my pocket.
“Or what?” Frank is suspiciously eyeing my pocket, uncertainty and cogs whirring in his eyes. “What’s the easy way,” he says, finally.
“I can give you this here card of mine,” I say, pulling out a curled-edged and damp business card and thrusting it up to the cat’s face. “Here, keep it. It’s got all my details. As good as a driving licence.”
Frank snatches the card and, far too slowly, scans the smudged ink. I tease the box from his grasp and check the goods. “Hey, Frank, where’s the tuna! I ordered the Tuna Mayo Surprise with extra cheese and catnip! These look like sardines. You and Giuseppe trying to pull a fast one?!”
“Hey, I just deliver these things. Anyways, the boss says you can’t have toona and that’s that.”
“He does, does he. And why’s that? It was a special order, for The Detective Writers Guild, and you knows how that mob gets itchy claws when it comes to book launch party food!”
Frank understandably backs up a pace as I reach into my other pocket. “Yeah, he does. He also said you’d get all hissy fit, so he told me to tell you that toona wasn’t available in Britain until the 1950’s! This here is the 1920’s!” And with that, he pockets the calling card and blades off into the fog.
You’d be expecting me to sigh again right about now, and I did. Somehow, I never ended up with the pizza of my dreams, ever. The lamp above me flickers and, with a hiss, goes out.
“Erin, dear. Are you awake?” Mrs H gently placed a covered supper plate beside where Erin sat.
“No. No, just had my eyes closed thinking about my book and the food for the book launch,” Erin said, with a hint of a yawn.
“You’ve been dreaming again, dear. Besides, you need an idea for a book, then write it.” Mrs H smiled and then asked. “Do you have a title?”
“Strangely enough, I do. ‘Erin Spade, PI, in the Big Toona Rip Off'”
“The PI would be for Pizza Investigator, would it?” With a wry smile and glint in her eye, Mrs H pulled off the plate cover to reveal Erin’s favourite supper.
“Do you read minds, Mrs H?”
“No dear, but I do read a lot of detective novels!” And with that and a knowing wink, Mrs H left Erin to her Tuna Mayo Surprise pizza with all the toppings.
The End
That’s it, folks!
We hope you’ve enjoyed the B-Movie gangster style story! If you have, please leave a comment below.
Today we have a double header for you. Having pride of place is our book review of a FABULOUS new 1930’s adventure. This is followed by a piece of 1920’s style B movie Black and White mischief and fun from us!
If you’re here for the Selfie, scroll down..
So, if you’re all now seated comfortably and have got the popcorn and drinks safely tucked away, I’ll dim the lights and draw back the curtains on today’s main feature:
ALICE ÉCLAIR, SPY EXTRAORDINAIRE! A Spoonful of Spying.
AUTHOR: SARAH TODD TAYLOR
Cover art by: BEATRIZ CASTRO
Published by: NOSY CROW
Publication date: 12 January 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978-1839940972
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Pages: 272 (approx)
Age range: Middle Grade (9 AND upwards)
Any dogs or cats? Yes, a feline called Casper, who I suspect gets more than he bargains!
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, some as to early plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Sarah Todd Taylor and Hannah Prutton of Nosy Crow Publishers for the awesome proof copy of this highly-anticipated, delectable book before publication.
As ever, our views in this review are our own. We only share reviews of books we have read, like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy as much as we did, which in this case, is a lot.
The plot
13-year-old Alice Éclair, cake maker supreme by day, and spy for the French government by night, is off on a mission. And it’s not to buy fresh eggs for her mother’s famed pâtisserie, Vive Comme L’Éclair.
We join her in an action-packed scene aboard Le Mistral, Paris’ most luxurious event boat, as it sails slowly down the Seine. Alice and senior agent, Claude, are hot on the trail of spies and stolen information valuable to the enemies of France.
Disguised as a waiter, Alice serves, while elegantly dressed Claude, never short of admiring company, mingles with the well-healed partygoers. Both are on the lookout for their suspect. Suddenly the chase is on, but it goes sour when Alice is faced with a life-or-death choice. And so the villain escapes, but not before she manages to steal a slip of paper from his pocket. Wet and muddy, Alice blames herself. She feels she failed Claude just when she needs to be proving herself. Worse, Claude dismisses the piece of paper.
The paper, however, soon becomes the first clue that indicates the plans for prototype French aircraft, code-named ‘Daedalus’, are to be stolen and passed to foreign agents. And where better for spies to mingle and plans to be passed than the upcoming World Fair in Paris!
Under guise of showing off her cake-making art, Alice and her mother get an invite to take a stand at the fair. Of course, for Alice, it means between helping her mum and working as a spy, she gets little chance to investigate marvels from across the globe on display.
After a few days with little to go on and even fewer suspects, Alice gets pushed to what she thinks is a lowly position in the Fashion Pavilion. Claude, however, seems to have taken the best, most glamorous assignment for himself!
OK, from here on in, clues and suspects start to mount. In fact, it seems there are spies everywhere interested in all manner of things.
Alice’s decorating skills get to be unleashed too, as she gets embroiled in kidnapping as the adventure quite quickly takes a high speed, high stakes and high octane race to save friends, families and secrets from dastardly deeds and deadly double-dealing . . . . . persons!
And if you are wondering about Casper, the cat, well, he gets far more than he bargains for when he steals a ride to the World Fair!
So, what did we think?
After Alice’s first adventure, A Recipe for Trouble (a LINK to our Review is HERE), I wondered if and how Sarah could pull off another spectacular tale?
I am delighted that she has far exceeded my hopes and expectations.
This is an adventure packed with unashamed panache, gusto, bravery and adventure worthy of famed Belgians, Tintin and Hergé.
But this is by no means a copy. It stands tall and proud like one of Alice Éclair’s own culinary creations, with layers of mystery to unravel and countless textures and flavours. All this amidst a Parisian backdrop of high fashion, aviation, and a world fair. Truly the only thing Sarah hasn’t provided is the smells and tastes of Alices cooking. For that, the only solution is to buy your own.
It doesn’t shy away from failure and the lessons and costs it brings.
The cast is engaging and highlights that women of the era in real life were also at the forefront of engineering and flight. I am so pleased that we see this in writing, as it is often assumed quite wrongly that women were nothing but models, cooks and housewives.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
I get a definite sense of an ‘upping of the anti’ in this adventure. It is bolder, stronger, and growing with Alice.
It certainly hits all the right notes in all the right places to make it a firm favourite for adventure-loving kids (and Mrs H.). It also sets another high bar for Sarah to clear for the next book.
So, for me, this is a MUST-READ. Sit back and enjoy a rollercoaster of a ride that takes the reader from the glam of the catwalk, up into the skies and along the crowded streets and waterways of Paris.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please do choose to support your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and some may well serve up cake as nice as Alice’s!
We hope you enjoyed the main feature. Before the second feature, we offer you a our Sunday Selfie.
Welcome back. Now we have todays second feature. This week Mrs H and I have opted for a touch of the 1920’s gangster movie . . .
London, 1923.
I’m standing in the fog underneath a lamppost in the seedy part of Soho’s China Town. I look at my watch and sigh. My contact with the goods is late, but aren’t they always when you’re in a rush. The swirling light coalesces around the lamp like a shifting grimy mass of cotton wool. My best Fedora hat is shrinking to my head, and, despite the department store salescat’s assurance, water seeps slowly under the raised collar of my Mack. Never buy cheap, I reminded myself for the fifth time that evening and sighed again.
Let me introduce myself. The names Shovel, Erin Shovel. Detecting and ‘special deliveries’ are the game. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Shouldn’t it be Spade, Erin Spade? That one was taken at the Detective Society. The names actually Erin Eyebrowinkwinki. And who’d have thought it, that mouthful was taken too! So, I’m stuck with Erin Shovel. It was that or Trowel. Shovel sounds way tougher anyway, which is handy in this city. Gets you a reputation, and that brings you the meaty jobs.
So that’s why you find me here, damp, miserable, and on a job at the wrong end of town packing a piece. Yeah, this cat’s tooled up, just in case.
I take one long suck on my catnip cheroot only to find it’s gone soggy. I sigh, longer this time, then shove the damp treat in my pocket. What self-respecting cat would be out on a night like this? Hungry one, that’s who.
The sudden sharp jangle of a trolley bus in the next street sends a shiver down my back and tail that quickly doubles back and reaches the tips of my whiskers. As if in unison, Big Ben strikes 6pm. Muffled by the London ‘pea-souper fog,’ it sounds like someone’s sat the bells in custard. Don’t ask me how I know that; I just do. My tummy rumbles at the thought of food once I finish this special rush job for the Guild. I resist the urge to have a snack as it will dull my appetite and make me less alert.
I freeze at the sudden skittering of a stone and the rattle of a bottle over the street cobbles somewhere ahead. The silence returns, more intensely this time, and at the edge of the gloom the fog appears to lighten just a bit. Maybe it’s nothing. Or perhaps it’s a sign the next act is about to begin.
I wouldn’t be the first cat mugged in this neighbourhood. That’s why I’m packing heat. I slowly reach into my left pocket for assurance and feel the still-warm, smooth barrel of my loaded .25 pistol. That’s a .25 litre water pistol, to you. Enough to frighten the most ardent door-to-door salescats.
Through all the thick, grimy fog seeps a scent; something exotic, spicy . . . . and cheap. Underneath it, I smell something fishy, maybe even dead. It’s a smell you don’t forget. It can mean only one thing: Frank the Fish is in the vicinity.
Sure enough, the large and fish-smelling tomcat comes rollerblading across the cobbles. I can’t say I am surprised or upset that he fails to stop in time and shoots past and back into the fog, leaving an almost visible trace of fish oil breath in the grey gloom. The sound of a dustbin being toppled by an out-of-control 25lb cat, followed by a GRUNT and swearing, means Frank has stopped. Moments later, he appears, carrying a battered and flatter-than-it-ought-to-be box. My box.
“You Erin the Shovel?” he asks, smirking. “Digging around for work, are you?” he adds to the insult with a wallop on the shoulder with his huge paw. It’s like being hit by a 10lb kipper and sends me into the lamppost, which I swear wobbles.
“Yeah, yeah. You know I is, numb butt. Now give me the goods and I can be on my way.”
Totally ignoring me, Frank pulls out a laminated card from his overalls. And, having looked furtively around, leans in far closer than a cat who eats five-day-old fish and doesn’t bother with dental hygiene should.
“What you acting like that for?” I says. “I mean, it’s not like anyone can see us in this . . . soup. Plus, if your breath gets much closer, I might have to charge you for having my whiskers straightened!”
Frank ignores my comment and clears his throat. “It says here I have to check your ID before passing over the ‘STUFF'”. His lips tremble in delight. “No ID, NO GOODS. I can accept a driving license,” he adds, as though this will somehow make life easier. I’m pretty confident he couldn’t tell a driving licence from a one-pound note, but as I’ve not got either, this could turn nasty.
“So, here’s the thing,” I says. “I need that box. My clients needed it like half an hour ago. “So, we can do this the easy way or . . . .” I pat the bulge in my pocket.
“Or what?” Frank is suspiciously eyeing my pocket, uncertainty and cogs whirring in his eyes. “What’s the easy way,” he says, finally.
“I can give you this here card of mine,’ I say, pulling out a curled-edged and damp business card and thrusting it up to the cat’s face. “Here, keep it. It’s got all my details. As good as a driving licence.”
Frank snatches the card and, far too slowly, scans the smudged ink. I tease the box from his grasp and check the goods. “Hey, Frank, where’s the tuna! I ordered the Tuna Mayo Surprise with extra cheese and catnip! These look like sardines. You and Giuseppe trying to pull a fast one?!”
“Hey, I just deliver these things. Anyways, the boss says you can’t have toona and that’s that.”
“He does, does he. And why’s that? It was a special order, for The Detective Writers Guild, and you knows how that mob gets itchy claws when it comes to book launch party food!”
Frank understandably backs up a pace as I reach into my other pocket. “Yeah, he does. He also said you’d get all hissy fit, so he told me to tell you that toona wasn’t available in Britain until the 1950’s! This here is the 1920’s!” And with that, he pockets the calling card and blades off into the fog.
You’d be expecting me to sigh again right about now, and I did. Somehow, I never ended up with the pizza of my dreams, ever. The lamp above me flickers and, with a hiss, goes out.
“Erin, dear. Are you awake?” Mrs H gently placed a supper plate beside where Erin sat.
“No. No, just had my eyes closed thinking about my book and the food for the book launch,” Erin said, with a hint of a yawn.
“You’ve been dreaming again, dear. Besides, you need an idea for a book, then write it.” Mrs H smiled and then asked. “Do you have a title?”
“Strangely enough, I do. ‘Erin Spade, PI, in the Big Toona Rip Off'”
“The PI would be for Pizza Investigator, would it?” With a wry smile and glint in her eye, Mrs H pulled off the plate cover to reveal Erin’s favourite supper.
“Do you read minds, Mrs H?”
“No dear, but I do read a lot of detective novels!” And with that and a knowing wink, Mrs H left Erin to her Tuna Pizza Surprise with all the toppings.
The End
That’s it, folks!
If you’ve enjoyed the double bill, please leave a comment below.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
But first, lets see what’s happening in Upper Much-Mousing.
Life at the Manor House has settled into the traditional pre-Christmas panic, and Mrs H and Erin have been hard at work signing cards. . . .
“Mrs H, what flavour ink am I using this year?” Erin asked as she licked her paw. She had been stamping the Xmas cards with her right paw using a special flavoured non-toxic ink.
“Blueberry and muffin I think the bottle said.” Mrs H was busily unknotting the tangle Erin had created in the tinsel after a mad half-hour session earlier that morning while chasing a mouse-shaped bauble.
Erin nodded in approval. “Does that mean we have the mince pie and brandy butter glue to lick this year?” she said, eyeing up the envelopes.
“No, dear. I got my favourite, the alcohol free sherry flavour. It wouldnt do to be drunk whilst headed to the postbox, now would it.”
“Yuck!” Erin’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “I don’t know how you could, Mrs H. It smells like fermented old socks mixed with old fruit!”
“I’m not sure that it’s quite that bad, dear. And in anycase, how would you know what old socks tasted like?”
“Have you been into ol’ Ned’s greenhouse this week?” Erin asked, gesturing out the window. “There’s a reason it’s all steamed up. And it’s not because he’s working hard,” Erin said with a wink. I swear that new homebrew is actually some sort of bug killer.”
“Insecti-cider!” they both proclaimed simultaneously and broke into hysterics.
“How’s about I let you lick the postage stamps instead. Mrs H pulled out the small wallet of special stamps purchased from Mrs Singh’s Festive Grotto. Each stamp had a Christmas flavour. Having split the stamps into two even piles she placed one set before Erin. “There you go, dear. We each get a fair mix.
“OK. As long as I haven’t got the 1st Class vindaloo surprise!” The previous year, Erin picked that stamp and had needed to keep her tongue in chilled cream till the pain subsided. At least, that is what she had said.
“I did make sure I got that myself. Can’t have you overdoing the cream, now can we. I have also made sure you got all the traditional food. Roast parsnips and cranberry sauce are back. And, if you see one with King Charles 3rd on it, and his nose is wrinkled, that will be the Brussels sprout-flavoured one.” Mrs H winked, and after a short pause, the two descended into fits of giggles!
“I think, dear,” Mrs H said after wiping away a tear, we best not make any jokes about our new king. If word ever got out, we could end up in the Tower of London!”
“Strange you should say that, Mrs H, but the review for this week is set in the Tower of London. How’s about you put the kettle on and warm up those mince pies with cream, and I’ll introduce this week’s awesome read?”
“That, Erin is an excellent idea.” As Mrs H strode off to the kitchens, Erin gently pushed the sprout flavour stamp from her pile into Mrs H’s and exchanged it for a rather tasty-looking roast turkey.
Any dogs or cats? No, but B.O., the Mynah bird, has a crucial part!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to all at Firefly Press Publishers and NetGalley for the delight of getting to Read & Review this fun book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
In this, the second instalment, our crime-fighting young 9-year-old friends, Callie and Grace, are heading off on a school trip to the Tower of London. But the last thing they expected was to find fellow detective Bo, the talking Mynah bird, in Callie’s school bag. The second to last thing they expected was to get embroiled in a new mystery during the visit!
Keeping a determined stowaway bird hidden on the bus isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially as Callie’s mum is the bus driver. Bo has his own reason for visiting, which might prove dangerous and distracting.
Delightful hijinks ensue when the three pals think they spot something amiss and start to investigate! Keeping everything hidden from the adults is going to be difficult, especially under the eagle eyes of their teacher, Mrs Manning. I shall say no more for fear of spoiling things.
So, what did we think?
We loved the first book, and this new adventure sees team S.P.U.D. (Super Perceptive Undercover Detectives) take it to the next level — many levels, including the dungeons! They also get to deal with the Police and aspects of an actual investigation. All exciting and serious, which adds authentic flavour and realism to the whole book.
The fact that Callie has hearing aids, aka ‘slugs’, never really gets any focus other than in a positive way in line with how they allow her to hear what Bo says. The characters also use B.S.L. (British Sign Language) as part of their sleuthing. This book is a wonderful example of how inclusiveness in children’s writing can be fun and informative without using a sledgehammer. Which, of course, is exactly what we like. 💙
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Once again, Karen Owen has captured and skillfully distilled the essence of a great, fun adventure in an easy-to-read first-person voice of the lead protagonist, Callie Major. Coupled with Louise’s dynamic illustrations, we get a readily accessible, compelling tale for younger and reluctant readers alike. The book is also educational in a lighthearted way. Well worth buying for the youngster in your life.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, minus a talking bird, and being sure not to lose one’s head by upsetting the local monarch, head on down to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there (both book shops and cats), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
As it is Sunday, and this is a blog hop as well, I shall leave you with a selfie of me, contemplating all things feline, and a few things with cream! 🙂
Till laters!
ERin
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction. This week, we have no news from Upper Much-Mousing due to poor internet service. According to the rushed telephone I got in the potting shed, this was caused by the wrong sort of leaves falling on the overhead telegraph wires. And if you’ll believe that excuse, you are probably the sort that accepted British Rail’s ‘leaves on the track’ explanation or the wrong kind of rain and wind. Rumour has it Erin was out celebrating Halloween, when someone dressed in a cloak and pointy hat whisked her away on a broom! The UMM police have put out a search warrant for the local parkkeeper.
Mrs H, however, has other thoughts on the matter and is currently out following a trail of catnip chewy sweet wrappers. She was last seen heading out of the village in her Wellies, Sou’wester and oilskins, muttering unrepeatable things!
Anyways, it falls to me, Ol’ Ned, to push the button marked ENTER on the laptop so all you good folk can read about this week’s fabulous book!
We are exceedingly grateful to Pan MacMillan Publishers and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
This delightful modern cosy mystery is set just before and after the death, seemingly from dementia, of Emily Lewis, who had been in a care home of outstanding repute.
The book opens with Lulu Lewis, Emily’s daughter-in-law, looking out the galley window of her canal boat, moored at Little Venice, not far from Maida Vale in London. She moved there two months earlier after her husband’s death, and since Emily went into the care home.
A calico-coloured cat, unusual as its a tomcat where most calicos are female, strides purposefully by the window and jumps aboard. Welcoming her first visitor to the barge, she casually asks the cat if he would like a saucer of milk. Much to Lulu’s surprise, the cat answers quite matter-of-factly that he’s not one for milk. He goes on to say that most cats aren’t due to lactose intolerance. Not unsurprisingly, Lulu is aghast and thinks she’s dreaming. Which of course, she isn’t, and the cat, Conrad, is a 100% talking, thinking, rational cat, though the glass of wine he then asks for is purely in jest.
With Conrad neatly wrapped around her shoulders for comfort and safety, Lulu heads to see Emily. Conrad senses Emily is a good person and the two bond. One of the nurses takes a picture of the three, so it can be placed on Emily’s wall to help her remember. Taking a chocolate from Emily’s box, Lulu and Conrad leave. It is the last time either will see Emily alive, for when Lulu arrives the next day, Emily has passed away. But why wasn’t she informed?
Now, cosy mysteries being as they are, things start to unfold. As Lulu is a retired police detective, a first-rate detective, she starts to question the suddenness of it all. As Conrad points out, Emily’s aura was one showing good health and a person at ease. She definitely wasn’t sick. Yet, the doctor has stated her cause of death as old age and dementia.
From here on in, we get into the thick of family arguments, wills, missing evidence, and some shady characters. With little to go on, save a visitors list at the care home, and some pictures taken by the nurse, Lulu and Conrad set off to investigate, calling in favours from pals still on the force.
So, what did we think?
I have to say I loved this mystery. More so than many other feline-based cosy mysteries. It may be considered by some a cosy mystery, but it has a much bigger feel, worthy of the Morse of Colin Dexter, Danny Boyle, or even Agatha Christies’s Hercule Poirot!
Conrad’s arrival on the scene is pure magic. The dialogue in the opening pages is fluid and just what one might expect from a feline encounter of the talking kind. I found myself laughing at the retorts and hoping the story would continue in the same vein, which I am happy to say it does, without the feeling of ever getting old or worn.
The book also deals very well with the subject of dementia for those left behind and those afflicted. I found this hard as this has touched my family, like many others. There was never any sense of the subject being given anything other than due respect.
There is a lot going on, investigation-wise, which is why I haven’t gone into too much detail. The ending is, however, satisfying.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
All in all, I desperately want to see this detective due, placed wonderfully in the heart of London and uniquely on a barge, go from strength to strength and on to equally as interesting new cases.
Undoubtedly a MUST BUY 5 Star book for lovers of mysteries with a modern flavour and compelling characters and storyline.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please sail or saunter down to your local independent bookshop. Of course, a feline on the shoulders is optional. There are plenty out there (both book shops and cats), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of mystery, fun and adventure you desire.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring this week, Adventures in Middle-Grade Adult Fiction!
⭐️ A WINNER! ⭐️ Before we proceed with this week’s post, we need to announce the winner of the copy of The Shadow Order that Mrs H bought out of her pension for the Shadow Order Blog Tour. The winning commenter, was Jackie, from the Memories of Eric and Flynn blog. Please contact Mrs H, Jackie, to arrange delivery of your prize.
Now let’s head on over to Upper Much-Mousing, and see what Erin and Mrs H are up to this week and what book they have . . .
“Mrs H, what is a folly?” Erin was sitting leafing through this week’s book for review.
“Well, dear, a folly is something that might be considered foolish or unlikely to succeed. Like you trying to convince me I need to feed you when I know you’ve just had your third supper. A folly can also be something with no purpose other than to be itself, no matter how strange or out of place that may be.
“Like the Lighthouse in this book,” Erin gestured to the cover.
“Yes, exactly that. It was built as a library, seemingly on the whim of the landowner, for his wife.”
“And is that Sharon Gosling on the cover? I can’t see her cat, Newt, with her.” Erin knew Newt travelled with the author to her allotment to help with security, grounds maintenance and rodent control.”
“I think that’s Rachel, the lead character.” Mrs H smiled warmly at her feline companion, who often took things far too literally and who she suspected had ASD like herself. “There is a cat in the story, though, called Eustace. And a dog called Bukowski, who together add to the flavour.”
“Maybe we should have a lighthouse. Or at least a small tower!” Erin scratched at her ear absentmindedly.
“And who would be expected to clean this tower, hmm?” Mrs H gave Erin a raised eyebrow stare which meant she was not amused.
Erin cringed. “I think maybe I’ll settle for just looking at this picture then.”
“Yes, dear, I think that’s best. Why not introduce the review whilst you have our guests’ attention?”
“Great idea, Mrs H. This week, dear readers, we have the great pleasure of reviewing The Lighthouse Bookshop. Read on to discover all, and the chance to win a copy!”
Cover art by: PIP WATKINS (Senior Designer at Simon & Schuster)
Published by: SIMON & SCHUSTER UK
Publication date: 18 August 2022
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4711-9869-4
Cover price for Paperback £8.99
Pages: 440.
Age range: Adult
Any dogs or cats? YES! A Cat and a Dog in supporting roles.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Sharon Gosling, Simon & Schuster & Net Galley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this delightful adult book, which is out now.
As ever, our views are always our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
Our protagonist is Rachel. The story opens with the arrival of a letter and a note posted within another. Seeing the name and address on the inner envelope, words thought left behind, shatters five years’ worth of them being forgotten about. This is Rachel’s secret, and she means to keep it that way for her own sanity and, ultimately, her very real safety.
Rachel came to the remote Aberdeenshire village of Newton Dunbar, some miles inland from the coast. Alone and then homeless, save for her campervan, she finally found a place to call home and work. That place was a lighthouse that sat too far from the coast to be of any use. It was, in the true sense, a folly. Within its walls was once the library of the nearby stately home that burnt down soon after it was built in the early 1800’s. Now it is a bookshop. Both tower and the stately have a history, a sad one at that, but both hold secrets too. Secrets that will come to feature prominently.
The owner of the Lighthouse Bookshop, and carer of Eustace, the cat, is Mr Cullen MacDonald. The bookshop and Cullen are loved by all; both are the centre of a tight community of friends. It is a place where Cullen and Ron play chess, and villagers have coffee and fresh baked culinary treats made by local engraver, Edie. Of course, it is also a place of friendly banter. And even as a neutral ground, where once friends, now unfathomably quarrelsome neighbours, Esra and Edie spar and goad each other.
It is a place like many others, maybe you know a place like it. But in a small village, it is probably more intense and passionate. Gilly, a young girl in her teens, enters the mix. She is camping out, essentially on the run from the system and adoption. Strong-willed, fiercely independent, and like Rachel, wanting to leave things behind. She falls foul of Dora McCreedy, the local property magnate with an axe to grind and the despicable villain of this book. Finding her tent and possessions destroyed by McCreedy, who threatens to call the police, Gilly ends up at the lighthouse. Her presence splits opinions amongst the villagers regarding her intent, honesty and actual situation, and more importantly, what they should do about it.
When Cullen dies suddenly and without leaving a will, his legacy, the bookshop, and thus Rachel’s world and safe place, are at the mercy of the highest bidder. And McCreedy makes it clear that she will be the victor.
Now, I have introduced you to all but one of the main supporting characters. Enter Toby Hollingwood. War journalist, now set to work on his memoirs. But it is a past that is haunted by demons.
OK, so that is as far as I can go. Rest assured, there is much elegance and compelling reading in what follows next. There is joy, sadness and, yes, tears too.
So, what did we think?
This is Sharon’s second full length adult fiction tale, the first being The House Beneath the Cliffs. She has a long and respected career as a professional entertainment journalist and writer of non-fiction on film and television, including tie-in books for movies. Mrs H was highly impressed and says she’ll soon be buying The House Beneath the Cliffs.
Our review of Sharon’s latest thrilling Middle-Grade adventure, The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott.A link to that can be found HERE.
This is as delicious, refreshing and comforting a tale as a bowl of summer fruit or a favourite hot pudding in winter.
Once again, Sharon has delivered a timeless piece of writing. It gently conveys the essence of the characters and their lives. Rounded yet flawed, as we are, this tale gives charm, sass, wit, fear and insight into a plotline that is, I think, unique.
Centred around a ‘folly’ of the title, which itself hides secrets beyond the obviousness of its unlikely presence, the story unfolds and grows in a delightfully organic way. We get a natural feel for the tight-knit community, the stresses and strains, and the actual value of comradery.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Whilst adult books are not my usual stomping ground, cosy mysteries and Middle Grade reads as befits my age, this is a most welcome, engaging exception. It handles aspects of a social, family and mature nature, including PTSD, with a delicate accuracy; no sensationalism or gratuity.
I enjoyed every minute of this book and hope you will too. Everything to love and applaud, as is to be expected from a very skilled writer.
⭐️ We have a Giveaway! ⭐️
Mrs H has kindly funded the purchase of two copies of this fabulous book. Two lucky commenters will each receive a copy to enjoy. All you have to do is leave a comment below, and Mrs H will, with my help, select a winner at random from our virtual hat!Entries close Friday 14th October 2022.
To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, though maybe none as mysterious as the Lighthouse Bookshop, and each is a beacon ready to light your path to fun and adventure with a personal touch.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
We had wanted to bring you some local news, but alas, since the local printer can only afford to run off two copies of the Upper Much-Mousing Gazette, they are being passed from house to house, one copy starting at either end of Main Street. With any luck, both will meet at the village chip shop, where they will have a second life around small portions of cod and chips.
Being situate outside the village, Friday nights have become quite a novelty, and much to Mrs H’s delight, she was able to complete a full, albeit slightly greasy, crossword with her supper. I, however, was not so lucky and got the less than appealing face of a drooling bull-mastiff peering at me from under my pile of mushy peas!
So, with all that said, and not wishing to put you off your own suppers, let’s get on with a rather fine new adventure from Award-Winning Book Blogger and Primary School Librarian, Jo Clarke!
LIBBY and the HIGHLAND HEIST (Book 2 of the Travelling School Mysteries.)
We are exceedingly grateful to FIREFLY PRESS & NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
A little bit of back story for you as this is the second book in the series. It features Libby, and her best pal, Connie, who are students at a school that quite literally moves from building to building and city to city across the globe. The first novel was set in Paris. Here Libby and Connie solved a matter of stolen jewels which had left Libby’s aunt in the frame for the crime! This term, the school was supposed to be heading for New York. But a flood there meant at short notice, the students and teachers find themselves staying in Edinburgh. This is handy as Connie’s family lives nearby in a delightful, if somewhat dilapidated, stately turreted home. Moreover, Connie’s parents are
The book opens with Libby, Connie and Libby’s aunt, Miss Mousedale, a teacher at the school, arriving at Connie’s home for Christmas. Libby’s mother is away on a trip to Peru and won’t be home for Christmas. All is not well, it seems, and Connie’s father is shut up in his study whilst her mum has dark rings around her eyes. But the friends are intent on making the most of the time and go off exploring, putting aside any strangeness of the strangely quiet troubled reception.
It is, of course, inevitable that the best intentions of both girls to keep out of trouble lapse. In a rambling stately home, nothing could be more fun than a game of hide and seek. Which is when things start to get all exciting.
Now, I won’t be drawn into giving too much more away about what happens next, as it is all so nicely embroidered together that it will spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, the discovery of secret passageways, a mysterious yet strangely familiar intruder and any number of things that aren’t what they seem or are where they are meant to be, lead Libby on a merry chase. The game is afoot, and Libby needs to uncover a family mystery and save the not-so-stately family pile from ruin.
So, what did we think?
Simply elegant, adventuresome, mysterious, and delightfully addictive read. Jo has let the magic flow through this, the second adventure. In its MG way, it is as rambunctious as a ceilidh reel! Everything to love and recommend!
So . . . .
Crunch time.
I don’t usually read series out of order, but I find that with this one, I will, and book one of the Travelling School Mysteries is already waiting for attention.
This fine series is an able step up from the Enid Blyton of yore and those fabulous – or so Mrs H says – kids’ TV adventures of the seventies. I have no doubt that this adventure rooted in current times will be an immense delight and a ‘gateway tale’ to grander adventures as the readers grow.
It is lovely to see and read such stories. Where once years ago there was a desert, now there are oases of literary magic aplenty to quench the thirst of the most avid young reader.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.
Hello, and welcome to my weekday Book Review slot featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
This week we have something very special for you, an exclusive chat with Rebecca F. John, the author of The Shadow Order.
You may recall that Erin reviewed this excellent adventure a few weeks ago, and a link to the review can be FOUND HERE. So let’s head on over to Upper Much-Mousing and see what Erin’s up to today . . . .
“Mrs H, I’ve packed my case, and remembered the suncream and swimsuit. It’s all ready for you to pop in the taxi.” Erin said as she entered the Manor’s drawing room, leapt nimbly onto her favourite sofa, and started checking off items on a list of tasks she had prepared. “Do you think I’ll be signing autographs? Maybe I should get you another pen to do the signing for me?”
“Are you going somewhere, dear?” Mrs H looked up from her crossword puzzle and placed the knitting she’d done neatly on her lap. “I don’t recall there being any trips planned.”
“Yes, on tour. The one we were invited on by Karen at Firefly Press.” Erin prodded at the corner of the telegram she currently sat on. “Surely you recall? I know you’d had a sherry that evening, but you said it was quite a red letter day. Though I must admit the telegram is only in black ink, so maybe you got it wrong?”
“Oh, that tour. No, dear, you are quite right. But equally wrong.” Mrs H smiled, leaned over, and gently pulled the now-warm and curved telegram from under Erin.
“I’m right and wrong, Mrs H?” Erin glanced over at the sherry decanter just in case Mrs H had imbibed a pre-lunch sherry and forgotten to put the stopper back in.
“Yes, dear. We, or rather you and the blog, are going on tour. Well, actually, the blog is a stop on tour for other readers. So yes, there is a tour. But alas, no, you are not actually going anywhere or signing anything. Rather people, your fans and new visitors are coming to meet Rebecca F. John.”
“Hmmm, shouldn’t we be getting the tea, sandwiches and scones ready? And maybe do a spot of dusting? I know I, for one, could do with a good dust-off and bath!”
“No, dear, they will be virtual visitors. And before you ask, Rebecca couldn’t come here, at least not today. But she kindly sent a copy of the book, AND a unique insight into the question you asked about how she created the characters, and more importantly, how they develop.”
“That was really kind, and I can’t wait to read the answer. Is it set up on the laptop, Mrs H?”
“It is, dear. I did it whilst you were packing. I think the answer will surprise some of our readers. Though bloggers with companions will, I am sure, understand. Others, who are maybe thinking of branching into writing, will be inspired and educated.”
“Just one thing, Mrs H.”
“Yes?”
“Does this mean there’s no trips out or tours?”
“No, dear. No trips or tours.”
“So, no scones with cream and catnip sprinkles either?”
“No scones. At least, not real scones. But virtual scones topped with virtual cream, and lashings of virtual nip ale, we have aplenty.”
“Well, I suppose virtual is the new reality,” Erin said, contemplating if she needed to have a virtual bath and nap before a virtual tour. “Will we be doing a giveaway this week?”
“Yes, dear. One lucky reader who leaves a comment will have their name plucked from a hat—”
“A virtual hat or a real hat, Mrs H?” Erin interrupted.
“There will be no hat, just folded strips of real paper with names on. So, as I was saying, one lucky commenter will receive a copy of the Shadow Order. And before you ask, it will be a real book, not a virtual copy. Comments will close next Tuesday, 27th September 2022.”
Erin nodded sagely and was on the brink of asking another question but was stopped by a reproving look from Mrs H. “I think, dear, we best get on with the tour and introduce our guest.”
“Right you are, Mrs H.” Erin cleared her throat and, after a nonchalant straightening of the whiskers, addressed the laptop. “Dear readers, please give a warm Upper Much-Mousing welcome to our first guest, Rebecca F. John, author of the brilliant Middle-Grade book, The Shadow Order. Rebecca has kindly written the following article just for us about how she gets to know her characters.”
“Hello, Erin, and thank you for your question. My starting point for developing the characters in The Shadow Order was perhaps slightly unusual. Here is it…
Betsy – poodle x schnauzer, black and white, born 2015
Teddy – schnauzer, black, born 2016
Effie – cocker spaniel, blue roan, 2011 – 2021
Three dogs. My dogs really were the inspiration for the characters of Elizabeth’ Betsy’ Blue, Theodore ‘Teddy’ James, and Euphemia’ Effie’ Hart – three best friends who embark on a big adventure in The Shadow Order. I’ve mentioned my reasons for basing these characters on my dogs a few times, but it is perhaps also worth mentioning that echoing the dogs’ names, personality traits, and even, to some extent, their physical appearance (Betsy, for example, is the smallest of the three: a wiry, energetic girl who struggles to keep still) was just the beginning of building these characters.
I’m sure there are as many different ways to develop convincing characters as there are writers. I’ve heard some mention making lists of character traits or plotting their characters’ family histories. I’ve heard others say they sketch their characters, or compile playlists for them, or even talk to them. For my part, I usually start out with a strong visual idea of each character. Some writers, I know, aren’t particularly interested in what their characters look like. That idea feels completely alien to me! I certainly know a lot about my characters’ physicality before I start to write them: their eye colour, the way they walk, the manner in which they use their hands when they speak, what their voice sounds like. All those details come to me before I understand why.
It is only as I start to move them around on the page that I come to learn why I would want to know their stories. A writer friend once told me that if I was stuck with a scene, I should move somebody, even if it’s just across the kitchen to make a sandwich. And I think that’s a great trick to keep in mind. A lot of writing comes, for me, from the act of doing it, of moving my fingers over the keys, of finding out where that movement will carry my characters.
So what did I learn about Betsy, Teddy, and Effie as I moved them around the world I had built for them? Honestly, almost everything. As I wrote Betsy onto a street corner, waiting for her friend Teddy to arrive, I learnt that she cannot stay still for a moment. That she fizzes with energy. And as she fizzed around Copperwell, so I learnt that Betsy cannot relax because she has never known the security of a home, that she has bounced from temporary situation to temporary situation, making do, just as she does as a worker at Saltsburg’s Laundry at the start of the novel. I might never have known that about her, had I not put her on the page and allowed her to reveal herself to me.
I had similar experiences with the other main characters. Teddy’s low-shouldered lope betrays his lack of confidence in himself. I found the cause of that lack of confidence in his feelings of grief following the loss of his father. Without a role model, Teddy feels he doesn’t quite know how to go about the business of growing into a man.
And with these kinds of discoveries came the characters’ interests. Effie is the most sensible and staid of the three characters. She has grown up in a wealthy household and feels herself restricted by what is considered respectable dress, the presence of servants in her home, her parents’ important jobs. So it seemed only natural that Effie would challenge that feeling by becoming a jazz musician.
In this way, the characters grew alongside and because of their existence in their physical world. It seems to me as good a way as any to find our characters and the stories they inhabit. Move your fingers, move your characters, move through the story and see what you discover along the way. It’s exciting! It’s an adventure! To my mind, it’s a lot of fun!”
“Wow, thank you, Rebecca, that was really interesting, and I have to say far more complex than I thought. We loved that your three canine companions started the ball rolling and helped shape the characters. They thus have a special place in the book. Mrs H and I hope there is a sequel to this soon. But till then, we wish you and The Shadow Order a very successful launch. It certainly is a story we recommend!”
***
That, sadly is all we have time for this week. Thank you fellow bloggers and readers for being with us today. I hope you enjoyed the Upper Much-Mousing stop on The Shadow Order Book Blog Tour. Please do leave your comments below.
As is tradition, we leave you with a selfie of me stalking (in a virtual fashion) a long tail zebra mouse that Mrs H says now lives under the sofa!
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
But first, we head to Upper Much-Mousing. This week we find Erin and Mrs H in the Manor’s library, surrounded by history books about the Elizabethan period.
“Oh, my word! Surely they never used THAT to clean their clothes!” Erin exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. “You don’t,” Erin whispered something in Mrs H’s ear, “do you?”
“Heaven forfend; absolutely not.” Mrs H’s shocked expression quickly turned to a smile at Erin’s innocent question. “We have chemicals to do that sort of thing. And machines too. No more manual labour for the modern laundry worker.”
The library descended into silence again, only to be broken five minutes later by another outburst from Erin.
“Ewww, that is horrid; the smell must have been awful. Not to mention the rats. And just think if you were walking beneath the window when that happened!” Erin shuddered but offered no more explanation to a now curious Mrs H.
“Ah, this is more like it, Mrs H, pies! Good to know our ancestors liked meat pies. Though I’m not entirely sure I like the name they gave them, it conjures up the wrong image of what’s inside.”
“And what did they call their pies back then?” Mrs H had stopped knitting, determined to get a bit more information from Erin.
“Coffins, Mrs H, coffins! They must have had a robust constitution to face one of those for breakfast when the plague was about!”
Mrs H leaned over and looked at the pictures and text Erin had been reading. “They called them that because the pastry was thick and shaped a bit like a coffin and was just as well sealed so the contents within would last some time.”
“That sounds horrible. Sort of reminds me of that job-lot of second world war, army surplus Christmas mince pies that Mrs Singh’s brother-in-law got hold of. We’ve still got some of those, haven’t we?”
“Yes, dear. And still ‘in-date’, too.” Mrs H frowned. She was not one for wasting food but just couldn’t bring herself to risk opening an item over 70 years old. “I think I’ll send them to the clay pigeon shooting range for their next Open Day.”
“To eat?” Erin asked incredulously, remembering what happened to the vicar’s false teeth when the packets of pies had got mixed up.
“No dear, to shoot at. Judging by their weight and sturdiness, I suspect they’ll be reusable!”
With Mrs H and Erin descending into laughter, I think it’s time to look at this week’s book, a mighty fine Elizabethan adventure called HONESTY & LIES.
BOOK TITLE & AUTHOR: Honesty and Lies by Eloise Williams
Cover art by: Cynthia Paul
Published by: Firefly Press
Publication date: 6th October 2022
Paperback ISBN: 978 191 310 2999
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Kindle Version to be available? Yes
Pages: 288.
Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)
Any dogs or cats? No, but a strangely attired squirrel!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Eloise Williams, all at Firefly Press & NetGalley for the delight of getting to Read & Review this winning book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
Honesty is a welsh girl, no more than 13yrs, who has escaped to London to avoid a marriage arranged by her father to a much older, loathsome man. Arriving in the bitter cold of Christmas time, she is taken aback by the dirt, stink, chaos, and the noisy hustle and bustle of the streets. She needs her wits to keep her purse and life in this place. Will her quick tongue and way with stories be any help?
Fleeing from an attacker, she runs into Alice, a girl of about the same age, who it seems is a maid of some import at Queen Elizabeth’s court. Honesty realises Alice is key to gaining work and thus safety, so she follows her into the grounds of Greenwich Palace. In so doing, Honesty foils an attempt on the queen’s life. Her reward is to get to be a maid with Alice. And so begins a journey that starts out of Alice’s need, then twists and turns through skullduggery, betrayal, treason, envy, lost friendships, and rivalries created.
While Honesty doesn’t want her past catching up with her, Alice has a secret in her present that gnaws at her very soul. It could be the end of her and her family if discovered by the palace guards . . .
So, what did we think?
As you may recall from our review of WILDE, Eloise is a highly skilled writer and the inaugural Welsh Children’s Laureate. She has created a compelling gem-of-a-tale, steeped in the atmosphere, characters and smells of Elizabethan London, both good and bad. It is maybe one of which the bard or even Chaucer would approve.
Unlike Anna Fargher’s book, ‘The Fire Cats of London’, which we reviewed a few months ago (LINK HERE), this book is far less brutal in depicting the reality of period life. But that doesn’t mean this is in any way a less appealing or less well-constructed tale. In fact, quite the reverse. The detailed descriptions of life for the Londoners, as well as that of the courtiers, are very compelling. Whilst not long, it packed a punch of excitement, tension and a powerful sense of person and place.
The twin, first-person narrative in alternating chapters from Alice and Honesty works really well, especially when the two try, often wrongly, to make sense of each other’s actions and emotions.
The book’s title is a lovely play on what the reader will discover within its pages. I shall say no more on that for fear I will take away from the plot.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend this tale. I could see this as a favourite in the classroom for out-loud reading and discussion. Anyone interested in a short but eloquent middle-grade story of Elizabethan life will find much in here to please them.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy – avoiding some of the more unpleasant smells and deeds of Elizabeth I’s London – please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource – minus dubious meat pies and ale – with a personal touch.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
This week Mrs H and Erin have been contemplating a short holiday. . . .
“Foreign travel is always a good experience; it broadens the young mind.” Mrs H said, gesturing to the picture of the pyramids. “Egypt has so much to offer, lots of history and —”
“And scorching sand which plays havoc on the paws; not forgetting the spitting alpacas!” Erin said with a grimace as she vividly recalled her encounter with an alpaca at the Eastlambtonshire Horticultural Show. It had taken Mrs H two hours, a warm bath and lots of scented soap to remove the phlegm, not to mention the smell from Erin’s fur!
“Camels, dear,” Mrs H rolled her eyes. “Egypt has camels.”
“They have camels AND alpacas! I bet the laundry shops must do a roaring trade!”
“So that will be a no to Egypt then, will it?” Mrs H said with a wry smile as she placed the Egyptian Tours brochure into the recycling bin along with others from countries that Erin had found fault with, on a purely feline basis of them wasting good creamy milk on making far too smelly cheeses.
“Maybe we should just go for an out-of-season break, instead. A trip to the seaside would be fun. And we could have your favourite – Fish N Chips followed by Catnip Candyfloss! Then after a brisk walk along the promenade, we can take in a show at the pier’s ice rink. I see ‘Puss In Boots on Water’ is on this year.”
“Umm, shouldn’t that be ‘Puss In Boots on ICE’, Mrs H?”
“Well, yes, ordinarily. But it says here that due to the heatwave and the ice machine breaking, the ice is a no-go. Shall I book the train tickets for Saturday, then?”
“Oh yes, please! And let’s not forget to take something to read. I seem to recall Thomas Taylor sent us a book he wanted us to review. Fester something?”
“It’s grimm, dear.” Mrs H said, picking up a book from the table.
“Well, that seems a bit judgmental, Mrs H; we’ve not even read it yet!”
“No dear, ‘FESTERGRIMM’ is the title. I’m sure this latest adventure in Eerie-on-Sea will be anything other than grim. In fact, I sneaked a quick read and suffice to say, I do believe this is his best adventure to date!”
The following Saturday, the two could be found on deckchairs on the sundrenched promenade of Cliffhanger-on-Sea, enjoying a good read. However, the seagulls were not enjoying it one bit as Mrs H had brought her recently patented Garlic Gull Replant suncream!
And talking of gulls, let’s get on with this review of FESTERGRIMM, the latest adventure for Herbie Lemon and Violet Parma in what has to be one of the best MG mystery series of its kind . . .
Any dogs or cats? But of course, we have Erwin the talking cat reprising his role.
SPOILER ALERT
YES. As we are four books in, some of what follows gives away aspects of the previous book/s. Please read from the first adventure if you don’t wish to know.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Thomas Taylor, Walker Books and NetGalley for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this spookily fantastic book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
Reviews of Books 1 to 3 can be found using the links below.
The plot
It is the back end of November, and Herbie, the Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, has a queasy feeling in his stomach. This is definitely foreboding. Having been forced to carry the bags of an unknown VIP, he finds himself on the platform of Cheerie-on-Sea’s train station. The spooky feeling gets worse when he, Mr Mollusc (the hotel’s irksome manager) and Violet Parma (Herbie’s best pal) hear sudden thudding footsteps and an awful shuffling on the platform’s canopy! Is it a zombie? Could it be a …… Well, you’ll have to read that to find out. But let me say, what transpires is enough to cause Herbie and Violet much upset and Mr Mollusc much sadistic mirth. But more of that new character later!
When the immense bulk of Bethuselah – an old train and not a visitor – arrives at the platform in a vast cloud of steam and then leaves again without disgorging a passenger, it seems the mysterious VIP hasn’t turned up. But then, like the worst possible of nightmares, Sebastian Eels appears like a ghost out of the vapour. And deceased is what Herbie and Violet thought he was after the previous adventure! Their arch-enemy, who knows more about Herbie’s past than he tells and is responsible for the death of Violet’s parents, is once more back in Eerie-on-Sea. Herbie and Violet know he is up to no good, but what he has planned, they do not know.
Later, when Dr Thalassi, Wendy Fossil (the resident beachcomber and proprietor of the Flotsamporium) and Jenny Hanniver (owner of Eerie Book Dispensary), all friends of Herbie and Violet, hear of the news, they suggest caution. If Eels is to be sorted out and warned off, the adults will do it. Herbie and Violet are to steer clear. They can’t actually do anything as Eels’ arrival is open, and his plans are unknown.
After some investigation, it transpires that Eels has persuaded Lady Kraken to allow him to open a long-closed and forgotten tourist attraction, FESTERGRIMM. It is Eerie-on-Sea’s own spine-chilling version of Madam Tussaud’s waxworks. Someone was even found dead of fright, having spent the night in its dark and decidedly weird passages lined with uncanny clockwork likenesses of infamous people from Eerie’s past.
Needless to say, there is more to Festergrimm than just waxworks. The name hales from a far darker past. Herbie and Violet learn of a maker of clockwork toys so exquisite and advanced they were beyond compare and sought-after gifts when Ludovic Festergrimm came for the annual fair in centuries past. But, on losing his only child in uncharted tunnels under the seaside town, he was driven to despair and, some say, a madness that consumed him and drove him to build a clockwork monster to find his long-lost daughter.
What that monster did is a matter of record, but one the townsfolk have forgotten. It certainly isn’t something that Mrs Fossil wants dragging up.
So, with Eels offering the town a moneymaking attraction and having wangled the support of the townsfolk and Lady Kraken, there seems little to stop Eels from his dastardly plan. Oh yes, there is one, alright, and it falls on Herbie, dragged along by Violet, to not only discover what it is but put an end to the ever-so-slippery Eels.
Destruction, chaos, lies, monsters, long buried treasures and secrets not meant to be exposed lurk deep within the pages of Eerie’s history. There is tragedy, too, vital and misunderstood. The only thing that stands between the past from revisiting the present is Herbie, Violet and Erwin the cat. Together, willingly or not, they enter into a rollercoaster of an adventure far more scary and dangerous than anything they have done before and certainly do not wish to do again . . . at least not without a cup of strong tea and some dunkable biscuits and cake!
Oh, as to the monster at the train station, well, I’ll let you discover it for yourself! But where he goes, a host of trouble follows.
So, what did we think?
Ok, so I cannot give too much away here, but Thomas Taylor confirmed to us that this is the penultimate book in the series. But we are assured that the final instalment, Mermedusa, will be brilliant and “Lots will be revealed”.
That said, Mr Taylor hasn’t held back on this book; instead, he has outdone himself. This is an adventure with all the toppings. Think of the best fish and chip supper with just the right amount of your fav condiments.
This is one series, like the best, that we as readers will never be weary of. The regular characters all appear, but they never feel old or tired. Nicely where they need to be and bringing the foil to our two main protagonists, arguably three, as Erwin the talking cat helps save the day in his own inimitable feline way. A villain we love to hate is a must, and Sebastian Eels is just that. Herbie sums him up very well when he thinks of him in the VIP room at the hotel as “…pulling the wings off fairies or eating puppies with cake forks…” Conivingly devious and utterly untrustworthy, yet, for some of the adult characters, he is worthy of a second chance!
Of course, all that isn’t enough, and the sheer fluidity of the plot, its twists and turns, some literal, and the first person narrative by Herbie Lemon, are a treat. As I read the book, it seems that Thomas has defined everything that my mind’s eye wants and needs to see in the story, the things I recognise from a seaside town visit and the things one might fear lurking in dark alleyways once the holiday season ends. To borrow a phrase from me recently, you can smell the adventure, salt and vinegar in the pages.
Roll all these attributes together, and we have an adventure that would not be out of place on the big screen or as a Television series. Sadly the proposed movie of Malamander, by a Sony Pictures, never came about. Hopefully, now they will think again!
So . . . .
Crunch time.
The series thus far has been an absolute must for readers across the world. But don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself. And yes, whilst this is book four, you can read it as a standalone. But it is far better to take it from the start.
Reviews of Books 1 to 3 can be found using the links below.
To get a copy, unharrased by passing seagulls, irate townsfolk and wayward monsters, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Read & Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
Before we get stuck in to this special review, I have some local news: As the temperatures soar in my village of Upper Much-Mousing, Mrs Gauze, proprietor of ‘Clips & Snips’ the village hairdressers, has advised that she is now offering short back, sides, tummy and legs to all sheep in need. She also offers a variety of rinses, and tells me the pink is proving very popular at the moment with younger ewes. It is waterproof, too, which is rather handy, as the local swimming pool has opened its doors to the beleaguered local flock so they can cool down and get some exercise. The ‘Baaathing with Sheep’ sessions have proved very popular with the not-so-able and learner villagers who have found the sheep make excellent mobile bouyancy aids!
One major downside of this heatwave is that Mrs H refuses to bake. And no baking means no cream for me. So it was with great relief that she announced a cake delivery. Dashing downstairs I was confronted not with a huge pile of cake boxes, but with a rather ordinary looking package.
“Is that what I think it is, Mrs H, ‘the proof’?” I asked, suddenly noticing the small image of a train on the address label.
“I do believe it is, Erin. And as it’s nearly eleven o’clock, just in time for midmorning tea! Shall I do the honors opening? Mrs H asked, knowing full well I’d probably just shred the envelope as well as the contents in my eagerness.
Nodding in agreement, I sat back for the big reveal of the proof copy of the most hotly anticipated, mouth-watering new book releases of the year!
The telephone was taken off the hook, a pot of tea was made, and a new pack of dunkable digestive biscuits were plated up. Fully prepared, we sat down in the cool shade of an old oak tree, and read….. ALICE ÉCLAIR, SPY EXTRAORDINAIRE! A Recipe for Trouble.
Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Recipe for Trouble. by SARAH TODD TAYLOR
Cover art by: BEATRIZ CASTRO
Published by: NOSY CROW
Publication date: 4 AUGUST 2022
Paperback ISBN: 978 183 994 0958
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Pages: 272.
Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)
Any dogs or cats? Yes, a feline called Casper, who I suspect gets more than his fair share of creme!
SPOILER ALERT
Yes, some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Hannah Prutton & Nosy Crow books for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about, and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
From the setting of London for the much-lauded and entertaining ‘Max the Detective Cat‘ series, Sarah Todd Taylor has sailed across the channel to the wonderful city of Paris for the first book in her brand new adventure series, the first of which is titled ‘Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire! A Recipe for Trouble‘.
We dive straight into the mix on the opening page and meet Alice Éclair, a gifted 13-year-old cake maker, as she puts the finishing touches to an extraordinary and beautiful cake decorated with a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Made from icing, spun sugar, and paper-thin sheets of caramel, it is a mouth-watering joy to behold. Alice’s widowed mother is the owner of Paris’s famed pâtisserie, Vive Comme L’Éclair, and it is here during the day that she creates too-good-too-eat masterpieces – cakes for Paris’s finest hotels and lucky customers.
However, her mother doesn’t know that Alice has led a double life over the last year. It started with an anonymous puzzle in an unsigned birthday card, followed by cyphers, treasure hunts and crosswords. Alice initially thought it was her mother having fun, but she soon realised an anonymous person was training her to be a spy. She even received lock picks and skeleton keys. Who the spymaster is, she isn’t sure, but she has an idea.
Her training assignments started in earnest when she had to pass a secret note to a woman on a bridge. Now though, her task is more complex and potentially very dangerous. She has to retrieve a microfilm containing secrets stolen by a foreign spy, secrets that she is told will jeopardise France’s security! Why a girl for such an important task? Well, who pays attention to a child? Once she has the film, she will finally meet the person behind it all.
Like her baking, Alice is a skilled agent and soon completes the task. But in so doing, she uncovers more than she could have dreamed possible. One thing leads to another, and her trusted spymaster seeds the idea of another mission. It is one Alice feels she can do and wants to do for France. But to complete the task, she has to join France’s most luxurious train, The Sapphire Express. But she can’t go as a passenger and enrols as a pastry chef!
From here on in, the chase is on, and in true Christie fashion, the plot, like a cake mix, thickens as the train speeds to its destination in Monte Carlo!
Like the best cinematic and literary adventures, there are plenty of clues and suspects to test a young spy. What Alice lacks in worldly experience, she makes up for in determination and imagination. All good lead characters have an ally or sidekick, and in this adventure, Alice meets a young, cultured teenage girl called Penelope Fulmington. Well-intentioned and bored of the staid company of her father, Penelope soon becomes a useful sleuthing friend.
As to red herrings? Well, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that whilst there are no fish on the menu this time, there is plenty of cake colouring to keep Alice and her new friend, Penelope, guessing, and the plot steaming along and the mind engaged. I can’t say much more than this, except that the sum of the parts I mention is far greater.
So, what did we think?
The author’s style is pleasing, engaging and very easy to read. There is a real sense of person and place. Once I started, I had to carry on.
Never once did I feel bogged down in dialogue or description. I can appreciate from my work how challenging it is to achieve this. Great books, like great cakes, require the best ingredients in the right quantities, the best presentation, and above all, a great cook. It is also evident that the author’s passion for baking, music, clothes and spy adventures has gone into this story.
If you have read the ‘Max the detective Cat‘ series already, then you will know what I mean here about the author’s style. If not, do dip your toe into this younger age group feline adventure series. They are very readable shorter adventures that are thoroughly fun and immersive, like this story.
In this latest series, which is geared up for an older MG reader (9-12 upwards), I felt instantly at home in the settings in which we found ourselves. There was always enough magic in the words to paint precisely the right image in the mind. The Sapphire Express, for example, its kitchens, carriages and quarters all resonate as correct as did the cast of passengers/suspects. Even though I have not been to Paris, travelled on luxury trains, or met such people, I felt I had.
The plot is elegant, warming and friendly. And yet, where it had to be, it wasn’t afraid to set out consequences and portray betrayal and evil as appropriate to the age range. Pleasingly, Alice is not precocious as so many of the characters in MG books tend to be. As a result, for me she is more rounded, friendly and thus more relatable.
Scenes of life-threatening daring made us hark back to the best train and thriller movies. It also made us think of authors past, such as Agatha Christie, and to place this unique story alongside the works of contemporary authors such as Robin Stevens, MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman.
As to cakes, well, as soon as I have finished writing this, I’ll be heading off to place an order for meringues and cream, topped with fresh strawberries!
So . . . .
Crunch time.
This is a fun, ‘toothsome’ adventure that is sure to please. The only crunch here would be what cakes to have with your cup of tea as you read this exciting introduction to Alice’s world. How Sarah will better this, I do not know. For the readers, I am sure one slice will not be enough. . .
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch. Do make sure you buy cakes too, for yourself and your reader.
Hello, and welcome to A Saturday HOT READ & REVIEW featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
Mrs H and I have been basking in the shade this last fortnight, enjoying a bit of downtime now that summer is here. As UK summers go quickly, we decided to let the grass get longer. Fear not, dear readers and fellow haymakers, I have Mrs H and the electric Flymo scheduled to mow the 14-acre field next weekend. The only problem is finding enough extension leads?
Anyways, it was just yesterday that we finished our latest HOT read. A sea and land based adventure that had us on the edge of our deckchairs right up to the very last pages. It was the perfect way to round off a lazy afternoon, and what now seems to be the last day of summer.
The author of this HOT read is Sharon Gosling, and she has a new kitten, called NEWT, who is utterly adorable! Follow Sharon and NEWT on TWITTER using the the twitter tag: @sharongosling
So, without further ado, I ask you to join me in The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott.
The Extraordinary Voyage of Katy Willacott, by SHARON GOSLING
Cover art and ship illustration by: Kristina Kiser
Published by: LITTLE TIGER GROUP
Publication date: 7 JULY 22
Paperback ISBN: 9781788954181
Cover price for Paperback: £7.99
Pages 288.
Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)
Any dogs or cats? Yes, a fantastic and sleek black cat called Shadow.
SPOILER ALERT
The bare minimum to lay the plot and introduce characters.
Disclaimer.
We were lucky enough to be approved by Little Tiger Group to review this book for you.
The plot
The year is 1879.
The place, victorian London, England.
Our heroine, Katy Willacott is Mary’s daughter. Mary is a skilled and respected botanical taxonomist at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. It is also where Granpa Ned works as a constable. Her father, Josiah, works as an assistant archaeologist for the British Museum. Together with Grandma Peg and elder brother Stefan, they live rent-free in the quaint but tiny Rose Cottage that belongs to Kew Gardens.
Katy helps her mother identify and catalogue new species of plants sent back by explorers from across the globe. It is an age when men do all the fun stuff like explore, and women are considered only suited to minor and apparently less skilled roles and running the home.
It is, however, not a life that Katy wants. She craves the adventures undertaken by daring women of the age. Women who journeyed to foreign lands and up the Amazon. Women like her heroine, adventurer and journalist, Francesca Brocklehurst, whose articles are published in all the newspapers.
Katy meets Fran when she comes to Kew Gardens to write about her mother, a notable woman in science. The interview is going swimmingly right up to the point where Sir Thomas Derby appears. He is overseeing the construction of the Natural History Museum. Having mistaken Katy’s mum for a cleaner, he then goes on to say how he means to have her work taken out of the hands of amateurs and that standards must have slipped so low as they were employing women. And that the female brain didn’t have the capacity for proper scientific reasoning.
The obnoxious, loathsome windbag that is Sir Thomas does rather set the scene and tone for things to come.
But when Katy learns that Sir Thomas is heading off on an expedition to locate and retrieve some fallen meteorites in Brazil, Katy resolves to join the ship’s crew. But not as Katy Willacott, but in disguise as a cabin boy called William Chandler.
Now, it would be remiss of me to tell you much more than she does manage to get on board Sir Thomas’s ship, the SS Alerte. From this point, the adventure takes a rollercoaster ride across the ocean to Salvador, Brazil, and into the jungle.
You will NOT be disappointed in what happens.
So, what did we think?
One girl fighting to break away from the ordinary, expected, mundane and perceived feeble-minded victorian woman’s role.
Running away from home and travelling across to Brazil to follow her heart and find a meteorite seems drastic. But that is what it took to be not just noticed as a woman back then but also to feel alive. Determination, bravery, and a sense of right are her tools. She makes mistakes, and we see as she sees the consequences of her actions. But we see also the good that comes from doing the right thing. Good karma is one way of looking at it; the spirit of the jungle is another.
The strength of the villain and supporting characters, from Sir Thomas to the Alerte’s captain to the natives in Salvador, is a delight. The tone and atmosphere infuse the pages with that special magic that means we get invested in the story and cry at the end.
The story has a solid ethical voice that is still relevant to this day, probably more so. Through the eyes of Katy Willacott, we get to explore the gender roles, values, and opportunities of the time. We see as she sees the result of greed, the rape of the land and appropriation of ‘specimens’ and plundering of resources by a colonial power irrespective of cost to the local peoples or environment.
This is such an empowering and entertaining story. A feast for the imagination in the same way as Emma Carroll’s book: Escape to the River Sea, which we will be reviewing shortly, and thoroughly enjoyed.
In fact, I would recommend them as worthy and happy bookshelf companions for the young reader with an eye on foreign travel and seeing women achieving in a time when women were expected not to.
As strong as the lessons in this fine book are, they do not overwhelm the story. It is 100% magic and is recommended for all.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Without a doubt, treat someone to this book when it comes out. Sharon Gosling is a skilled writer, and the observant reader will note some of her other MG characters appear in this book. Her first adult novel, The House Beneath the Cliffs, was published in 2021.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, and there is absolutely NO need to run away to Brazil, just head to your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.
If any publishers wish us to review their books, please contact us. Details are listed on our book review page.
If anyone has a 1000 meter extension lead, please do leave your contact details in the comments and I’ll have Mrs H get back to you after she’s washed the dishes!
Until next week, I shall leave you with my customary selfie. Till Laters!
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Tales & Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
Mrs H and I have spent the last few weeks editing our latest swashbuckling Middle-Grade adventure, provisionally titled ‘Pirates and Privateers – the curse of Cardinal Camembert.’
I have to say that it has shaped up really well, especially as Mrs H is not a pro-editor. Sudoku and cryptic crosswords are her things, which may explain why her handwriting is as illegible as a doctor’s prescription! She says it’s code from her days in the secret service. Me, I think it’s the sherry.
Either way, it has resulted in some rather strange goods being sent by the food delivery people ‘Tres Chic Eats’. This week we got two dozen quill ends and a brace of pea soups. There was also an apology, as they had to substitute one item. As they didn’t have any one-ton poodles, they sent a small Highland Terrier instead! I’ll let you all figure out what should have been delivered 🙂. For a bit of fun, leave your answers below, and we’ll see what delights you can come up with.
After the shopping fiasco, we needed a good book. So I pointed Mrs H to one of our favourite publishers, Firefly Press, and a soon-to-be-released book that had been sat on my bedside table for the last fortnight. I had been pawing my way through it and could tell it was something special.
It is set in America and has a strong underlying story. Mrs H had a tear when she read the end-page notes. “I’m very pleased we read this,” she said, nodding sagely as she does when she’s found something important. “I’ll have a word with Ms Primm, the village school librarian and let her have this copy. You dictate the blog review to me, and we’ll let the world know all about this story.”
So, without further ado, I present Hazel Hill is Gonna Win this One.
Yes, some as to plot direction and underlying themes and characters.
Disclaimer.
We are lucky enough to be approved by Firefly Press to review their books for you. We do this through either NetGalley or proof copies. We receive no remuneration for this but do take great pleasure in sharing the books we enjoy.
The plot
The Hazel Hill of the title lives in a town in America. She’s 12. More of a loner by desire, she likes to keep her head down and get on with life. She thinks she doesn’t need friends, and the easy-going, touchy-feely way they interact is not for her. For Hazel, who realises she is gay, all that stuff isn’t who she feels she is or the attention she wants. Her goal is to get on with life and win the Speech Competition at school. Her motivation is to beat her nemesis, fellow seventh-grader Ella Quinn, who snatched the prize from her the previous year.
Life ticks on by for Hazel, and all is pretty much good. If there was one fly in the ointment, besides her howling newborn baby brother, it was fellow seventh grader Tyler Harris. Very much a popular kid, he can do no wrong in the eyes of the teachers or his mother. He has the annoying habit of sharing his feelings and the crushes he has on other girls with Hazel. In fact, Hazel knows everything about Tyler, too much in fact. He shares it all because he thinks she’s friendless and nobody will find out what he says.
And then it happens. Tyler drops the bombshell that Ella has a crush on her! How could he know? Was it a prank? Tyler seems bitter about his break-up with Ella. Scared of how this news will affect her life, Hazel needs to know if Ella feels the same way.
This is the catalyst for a tale that reveals Tyler’s true nature. From a serial dater of 67.5% of the girls in that grade year alone, he becomes a serial online harasser. And the focus of his beastly attention appears to be Ella!
So, what did we think?
This story stands tall, proud and squarely against bullying and sexual harassment.
A rare, empowering read: Enboldening, supportive, eloquent, and gender inclusive.
It tackles supremely well a horrible issue that, for many school-age girls, and adults, has been tragically ignored or rejected. For some, it is even turned back on them as their own fault, leaving them scared and scarred.
Based on the author’s own experiences, this wonderful story evolves as Hazel takes on the challenge to stop Tyler. Facing not only their fears but also parents and teachers, Hazel Ella and their friend, Riley, discover the path to getting the truth not just out there, but believed, is a tortuous one.
As someone who suffered bullying and abuse, Mrs H says shrugging such things off or burying them within is not what we must do or encourage. There is no honour or bravery in suffering. And believing children are immune to such things is wrong.
But, as all victims of abuse know, whatever age or gender, finding the strength to fight your corner and for what is right, to be heard, is incredibly difficult. Far more so for girls and women who most often pay a far higher price for sexual harassment.
Finally, and by no means least, a significant strength of this book is that it will foster discussion. And that will raise awareness and thus open the door to save others from the same hurt. Of course, we all need to be on the same page to do that!
So . . . .
Crunch time.
Without a doubt, this book has a place in and should be discussed at every school. It works across the many levels of involvement from teacher to parent, friends and family.
As such, this well-crafted, thought-provoking, empowering story needs no additional recommendation from us. Buy, enjoy, & share with those that will benefit.
Want to buy a copy?
Pre-orders are available now! To get a copy, please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource, fun and adventure with a personal touch.
I was going to skip the bit about the weather continuing to be rainy, when it turned warmish and dry. But on getting up this morning at 2am, Mrs H came back to bed and advised that, yup, you guessed it, it was back to rain again! So it’s a no change day after all.
It seems the world, nature, is screaming that we need to do something quick or else we will be washed away in torrents of rain and misery. Most of which Ol’Ned attributes to the greed of political animals, and big business. Which Mrs H and I have to agree with.
That said, we wont sit back and wait for others to act. Mrs H has been researching a home battery to go with the solar panels we had installed on the manor house’s roof many years ago. She says we could, by buying our electricity at the cheap rate and storing it for use when it is expensive, save a small fortune.
I went away and did some sum math, and figured that will keep her in sherry and me in catnip for eternity!
Anyways, the whole, hole in tooth affair seems, like the hole, to be drawing to a literal and metaphoric close. The gums are drawing together and pain easing.
Soon she will be fighting fit and off light duties. Though to be fair, the only thing she has really been grateful for missing is the taste testing of Mrs Granites home made rock cakes, which live up to her name, especially the bullet like raisins within!
Anyways, here is my not so stone-like selfie, taken earlier in the week with the coming of the sun, albeit a short coming 😉
Whatever the weather, we hope you have a good week, filled with sunshine, love and joy. And to feel the force, do consider a home battery and solar panels!
Erin the Literary Cat 
