But I had to say the ending was not satisfying as it skipped lots of the climax action and just jumped to the uncle's POV of the story. You can pick up any of her books – The Dragonfly Pool and One Boy and His Dog are also fantastic – and be guaranteed a good read. Of course, we can’t ignore the fact that this is a children’s book – and with a main character aged 11, it is probably targetting 8-10 year olds as its main audience. Laura Marlin is a very engaging character and I was positive that this would be a great 4 star book until about 30 pages before the end. The Asian family felt stereotyped, and of course, they’re the baddies of the book, because that’s foreigners for you, I guess?

much more complicated and darker than expected, but it also leaves you nostalgic for a childhood you (likely) never had, full of breakfast by the sea, accompanied by a loyal Siberian Husky named Skye, roaming sand the 'colour of a Labrador puppy'. Calvin Redfern: “The ink-black figure of a man stood framed against the yellow light with a wolfhound at his side. It’s cliche in a few places here and there, but it’s also well-written enough and I can see why it would have its appeal if you were a kid of a certain age, or even a parent who wants to read a new bedtime story. I can’t say exactly what issues are being dealt with within the book without giving too much of the story away, but they are serious and complicated issues. Dead Man’s Cove, the first in her Laura Marlin Mystery series, was a Blue Peter Book of the Year in 2011.

Her bestselling One Dollar Horse series was followed by YA horse romance, The Glory, now optioned for film. Accompanied by her trusty companion, Skye, a three-legged husky, the dog she's always wanted, Laura's adventures begin in this first captivating mystery. Her new life in Cornwall proves more mysterious than she might have wished for, however, and Laura has to use all her powers of deduction to unravel the secrets surrounding Dead Man’s Cove. Laura longs to be adopted and eventually her wish seems to come true and she moves to Cornwall – to Dead Man’s Cove - to live with her uncle.

An orphaned girl with a big love for detectives finds herself thrown into mystery when she moves in to live with her uncle.It all ended rather abruptly too - one moment we’re thrown into danger, then it’s two days later, then the story is over.

Hurry your time has come to put your plan into action and jump over the hurdles that will come your way, freedom is in your sights. So whilst the reality of the “silkworms” and Tariq is blurred, she still pushes children to view and become educated on the plight of others and to be strong and resilient themselves not just for their own well-being, but for others who cannot.Laura's cunning sense of observation and her love of amateur investigation soon set her on a mission to discover the truth.

Lauren St John grew up surrounded by horses, cats, dogs, horses and a pet giraffe on a farm and game reserve in Zimbabwe, the inspiration for her bestselling White Giraffe and One Dollar Horse series. Fortunately she is a courageous young girl, who keeps her wits about her when things go wrong, and she manages to get herself out of several scrapes. From the age of 11 she lived on a game reserve, which provided the inspiration for her memoir Rainbow’s End and her White Giraffe series of children’s books. I also found it was really easy to read for younger audiences, without making it too young sounding. Inspired by our joint love of middle grade mystery books Amy of Golden Books Girl, Rachael of Bellis does Books and myself decided to indulge in a fun readalong of Lauren St John’s Laura Marlin Mysteries, and evoke the childhood joy of making a club!It was lent to me by one of the kids in my class who thought I would like it since I enjoy The Famous Five. Dead Mans Cove can be seen from the trail that leads from the parking lot to the Cape Disapointment lighthouse. Dead Man's Cove is a delightful, nostalgic mystery that'll make you remember the time you pretended to be Harriet the Spy, trying to figure out the puzzle in front of you, and in this modern children's detective story, you'll join Laura as she tries to find a place in her new home. The next day Laura gets captured by a member of the Straight A gang and ends up being sent to Dead Man's Cove.