Book Review: Peril on the Atlantic / A M Howell / 8 – 12

Not yet published August 2023

Published by Usborne

There seems to be a ‘new’, well I suppose a not so new now, genre of Children’s Crime novels. This falls neatly into that glorious collection of books that includes M G Leonard’s phenomenal Adventures on Trains and of course the Murder Most Unladylike (Robin Stevens) series…

This of the first Mysteries at Sea books…a story full of drama and intrigue, set on the Queen Mary sailing across the Atlantic – there’s a time element to this story of mystery and suspense. Joseph, Alice and Sonny, not to mention Rocket, against two dastardly enemies of Alice’s father – a couple who won’t allow anything to get in their way – least of all unimportant and seemingly insignificant children…

It’s brilliant…

Book Review: Mystery of the Night Watchers / A M Howell / 9 – 12

Published by Usborne.

A tale of astronomy. Halley’s comet – a mystery and a family feud.

Halley’s comet, last seen (actually seen by me), over the sky of Cumbria. It returns once every 75 years – so not often and I was lucky to see it at all, back in 1986 – It will return, for those who weren’t about, in 2061…another 40 years from now – I suppose I might just see it again…

Back in May 1910, however, it flew remarkably close to the earth – if you can say that 13.9 million miles is close – which caused quite a lot of concern.

To quote WIRED (https://www.wired.com/2015/01/fantastically-wrong-halleys-comet/)

Writing to the Royal Observatory, one worrywart warned the comet would “cause the Pacific to change basins with the Atlantic, and the primeval forests of North and South America to be swept by the briny avalanche over the sandy plains of the great Sahara, tumbling over and over with houses, ships, sharks, whales and all sorts of living things in one heterogeneous mass of chaotic confusion.”

Mystery of the Night Watchers is set in this time of fear and trepidation – and is a fantastic story of inheritance, arson, mystery and a family torn apart by greed…

One for young astronomers out there.

Keep looking at the skies…