If the genre’s Golden Age had one commendable attribute, it’s that there was no pressure to outdo previous entries in a series by going bigger, louder, or more preposterous with each successive entry.
Continue readingJuvenile Mysteries
#1005: Minor Felonies – Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: Peril at Owl Park (2020) by Marthe Jocelyn
This second entry in Marthe Jocelyn’s Aggie Morton series — featuring juvenile sleuths inspired by both Agatha Christie and her arguably most famous creation Hercule Poirot — contains much of the charm that made the series opener stand out, but also falls down in ways that leave me a little underwhelmed.
Continue reading#1002: Minor Felonies – The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage (1954) by Enid Blyton
#1000: A Locked Room Library – One Hundred Recommended Books
In the back of my mind when I started The Invisible Event was the idea that exactly half of what I’d post about would feature impossible crimes, locked room mysteries, and/or miracle problems — and although this proportion started an irreversible slide after the first 500 or so posts, the impossible crime remains my first love.
Continue reading#998: Minor Felonies – Panda-Monium (2017) by Stuart Gibbs
I was very much looking forward to celebrating this review as my one hundredth post tagged as a juvenile mystery, making a full century of detective fiction for younger readers on this blog. But then it turns out that this is, like, the 104th and the one hundredth was Peak Peril (2022) by Sharna Jackson back in July. So. Onwards and upwards.
Continue reading#964: Keeping it in the Family in The Mystery of the Flaming Footprints (1971) by M.V. Carey
Pity the New Guy, who has to come in to an established IP and keep everything recognisably the same while also making changes that justify their hiring, like whoever has to reinvent James Bond now that Daniel Craig is done with the role (I have some ideas, by the way, if anyone at EON is reading). With The Three Investigators 14 books old, what could fourth author into the fray Mary Virginia Carey do to establish herself?
Continue reading#941: Minor Felonies – Danger at Dead Man’s Pass (2021) by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman [ill. Elisa Paganelli]
More Adventures on Trains! With more adventures, and more trains, than ever before!
Continue reading#935: Minor Felonies – Peak Peril (2022) by Sharna Jackson
“Oh my days,” whispered Norva, throwing her head back. “It’s not like we’re going to the moon, we’re going on the moors. Calm it down.”
Continue reading#932: Minor Felonies – Big Game (2015) by Stuart Gibbs
Big Game (2015) by Stuart Gibbs represents a third visit to FunJungle, the gigantic Texan zoo owned by billionaire J.J. McCracken where 12 year-old Teddy Fitzroy lives with his primatologist mother and photographer father. And, as the title would suggest, it seems something beyond animal conservation is on someone’s mind.
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