quippe | Entries tagged with julia lee

The Blurb On The Back:

Dear Q

In case they keep it from The Children - this is to inform you there has been A MURDER! What's more - I was the one that found him. Must meet. Cannot tell when I will be free to speak to you so try to check this place every hour. Will do my best to get here soon as I can.

N. P.

Nancy has a new job as a lady's maid, and is accompanying her new employer on a visit to the grand and mysterious Midwinter Manor. But things take a turn for the worse when Nancy discovers a dead body in the library. With a house full of strange guests, who could possibly be the murderer?

What secrets lurk in the walls of Midwinter Manor? Are all of the guests what they seem? Who does the dead body belong to?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The third in Julia Lee's NANCY PARKER SERIES for children aged 9+ (charmingly illustrated by Chloe Bonfield) is a twisty but at times confusing crime mystery with a bloated cast of characters such that it became difficult to keep track of who was who while the reveal was a bit of a cop out but I enjoyed Quentin's return and his obliviousness to his own faults, Nancy's tenacity and the way Lee uses the post-World War I period.

NANCY PARKER'S CHILLING CONCLUSIONS was released in the United Kingdom on 4th January 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

I am sitting up in bed in my new room.

It’s the middle of the night & I haven’t had a wink of sleep. My ears are out on stalks & my eyes are peeled – every bit of me is ready to detect another STRANGE OCCURRENCE.

Not that anything has happened.

But I fear it will.

Nancy Parker thinks her luck is in when she finds the perfect job in an old house by the sea.

But strange noises and ghostly appearances soon set Nancy dusting off her detective skills. And who better to help than her old friend, Ella Otter? But what spooky secrets will they find as they delve into the mystery?

Who (or what) is making the mysterious creaks and thumps that only Nancy hears? Does someone (or something) want them out of the house? And what dangers do the dark, dank cellars hold?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The second in Julia Lee’s historical mystery series for children aged 9+ is a disjointed affair with too many parts that didn’t (for me) make for a satisfying whole and while I greatly enjoy the fact that this has a working class detective and the illustrations by Chloe Bonfield are great, I was disappointed that Quentin didn’t even get a mention given his role in the first book. Nancy remains an interesting character – I like the fact that her perspective is informed by her working class background and the book is at its best when she comments on how Ella’s advantages makes her ignorant of Nancy’s own position. I also enjoyed the relationship between Nancy and her family and would love to see some scenes with them all together. Ella also gets more development here – I enjoyed the conflict she has with her school and its rules (which she finds pointless) but she didn’t have enough contact with Nancy to propel the investigation forward and it’s a real shame that neither girl mentions Quentin from the first book given everything they went through. The side characters (Ears, Spud and Peg) don’t get much to do and a spiritualist side plot doesn’t really go anywhere (indeed Ella’s storyline involving a rival schoolgirl is all a bit tenuous and dull). Ultimately I’m fond enough of the characters to be interested in checking out a third book in this series, but this book didn’t live up to the promise in the first.

NANCY PARKER’S SPOOKY SPECULATIONS was released in the United Kingdom on 5th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

When Nancy Parker gets her first position as a housemaid to the very modern Mrs Bryce, it’s not exactly her dream job – she’d rather be out and about solving mysteries. But she soon discovers that there are plenty of mysteries right on her doorstep.

Who’s sneaking about stealing silver and jewels? What is Cook’s dark secret? And, most thrilling of all, could Mrs Bryce be mixed up in murder?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Julia Lee’s historical mystery novel for children aged 9+ (the first in a series) is a good alternative for fans of the WELLS AND WONG SERIES. I particularly liked that Nancy is from a working class background as it gives her a different perspective to the more privileged Quentin and Ella but I wish Lee hadn’t made her so bad at spelling as it makes her seem uneducated and less intelligent than she is. Ella’s smart and academic and has snobbish preconceptions about Nancy and Quentin but I liked the warm relationship she has with her father (a bit of a vague professor type) and the way she really wants to help. My favourite character was Quentin, the forgotten son of thoroughly unpleasant parents, who wants to be a secret agent but who’s managed to alienate himself at boarding school and is taking remedial lessons because he’s not as smart as he thinks he is. All three characters need the friendship that develops between them and I loved how Lee gives them all separate storylines that shows what they think of each other and how their preconceptions change as the storylines come together. I think that Lee could have made more of the period than she does, but I believed in the reactions characters had to things like films and motor cars as they began to pick up in popularity and became more affordable. All in all, I thought this was an entertaining read and I look forward to the sequel.

NANCY PARKER’S DIARY OF A DETECTIVE was released in the United Kingdom on 3rd March 2016. Thanks to Amazon Vine for the ARC of this book.