Twins Alex and Donna want to make some money so decide to start their own private investigation business. Their first case is a missing dog. Can they reunite Kiki with her owner?
Eye Spy is the first book in a children’s mystery series. I have previously read and reviewed the second book in the series, Haunted.
Ale and Donna are often in trouble and despair about their dad’s eccentricities. In order to make some money, the pair start to investigate a missing dog with a view to exposing a dognapping ring.
The book is written from Alex’s first person perspective and I felt that the childlike voice was authentic. This is a quick read for an adult but is a substantial enough chapter book for 9-12 years olds. The family and school life elements will resonate with children and help them to identify with the lead characters.
The missing dog case actually takes second place to the mystery about the twins’ mum as the plot prgresses. There is emotion as the twins wonder about their mother and this could be a trigger for some readers.
Eye Spy is an enjoyable mystery book for children.
Eye Spy
Over the course of ten days, the lives of thirteen-year-old Alex Macintyre and his twin sister Donna will change forever.
When Alex and Donna set up Eye Spy Investigations and start looking for a valuable missing dog, they soon have an interesting assortment of suspects. There is the mysterious man in the fur hat; a gang of bikers who hang out at the Starship Café; and Crazy Kath, the bag lady, who may know more than she’s letting on.
But as they struggle to make sense of the evidence, the twins begin to uncover an even bigger mystery in their own family. As events spiral out of control, can Alex resolve a family crisis, save Donna from imminent danger, and return the missing dog to its rightful owner?
Tessa Buckley was an inveterate scribbler as a child, and spent much of her time writing and illustrating stories. After spending fifteen years working for architects and interior designers. She took up writing again when her young daughter complained that she couldn’t find enough adventure stories to read. This led, in 2014, to the publication of Eye Spy, the first in a series of detective stories for 9-12 year olds, designed to encourage reluctant readers. The second book in the series, Haunted, was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2017. She lives with her husband and a large white cat called Pippa in a town on the Thames estuary, which inspired the seaside setting for the novels. She also writes about family history, which has been her passion for many years.
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