Pages

Thursday 7 January 2016

Review: The Marsh Road Mysteries by Elen Caldecott



Diamonds and Daggers

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 first in a fantastic new series filled with friendship, adventure and mystery!

Crowns and Codebreakers

When Minnie's gran comes to stay, all the way from Nigeria, Minnie KNOWS there will be trouble. And straight away Gran notices she's picked up the wrong suitcase at the airport. This one is full of boy's clothes, and she's not at all happy about it! But when their house is burgled and the only thing taken is the suitcase, Minnie realises there'll be much more trouble than she bargained for. Can the gang solve the crime or will the mystery of the little lost boy be forever unsolved?

Spooks and Scooters

Flora and Sylvie are going on the holiday of a lifetime with their dad. But - WHAT? - Dad cancels the trip only hours before the flight because - OH MY GOODNESS - someone has stolen precious blueprints of Dad's latest invention: an amazing new scooter. But who? And why? Time to call on the only five people who can possibly solve the crime!


Three was the magic number for Bob Dorough, Blind Melon and De La Soul, and it's also the magic number for these new style Book Zone reviews, as part of my seemingly endless quest for brevity when reviewing. So, here are three reasons to love Elen Caldecott's March Road Mysteries books, of which the third, Spooks and Scooters, is due to be published next month.

1. Diversity

It's fantastic to read a middle grade mystery story that follows the adventures of a group of friends of different races and backgrounds. Piotr Domek is a Polish immigrant and lives his parents, who moved to Britain in search of a better standard of living; Minnie Adesina is of Nigerian heritage; twins Flora and Sylvie Hampshire's parents are separated; and Andrew Jones is probably a young carer (I say probably, as each story puts the spotlight on a different member of the gang, and it hasn't been Andrew's turn yet). This diverse mix of backgrounds and ethnicities rings very true as a group of friends living in modern multi-cultural Britain, and it also lends itself to stories that, whilst being primarily mysteries, also touch on themes such as racism and prejudice.

2. Friendship

Elen Caldecott gets kids. She understands how they tick and how their friendships can be strong one day and fragile the next. Young readers will find it very easy to identify with the relationships between the five protagonists. The characters themselves are engaging and very cleverly drawn, with each child's personality shining just as much as the next, and they bring a wonderful air of humour to the stories that has the reader finding themselves grinning from ear to ear without even realising.

3. Mystery

The mysteries in which the group of friends find themselves embroiled are exciting and cleverly plotted. These aren't Famous Five style adventures, where the protagonists just happen to stumble on to the solution; our team of young sleuths really have to use their brains and combine their various strengths to solve these mysteries. As an adult reader, I have to admit to guessing the outcome of the first two books, but it took me quite a lot longer to work out whodunnit. But I'm reading with a lifetime of read mystery stories locked away in my brain, and I'm sure younger readers will find the solutions a little harder to predict.

Elen Caldecott's Marsh Road Mysteries are a must-read for any mystery-hungry young reader. It's great to see so many new mystery stories being published for this age group at the moment, as they do not appear to have been in vogue for some time. My thanks go to those wonderful people at Bloomsbury for sending me copies of the books to read.



15 comments:

  1. Absence of money related backing from people in general and private divisions: Banks for instance, consider movement to be a dangerous endeavor. Truth be told in nations like Nigeria banks have generally controlled clear from supporting the diversion area with budgetary Watch Online Cartoon Videos At Myanimelisthd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want to give an unlimited thanks to this Great man Called Dr. Okaya. I am happy today because my husband is now back with full of love, My husband left me for another woman,just because we had a little misunderstanding. he left me and promise he will never come back to me again. i cry all day looking for a solution to help me bring him back. Then i saw a testimony share on the internet by client. i email him and tell him my problems with my ex husband, and he promise to bring him back home within 2 days. indeed he is wonderful he help me to get my husband back within 2days which he promise and my husband return to me and promise to love me forever and beg me for the pain he caused me. I will forever be grateful to you Dr and i will not stop to publish your name on the internet for people to see how truthful you are. And I want to say to everyone on this site that I will always remain thankful to this man Dr. Okaya for all he has done for me,My husband is back with love,caring,truthful and he promise to love me forever.I have made a promise that every body I know will never have a relationship problem, via email (OKAYASPELLHELP@GMAIL.COM Or call/Whatsapp +27814506790,Here is Dr Okaya blogger Link: OR His website : https://okayaspellhelp0.wixsite.com/website

      Delete
    2. DR EMU WHO HELP PEOPLE IN ANY TYPE OF LOTTERY NUMBERS
      It is a very hard situation when playing the lottery and never won, or keep winning low fund not up to 100 bucks, i have been a victim of such a tough life, the biggest fund i have ever won was 100 bucks, and i have been playing lottery for almost 12 years now, things suddenly change the moment i came across a secret online, a testimony of a spell caster called dr emu, who help people in any type of lottery numbers, i was not easily convinced, but i decided to give try, now i am a proud lottery winner with the help of dr emu, i won $1,000.0000.00 and i am making this known to every one out there who have been trying all day to win the lottery, believe me this is the only way to win the lottery.

      Dr Emu can also help you fix this issues

      (1)Ex back.
      (2)Herbal cure & Spiritual healing.
      (3)You want to be promoted in your office.
      (4)Pregnancy spell.
      (5)Win a court case.

      Contact him on email Emutemple@gmail.com
      What’s app +2347012841542
      Website Https://emutemple.wordpress.com/
      Facebook page Https://web.facebook.com/Emu-Temple-104891335203341

      Delete
  2. "I'm very affected by the news. I'm very affected by the administration, daily barrages of horrible, hateful kind of things going on," Scott said. "I think my role is even more defined in today's time: to bring joy, to bring Watch Online Cartoon Videos At Myanimelisthd."

    ReplyDelete
  3. However, it is to be noted that cartoons are mostly for kids. Anime can be for an adult audience; it mostly is, actually. There are even times when anime plots are hardly suited for Watch New Cartoon Videos At Myanimelisthd.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Some of the mother and father are now using the television as a way of interesting their kids while they are active doing other works. It is considered that at the age of 8 or before it creates the kid to start living in the way they have discovered from Watch Latest Cartoon Videos At Myanimelisthd.

    ReplyDelete
  5. And now I would like you to take a peek at some really funny stuff by going to this Kid-Friendly Website A top line resource on clean humor for young families with lots of things for kids to Watch HQ Cartoon Videos At Myanimelisthd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want to use this medium to tell the world about Doctor OKAYA who helped me in getting my lover back with his powerful spell, my ex and i where having misunderstanding which led to our breakup though i went to beg her several times to please forgive and accept me back because i know i offended her but each time i went i always feel more deeply in pain and agony because she always walk out on me and would not want to listen to what i have to tell but on i faithful day as i was browsing i came arose a testimony of a woman whose problem was more than mine and yet Doctor OKAYA helped her with his spell so i was happy and also contacted Doctor OKAYA for help via email and then told him my story but the only thing he said was that i will wipe you tear with my spell so lucky for me everything want well just as he promised and right now i have got my fiance back and we are both living happily. there is nothing Doctor OKAYA can not do with is spell and just as promise my self i will keep testifying on the internet of how Doctor OKAYA helped me.Are your problem greater that mine or less i give you 100% guarantee that Doctor OKAYA will put an end to it with his powerful spell, contact Doctor OKAYA for help contact Dr Okaya on his email OKAYASPELLHELP@GMAIL.COM or call/Whatsapp +27814506790 his website: https://okayaspellhelp0.wixsite.com/website

      1. GETTING YOUR EX LOVER BACK.
      2. WINNING LOTTERIES.
      3. CHILD BEARING.
      4. BREAKING OF GENERATION COURSE.
      5. GETTING OF JOB.
      6. JOB PROMOTION.
      7. MONEY SPELL.
      8. SPIRITUAL PROTECTION.
      9. HERBAL CARE.
      10. BEAUTY SPELL.
      11. LOTTERY SPELL... ETC

      Delete
  6. In this way, adicolor not only became the perfect tool for contemporary people to present the charm of life at that time but the shake brought by it remains great importance today. We are very familiar with the fact of first publish of adicolor Watch HQ Cartoon Videos At Myanimelisthd.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You must beat your opponent by attacking him to point that his energy bar is drained. Upon victory, you are able to play against the next opponent and earn the opportunity to move up a Download Cartoon Videos From Myanimelisthd.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I want to give an unlimited thanks to this Great man Called Dr. Okaya. I am happy today because my husband is now back with full of love, My husband left me for another woman,just because we had a little misunderstanding. he left me and promise he will never come back to me again. i cry all day looking for a solution to help me bring him back. Then i saw a testimony share on the internet by client. i email him and tell him my problems with my ex husband, and he promise to bring him back home within 2 days. indeed he is wonderful he help me to get my husband back within 2days which he promise and my husband return to me and promise to love me forever and beg me for the pain he caused me. I will forever be grateful to you Dr and i will not stop to publish your name on the internet for people to see how truthful you are. And I want to say to everyone on this site that I will always remain thankful to this man Dr. Okaya for all he has done for me,My husband is back with love,caring,truthful and he promise to love me forever.I have made a promise that every body I know will never have a relationship problem, via email (OKAYASPELLHELP@GMAIL.COM Or call/Whatsapp +27814506790,Here is Dr Okaya blogger Link: OR His website : https://okayaspellhelp0.wixsite.com/website

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice response in return of this question with real arguments and explaining the whole thing about that. 카지노사이트존

    ReplyDelete