It is a work of historical fiction mixed with a considerable amount of historical fact!
It isn't long since Josephine (called Jet), and her family made the move from Australia to an old chateau in France.
Her dad Matt and step-mother Ellie, fulfilled Jet's longing to live in the country where her deceased mother was born.
She is eager to explore and learn what she can about her.
The renovations have progressed, and the chateau is almost totally refurbished. So no diary entries or story writing has been undertaken by Jet for a
It is a twenty-five-year-old cold case, about seventeen-year-old Corey Armstrong, who was hit and left to die just outside of town.
The podcast is nearing the end with the mystery still unsolved.
Leo is smart, athletic, and popular. Alex is a single-friend person, with few interests outside of his art.
Their constant bickering concerns their single mother a great deal. She suggests that they team up to see if they can find any clues about Corey’s death that may have been missed, before the last podcast.
She hopes that doing something important together will bring them closer to one another.
They reluctantly agree although it is a challenge for the boys to both agree to anything.
At night they go with torches, to the tree where Corey’s memorial cross was hammered, but has now been removed. Here they find their first clue.
Slowly and through crafty questioning and casual conversations, they uncover unknown information.
Harry is Alex’s only friend. A highly intelligent individual, she discovers what the boys are up to, and wants to join in. Her intuitive and lateral thinking proves valuable.
Slowly truths are uncovered. The past becomes the present as personal issues concerning their estranged father, are stirred up. Prominent names of the town surface under the list of unanswered questions.
They find themselves wading in dangerous waters.
Can the brothers discover the truth about Corey’s death?
Within the mix of mystery and the search for truth, is the underlying evolving relationship between the brothers, who, until the decision to investigate together, had no time for each other.
Red herrings lead the reader astray at times, but it is exciting to follow the detailed trail of clues about what really happened to Corey so many years ago.
Multi- talented A.I. Tait has created a riveting mystery/adventure. Although she writes in varied genres, crime is her favourite and is something at which she excels.
Title: Danger Road
Author: A.L. Tait
Publisher: Scholastic, $ 17.99
Publication Date: 1 July 2025
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781761646270
For ages: 10+
Type: Middle Grade Fiction
Immie’s father, a firefighter in the Rural Fire Service, lost his life.
The decision to investigate the probability of arson, is activated by an anonymous call to police.
Who could the person be?
Was it a male or female voice?
The police are keeping silent.
When further calls are made to police, and a local podcast begins to follow the proceedings, the town becomes reactive.
Fletch is Immie’s best friend.
His elder brother, Cooper is accused, then arrested as the arsonist. An additional charge is also considered against him for the death of Immie’s dad.
It’s told
from the perspective of two teenagers, Kat and Liam, who were step-siblings for
just 48 hours when they were five and their respective parents briefly married
in Vegas.
This story
contains all the important elements of a teen thriller: action, thrills, lust,
spills, twists, power, fortune, fame. And of course, a little bit of gender-fluid
snogging on the side.
With a complex storyline that will reward readers’ attention to detail (I suggest an intensive rather than extended reading period for this work), the book is pacy and well-written.
Because quite early on in this narrative, the storyline whisks us into an intriguing, if unsettling, world.
The action
takes place on a boat for wayward schoolboys that is permanently anchored in
1800s Sydney harbour, and on the mean streets of Sydney’s Rocks area.
This is a wonderful work of historical fiction (or ‘faction’ if you prefer) that features real people and places from Australia’s history.
Young teen, Winnie rocks as an inventeress. Yes, the gender specification is acceptable because the time period Winifred rocks in is the late 1800s as in the latter part of Queen Victoria’s reign, which adds a delicious extra layer of richness to Alison Stegert’s first middle grade fiction, Her Majesty’s League of Remarkable Young Ladies.
This astoundingly long-titled novel
is an extravaganza of remarkable indeed. An exciting mash-up of Nancy
Drew come Famous Five sporting the Victorian era qualities of A
Little Princess. Somehow, Stegert sews it all seamlessly together in a
gripping tale of espionage, mystery and for want of a better word,
MacGyverness.
The O.D.D. Squad: Rise of Invisidog is the story of animals fighting crime!
Enter emerging superhero Invisidog, motorbike-riding Captain Quack, and water-based Detective Octopus.
The trouble with these crime fighters is they've each got a weakness.
Invisidog discovers that being invisible isn't always helpful for superheroes.
He can't be seen, which can be an advantage but sometimes it's also a disadvantage.
Meanwhile Captain Quack and Detective Octopus have problems of their own, like the fact Octopus is water bound - or is he?
The super villains they're fighting are the Trouble Gang led by Captain Bad, a bearded, tattooed part-robot.
Can three very different crime fighters work together to defeat Captain Bad and the Trouble Gang?
She is reticent to share this phenomenon with others even her closest friends for fear of seeming odder than she already feels.
Instead, Riz records her observations in her ‘Weird Stuff Log’ with enough detail and smattering of sass to make Miss Marple grin.
And grin young readers will for Riz’s abilities are about to be stretched to the limit after she notices some faulty banknotes on a shopping expedition with her mum.
Suspicions are raised. Police are engaged and for Riz, doubts set in. Has she done something wrong just because she has identified an anomaly? Why is she being questioned?
The
brilliant and laugh-out-loud funny second mystery novel from comedian Adam
Hills featuring a young detective dream team.
Written by
one of Australia’s favourite comedians (and straddling two countries, no less),
there’s much to love about this book. Junior- and Middle-Grade-Fiction readers
will have it for breakfast. I personally inhaled it along with a nice cup of
tea.
School friends Charley and George have moved on from last year’s world domination of the rock and roll charts, and now they’re making a movie about that journey. But while they’re on-set in Sydney, it seems that somebody wants them to fail.
Our lucky winner is...Thank you to ALL who entered.
If you're after a hilarious new story about the world’s worst detectives, by the bestselling author of the Alex Rider series, Anthony Horowitz then this is the Giveaway for you!
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is a confounding, confusing
mystery thriller, so be prepared to get scared and follow the winding road of
unexpected events. If you are a middle school reader like me , this may be
one of your first mystery novel of its kind.
It all started with chosen tenants in an apartment building, and one mistake. An abandoned house, a puff of smoke and neatly delivered letters prompts a murder investigation.
That’s the main question for these carefully chosen tenants, for step by step, as they figure it out, there might be a prize at the end. But later on, in this mind boggling game, a question pops into 12-year old Turtle Wexler’s mind; was it ever a murder to begin with?
Ah, elite high achievers. Don’t we love reading about them? We especially love the loud splat they make when they ignominiously plummet to a hard, humiliating landing.
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Can a birdwatcher outwit an escaped convict? Twitch has three pet chickens, four pigeons, swallows nesting in his bedroom and a passion for bird-spotting. Can Twitch use his talents for bird-spotting in the hunt for the dangerous prisoner, and find the missing loot?For the chance to win this exciting novel combining mystery, adventure, and bird watching in 25 words or less, tell us what skill do you possess that would best help you solve a mystery?
Our lucky winner is...Enjoy!
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