Mystery

New Umbra, a city not unlike New York, is under the strict control of The Smoke, a murky figure with henchmen throughout the city. Residents are mindful to not step out of line and pay their oppressors extortionate protection money which most can’t afford. So when our hero Reuben finds a pocket watch that turns you invisible for fifteen minutes, he sees it as an opportunity for him and his mother to escape poverty. Unfortunately, sinister forces have been looking for that watch for a long time …

Bone Gap is a small town in the middle of nowhere, Illinois. It is the kind of place where you could disappear between the cracks and no one would look for you, as outsider Roza learnt to her dismay. Everyone thinks she ran away, except Finn. He knows she was kidnapped by a man with an unmemorable face. Unfortunately, Finn is dismissed by most as the local moony weirdo, so he must track her down alone. Not quite alone: he may have the help of a fiery beekeeper and a temperamental horse.

Smashie McPepper and her best friend Dontel make a great team, especially when it comes to solving mysteries – like who stole Patches, the Room 11 hamster? This is a soap-opera of a book with a large cast of characters, a fast-paced main story, several sub-plots and a few red herrings. The book opens at breakneck speed, introducing many characters and situations with potential for disaster.

A hilarious page-turner from extremely creative couple Sally and Sylvain Chomet, Caleb’s Cab is a madcap adventure that will delight readers young and old.

Whidbey Island is famous for the Gray Quintuplets who are the island’s unofficial search and rescue team, but when their young friend Grant Shepherd goes missing, the two families are almost torn apart because one of the Grays was the last one seen with him. Pixie and her brothers always assigned blame based on a rotation chart taped to the back of the bunk room door.

People are disappearing everywhere, but no one knows why. These disappearances are called Vanishings, but what are they and why are only adults affected? Trying to find any kind of answer, Boris searches endlessly for a possible scientific answer, without any success, until one evening he meets an old woman who tells him a story that has its roots in the legends of the Beginning Woods. But who is Max and how is he responsible for the Vanishings?

Thirteen-year-old Lily is left alone when her inventor father goes missing, presumed dead, after a Zeppelin crash. Previously, Lily had been injured and her mother killed in a steam-wagon accident. However, Lily realises that there is more to these incidents and decides to investigate. She is joined by Robert, a clock-maker’s son, and Malkin, a clockwork fox, as they try to unravel the puzzle.

The world of crime doesn’t feature much in picturebooks, but in Who What Where? young readers have the chance to channel their inner super-sleuths and solve a mystery. On each spread a scene is set, a question is asked and a line-up is presented. Who jumped too high? Who got stuck in a tree trunk? Who stepped in paint? The kooky suspects are children or animals, all with particular features that will encourage readers to examine, discuss and root out the culprit.

Wolf Hollow is the story of how Annabelle *** learned how to lie. She has lived in Wolf Hollow all her life – the quietest of places, scarred by the trauma of two world wars. Annabelle understands her life and the way her world turns – until the arrival of Betty Glengarry. Betty is cruel and manipulative, a complete enigma. And when she disappears, suspicion falls on Toby, the gentle stranger who is a friend to Annabelle’s family.

Harold is unlike other foxes. He prefers cheese to chicken and loves reading detective novels. But his father insists it’s time for Harold to catch his first hen. To please his father and prove he is a real fox, Harold sets off and grabs a chicken with no problem. But things take an unexpected turn when the hen is snatched right out from under his nose. Harold the detective is on the case immediately. He observes the crime scene and follows the clues that lead to the culprits. But will he find the poor creature in time? And what will he do if he does?