Nancy Parker's Diary of Detection by Julia Lee - Review!

 I was really pleased to receive a proof copy of this book  from OUP for review as I am always on the lookout for something a bit different and this is certainly a hugely original book!

Our introduction to Nancy comes through the form of her journal which begins as she turns fourteen years old and leaves school to find work. It's an immediately appealing voice, honest and engaging and we follow Nancy being hired as a house maid by the intriguing Mrs Bryce and their subsequent move to a seaside resort for the summer.

We're introduced to two further characters - curious, clever Ella Otter and daydreaming, bumbling Quentin Ives - and the book revolves around their three inter linking storylines.

It's an utterly charming read and I loved never knowing exactly what was going to happen next! It kept me guessing throughout as there are several possible mysteries that our protagonists are investigating and the plot moves along at a cracking pace.

I really enjoyed the historical aspect and setting the book in the 1920's adds a real charm to the storyline without ever being heavy handed or overdone.

All of the characters are very well drawn and despite several storylines, voices and storytelling devices I never felt confused. Julia Lee holds the reins of this tale in expert hands and there's a real confidence in the mystery genre on show.

It's a perfect read for any children who enjoy mysteries and adventure and it steers clear from anything too disturbing or gory. Budding detectives will love this tale and I'm sure be entirely captivated by it's rousing heroine Nancy Parker.

I felt this could do really well as a series and I hope we see much more of these engaging characters in further tales.

Treasured Favourites: Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators

As a child I pretty much lived on a diet of mystery stories. The Famous Five books pulled me in but it was Blyton's Blyton Five Find Outers books that got me hooked and turned me into a seven-year-old addict. These books had mysteries that required proper deduction to reach a solution, whereas it nearly always seemed that Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy tended to just stumbled across the answers to whatever mystery they found themselves sucked into. The Famous Five books were adventure stories, the Five Find Outers books were definitely mystery stories.

As I started to grow out of the Blyton mysteries I discovered two new series: Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, and The Hardy Boys. And again, it was the series that involved proper deduction that had me hook, live and sinker. Not just this, but the Three Investigators themselves seemed far more real to me than the somewhat privileged Hardy brothers: Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews and Pete Crenshaw were from working class families; they were nearer my age and thus couldn't drive and had to rely on peddle-power, lifts and a chauffeur driven limo (the use of which Jupiter had won in a competition). Apart from the limo, this was pretty damn close to my own personal experiences.

I first discovered these books whilst on a family holiday to the Isle of Wight. Books were big in our household, but as the eldest of (at this point) four money was tight and new books were something of a luxury. However, every year on holiday I was allowed to buy a new book from one of those white vertical display carousels that most beach front shops had outside. By this time I owned and had read and re-read all of those aforementioned Blyton books, and I was drawn to the cover of a book in a series I had not heard of before. That book, which I still own today, was The Mystery of the Green Ghost. 

From that moment on I picked up Three Investigators books whenever I could: jumble sales, charity shops, and occasionally the local library (only occasionally because these were books I NEEDED to own, whereas I was never interested in owning/collecting the Hardy Boys books, and so I borrowed these from the library by the car load). With funds tight it took me a looong time to collect them all (or at least what, at the time, I thought was the whole series), and so naturally each book could got read multiple times, and I'm talking well into double figures here.

My hunger for stories featuring action, adventure and mystery was more than satisfied with these books. This was proper mystery solving by kids who, apart from living in California, were very similar to me (or at least, so they seemed to my eight-year-old brain). Jupiter Jones was the brains of the trio; Pete Crenshaw brought physical prowess (and a nervousness that made him seem all the more real); and Bob Andrews was the bookish one, although this came with a talent for research and record-keeping. The three boys had this amazing secret base of operations hidden under the multitude of items in Jupe's Uncle's junkyard, with three secret entrances, cleverly named Green Gate One, Red Gate Rover, and (less imaginatively) Tunnel Two. Inside their hideout they had a printing press, a telephone and a host of other items that were essential for their investigations, and for a good few years I yearned to live in Rocky Beach, California, and be the owner of a 3 Investigators "We Investigate Anything" business card and a coloured piece of chalk.

Sadly, I had to make do with living in middle England, but I made myself one of those cards and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a piece of chalk as well... and various detective and secret agent manuals, a fingerprint kit, a code making kit (yes, it was my little middle grade obsession, and at that point in my life I was most definitely going to be a detective, or a spy).

The use of Alfred Hitchcock as a character within the books was a stroke of genius. Not only did it work as a method of giving the books a real-world feel, but it also meant that plot threads at the end of every mystery could be explained to the reader when the boys went for their obligatory post-mystery meeting with the famous film director. It also meant for a much greater variety in the mysteries the boys had to solve as Hitchcock could be used as a vehicle to introduce some of the more exotic and out-of-the-ordinary mysteries, that a trio of young boys were unlikely to stumble across on a daily basis. For many years I believed that Hitchcock wrote these books, somehow missing the mention of Robert Arthur, William Arden et al in the credits at the beginning of the books, and I must confess that I was well in to my twenties when, on yet another re-read, I stumbled across the truth. I was gutted and felt cheated (for a few seconds at least), but very quickly settled back down to read a treasured favourite for the umpteenth time.

Some of the mysteries were more complex and 'clever' than others, and it was these ones, often involving some kind of riddle, that I enjoyed the most. Favourite books in the series include The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot, The Mystery of the Screaming Clock and The Mystery of the Dead Man's Riddle. I still like to read them these days, and if I am just going to dip in it is usually one of these three that I will pick up first.

For many years I believed that the series ended at #29, The Mystery of the Sinister Scarecrow. However, with the advent of the internet I eventually discovered that the series ran to 43 books, and although I now own all of them, these latter ones in the series have only been read once, as they do not have the nostalgic magical hold on me that books 1 through to 29 have.

I feel that the books have aged fairly well, although naturally I am totally blinded by nostalgia. Obviously these were days before mobile phones, personal computers and digital cameras and so the 'gadgets' that the three boys used would seem very antiquated to today's readers. However, the mysteries are still pretty damn entertaining, and I personally feel that it is a tragedy that these books are all long out of print. It disappoints me greatly that Blyton's various mystery series that seen multiple reprints and new editions, whilst Jupiter, Bob and Pete are complete strangers to the vast majority of today's young readers. 

There just don't seem to be enough mystery series around for middle grade readers these days and, I say bravely, I would even be interested in seeing someone else take over the writing of these, updated to the 21st Century, perhaps with Spielberg in the Hitchcock seat. Although only if the mysteries could remain as clever and intriguing as they always were, and not just become a series of adventure stories, with Famous Five/Hardy Boys right-place/right-time denouements.

by Darren Hartwell, (Book Zone (For Boys) blog

Review: Violet and the Hidden Treasure by Harriet Whitehorn

This story begins on New Year's Eve in a palace in India. Violet is busy helping herself to a large plate of chicken curry, rice, dhal and samosas and anything else she can cram onto it, from a long table groaning under the weight of umpteen dishes of deliciousness.

 

Published by Simon and Schuster in March 2015

 

Summary

 Meet Violet Remy-Robinson, an amateur Sherlock Holmes in the making...Violet has spent her Easter holiday exploring India with Godmother Celeste, including visiting Celeste's good friend the Maharajah and meeting his very special parrot. And when she returns home, only to get a visit from the Maharajah's butler, asking her to look after the parrot, Violet couldn't be more surprised (and her cat Pudding couldn't be less pleased…). But as Violet discovers, the parrot holds the key to the Maharajah's fortune, and someone is trying to parrot-nap her! Can she discover who the culprit is before they succeed? Violet is on the case…

******

What a delightful book! Everything about this book, makes you want to hug it. This is the one I will be buying several copies of and giving out  as presents this year. It really is the whole package.  Do not buy this book as an Ebook, as it is too beautiful to miss out on as a hard back. The cover is stroke  worthy and the  detailed llustrations on the cover and through out from Becka Moor need to be looked at again and again.

The story is simply gorgeous. I adored Violet straightaway. She is the type of kid I would've loved to have been. when I was younger - lucky enough to travel the world at such a young age and see so many interesting sights. She is gutsy, determined and extremely charming, not to mention adorable. She does has some rather unusual hobbies though. You don't normally imagine a girl at her age being a bit of an expert at poker, as well as the fine art of bluffing. She is a kid that cares. She wants to do the right thing, and is only too happy to look after the Maharajah's parrot, until the new heir is named. When someone sets out to steal Maharani, she won't stop at anything to protect him and bring him home safely.

Violet is surrounded by a rather eccentric cast of characters, who are extremely well off and have come from all over the world. Before I started to read the book, I'd convinced myself it was set in the 1920's. Once I got into it, I realised I didn't have a clue when it was set. It has such a timeless feel to it, but then you get the odd snippets of modern society, such as the mention of Pot Noodles.

Reading one of Violet's adventures, is like stepping into another world. I really hope there will be many more adventures with Violet over the next few years.

 

 

Review: Diamonds and Daggers by Elen Caldecott

Piotr Domek was pretending  not to look. He sat with his back to the salon window, pretending he hadn't a care in the world, pretending this was any other regular, normal, ordinary kind of day. He wasn't watching the street outside. No way. He couldn't let Minnie think that. The only reason he had the mirror angled in his hand was because he was checking his fringe. He wasn't using the mirror to keep a careful, fixed, watchful eye on the street. Definitely not.

Published by Bloomsbury in February 2015

Pages - 216

Summary

Hollywood sensation, Betty Massino, has come to star in the theatre down the road and Piotr and his friends Andrew and Minnie couldn't be more excited! But when the famous actress's hugely expensive diamond necklace goes missing, Piotr's dad, a security guard at the theatre, is a prime suspect. Soon, Piotr faces the very real threat of being sent 'home' to Poland. With the help of Sylvie and her twin sister Flora, can Piotr, Andrew and Minnie solve the crime or will they lose Piotr forever?

****

 The name Elen Caldecott is synonymous with the modern Middle Grade mystery. When you pick up one of Elen's books, you know you are in for a thrilling adventure,  as you discover the secrets to the situation. Her latest book, Diamonds and Daggers is no exception. This is the first in a brand new series set in Marsh Road, which is based on a Lower Marsh in Lambeth, a street the author knew well. The author's familiarity with it is  clear as you read the book, as Marsh Road comes to life as  a character in its own right. It vibrates with life as you follow the street from dawn till dusk and you are quickly familiar with its day to day cycle, complemented by the fantastic map drawn at the beginning of the book.

The Marsh gang come together for the first time in this book and what an interesting bunch they are. Each  child stands out uniquely, coming from varying cultures and backgrounds, creating  a fabulous multicultural feel to the story. They quickly settle any differences they may have, showing that friendship always wins in the end.

I love the plot. I loved the idea of this huge American actress coming over and the reactions from everyone in town. It was like a MG version of Notting Hill. I thought having the story centred around a theatre was a thrilling idea. You can almost imagine yourself sitting in the audience, nervously anticipating the curtain going up.

You can't talk about this book and not mention the illustrator, Nathan Read. On the cover of the book, he has really brought the characters to life, creating identifiable characters that easily match Elen's descriptions. He is also responsible for the drawing of the map as well as the design of the stats cards at the back, which I am sure every kid will love. Who ever came up with the idea of the stats cards, really knows the Middle Grade market.

The book is told from varying viewpoints, but the story is mainly about Piotr, who might end up living back in Poland, if they can't solve the mystery of the missing necklace. His father is already fed up with the way he gets treated for being Polish, so it isn't surprising that he wants to leave the UK, returning to his own country, when he becomes a suspect in the burglary case.

This book gives us a modern day Famous Five, who I hope will be around as long as the originals. I'm pretty sure Enid Blyton would be praising Elen Caldecott for keeping mysteries fresh and original and in the forefront of children's fiction.