middle grade mystery

Book Review: The Pear Affair

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The Pear Affair by Judith Eagle

The Pear Affair
by Judith Eagle (Author),Jo Rioux (Illustrator)

4.5 stars
Nell’s horrible parents are going to Paris, and Nell begs to be allowed to go with them. Her former nanny, Pear, left years ago and lives in Paris, and Nell is desperate to find her. Pear is the only person who ever really loved Nell, and Nell stopped hearing from her months ago. Nell is worried that Pear may have disappeared, but when she arrives in Paris, Nell discovers that the mystery goes far deeper than one missing au pair.

I loved this book so much! The plot is a mixture of many different mysteries that all blend together. I loved the way the different characters’ storylines overlapped. A bellhop with a secret underground lair. A baker’s son who worries that their bakery might go out of business. A poor young seamstress who dreams of going to school. And Nell’s evil parents, who are definitely up to something nefarious.

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Book Review: Witchlings

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Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

Witchlings (Witchlings, #1)
by Claribel A. Ortega (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Seven is worried that when she is sorted into her witches coven she might not be in the same coven with her best friend. However, she never imagined that she would be a Spare, a witch without a coven at all. Seven and the other two Spares are set an impossible task to defeat a horrific Nightbeast. They must complete the task, or they will lose their magic forever, or worse, be turned into toads!

This book has everything I was looking for! There’s a great magic system and interesting world-building. I really liked that the witches’ world has a distant past that must be reckoned with. You really get a sense of the depth of the history behind their laws and the way their everyday lives are ordered.

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Book Review: In Myrtle Peril

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In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce

In Myrtle Peril (Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery 4)
by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Myrtle’s father has tonsillitis in the hospital and witnesses a mysterious attack. While he is confined to bed, Myrtle will have to investigate with the assistance of her courageous governess, Miss Judson. Myrtle sets out to prove the identity of Ethel Snowcroft, who could be a long-lost heiress believed to have perished in a shipwreck years earlier.

I love the exciting mystery plot in this fourth book of the series! There are two different mysteries happening at the same time, but then the clues begin to converge and overlap, and only Myrtle can possible unravel the web of lies surrounding the hospital. This plot really kept my attention and had me guessing right up to the end!

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Book Review: Explorer Academy The Dragon’s Blood

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Explorer Academy by Trudi Trueit

Explorer Academy: The Dragon’s Blood (Book 6)
by Trudi Trueit (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

In this book, Cruz and his friends travel to China where they search for clues in an emperor’s tomb. With Nebula spies all around, Cruz wonders who is telling him the truth, but the truth is more complicated than he realizes.

There are a lot of plots twists and major revelations in this book! Around every corner something insane happens and it throws the whole plot into turmoil. The adventure is fantastic, and it’s really interesting to learn about all the historic sites that the characters visit.

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Book Review: The Patron Thief of Bread

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The Patron Thief of Bread by Lindsay Eagar

The Patron Thief of Bread
by Lindsay Eagar (Goodreads Author)

3 out of 5 stars

Duck has always lived on the streets with a gang of urchins who call themselves the Crowns. They pick pockets and steal food to stay alive. Their leader, Gnat, comes up with the idea for one of them to masquerade as a baker’s apprentice to steal from the bakery, and Duck is chosen for the job. Duck uses forged apprenticeship papers to begin working at the bakery, and then passes stolen bread and coins to the rest of the street urchins. But the longer Duck works at the bakery, the more she begins to settle into her new life. The baker lady is kind to her, and they become a weird sort of family. Duck’s loyalties are divided. Will she choose the baker who loves her like a mother would, or her ragtag family of pickpockets?

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Mystery Review: Cold-Blooded Myrtle

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Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Cold-Blooded Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery #3)
by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Goodreads Author)
5 out of 5 stars

Myrtle is preparing for Christmas, when the proprietor of a mercantile shop is murdered and the culprit rearranges the display window to predict the next murder. Myrtle has to investigate the cold-case of a young woman who disappeared from the local college years before, in order to solve the string of murders that are threatening to ruin everyone’s holiday.

I cannot describe how much I loved this third book in the Myrtle series!
One of the things that made me fall in love with this book is the incredible character development. I love how the main characters change their minds, discover new information, grow in their personalities and abilities, and suddenly realize that their relationships with other characters can be different.

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Book Review: Icefall

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Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby

Icefall
by Matthew J. Kirby
4 out of 5 stars

Solveig and her siblings have been sent to a frozen fjord in the mountains where they will be safe during a Viking war between clans. The winter cold freezes the sea, preventing any ships from getting to them. However, there appears to be a traitor in their midst among the soldiers and servants, and they are trapped until the spring thaw can bring help.

I loved the thoughtful writing style in this book! The writing brings important details to the forefront, giving the characters depth and enhancing the setting without slowing down the pacing.

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Book Review: Masterminds

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Masterminds by Gordon Korman

Masterminds (Masterminds, #1)
by Gordon Korman
3 out of 5 stars

The town of Serenity is not as serene as it seems. Eli and his friends begin to discover that their seemingly perfect town is hiding dark secrets.

I really liked the mystery in this book, and the gradual unravelling of the secrets that the townspeople are hiding. The adventure aspects of the story are exciting and kept my attention, but sometimes felt far-fetched and unrealistic. I was rolling my eyes a couple of times.

The characters are smart and emotional, and they all have such unique personalities. I really enjoyed getting to know each of them, and seeing how their flaws and strengths push the story forward. They each react in different ways when they discover what is really going on in the town, and I can’t wait to see what further character development they might have in the rest of the series.

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Book Review: Down the Rabbit Hole

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Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams
Down the Rabbit Hole (Echo Falls, #1)
by Peter Abrahams

1 out of 5 stars


Ingrid solves a murder mystery while auditioning to be Alice in a theater play of “Alice in Wonderland”.

I did not enjoy this book. There is profanity, under-age drinking, under-age gun usage, and domestic violence. Ugh.

The writing style is full of fragments. I don’t mind a fragmented sentence every once in a while for emphasis or to draw the reader’s attention to something specific. Sometimes there is a pacing that needs a fragment or a run-on sentence to achieve a kind of pattern in the narrative, but this was just excessive. So many fragments that it got really tiresome.
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