A second mystery for Roger, Diana, Snubby, Loony, Barney, and Miranda — and one with a hint of the impossible, about it, to boot.
Continue reading#1232: Minor Felonies – The Rilloby Fair Mystery (1950) by Enid Blyton
Juvenile Mysteries
#1229: Minor Felonies – Bear Bottom (2021) by Stuart Gibbs
I had hoped to diversify these Minor Felonies posts this month, and to bring in some new authors who might produce well-structured juvenile detective fiction. But, well, that didn’t work out, and so instead I guess I’ll just have to return to Stuart Gibbs’ FunJungle, perhaps the best series of detective novels for 8 to 12 year-olds currently on the market.
Continue reading#1226: Minor Felonies – Montgomery Bonbon: Mystery at the Manor (2024) by Alasdair Beckett-King [ill. Claire Powell]
A third entry in the delightfully silly Montgomery Bonbon series, from the mind of the equally delightfully silly Alasdair Beckett-King, Mystery at the Manor (2024) is…delightfully silly.
Continue reading#1223: Minor Felonies – Catch Your Death (2023) by Ravena Guron
An isolated, snowbound mansion, a wealthy family at each other’s throats…you’d frankly be disappointed if this setup didn’t result in a murder.
Continue reading#1210: Minor Felonies – A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2019) by Holly Jackson
Recently made into a series for British TV, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2019) by Holly Jackson was recommended to me about a year ago…and it’s taken almost that long for it to be available at my local library, its popularity no doubt enhanced by recently coming to wider public awareness.
Continue reading#1207: Minor Felonies – The Clockwork Conspiracy (2024) by Sam Sedgman
Having co-written one of the great modern crime and detective series of books for younger readers, Sam Sedgman ventures out on his own for the first time with The Clockwork Conspiracy (2024). So let’s have a look, eh?
Continue reading#1204: Minor Felonies – The Swifts (2023) by Beth Lincoln
On the day that a child is born into the ancient, vast Swift clan, the family Dictionary is placed before the new mother and, with her eyes closed, she opens it and runs her finger down the page until it settles “on the word and definition that would become her child’s name”. What Beth Lincoln chooses to do with this intriguing idea in her debut The Swifts (2023) is…a little confused.
Continue reading#1201: Minor Felonies – The Rockingdown Mystery (1949) by Enid Blyton
After stumbling over the Five Find-Outers books and learning that there was more to Enid Blyton’s juvenile mysteries than a group of precocious youths seeing some lights in an unusual place and then stumbling over a smugglers’ plot, I turn my attention to her six ‘Barney’ mysteries which, I’m told, provided similar detectival delights.
Continue reading#1190: You Get to Meet All Sorts in This Line of Work – Ranking the First Ten Non-Robert Arthur Three Investigators Titles (1968-73)
Having recently read the twentieth novel in the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series, and the tenth to be written by someone other than series creator Robert Arthur, my mind turns to how Jupe, Pete, and Bob have fared with multiple hands now directing their fates.
Continue reading#1187: They Asked Us to Stay for Tea and Have Some Fun in The Mystery of Monster Mountain (1973) by M.V. Carey
Comments were made in the, er, comments of my previous Three Investigators review, The Secret of Phantom Lake (1973) regarding an apparently love-it-or-hate-it element to the next title in the series, The Mystery of Monster Mountain (1973) by M.V. Carey. So, well, let’s get into it.
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The Invisible Event 