Review: An Engaging Fish-Out-of-Water Mystery
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 23, 2013
This is actually three or four books in one, and all of them are pretty good, each in a different way.(MILD SPOILERS.)The book starts out mostly as a rural youth memory piece, with our narrator Daniel relating a charming tale of daily life on the farm. He's particularly good at describing being part of a loving farm family and of being the young brother to a teenage sister. But then Cousin Felicity arrives for a stay, and this testy highly-polished girl wants no part of the farm or her cousins. Everyone suffers from culture shock. But then, all of the hens die and we have a mystery. All of this wraps up with a suspenseful adventure and a stand off. These episodes play out in about that order, but of course they are shuffled together and overlap. The "Will Felicity pull herself together and adapt?" theme runs through the book. Details of New Zealand daily life and of Maori culture are also sprinkled generously throughout. Passing observations and graceful asides reward the careful reader. It's all presented in a mischieious sort of a way, with a bit of a wink.The bottom line is that the characters have real personality, the narrator's voice is engaging and honest, and the writing is restrained and graceful and, occasionally, touching. The mystery/adventure is the weakest link, but that's O.K. because it mostly just serves as the frame upon which to hang the more charming elements of the story. The book zips along and I would think it would have great appeal for an adventurous middle grade reader.Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.