Dead Good Detectives

LoveReading4Kids Says

Never mind “dead good”, Jenny McLachlan’s Dead Good Detectives is dead brilliant - an action-packed piratical adventure bristling with atmosphere, emotion and descriptions so vivid you might just need sunglasses to read it. This has all the quirky comedy of TV show Ghosts as a Back to the Future-esque race against time plays out in a rollicking pirate adventure.

Sid is “not really a school girl. I’m more of a graveyard girl.” A graveyard girl who visits her deceased mum’s burial spot, loves making maps, and has super-clever, super-eccentric Zen for a best friend. That said, Sid is often embarrassed by Zen’s unselfconscious attitude and style - think top hats and wacky waistcoats.

As Sid’s hometown gears up for its annual Pirate Day, she unintentionally summons a 300-year-old pirate from the dead, a man named Bones who hails her a magical hero for setting him free from imprisonment in Halfway House. This bizarre pub is packed with souls who are trapped in limbo by a sinister figure named Old Scratch. Now Sid has freed Bones from Halfway House, it falls to her to help him find his lost treasure so he can unanchor his ties to this world.

This funny quest takes the form of a thrilling race against time, all underpinned by an infectious sense of being brave and being yourself. Never curbed by convention, Zen’s positivity, energy for life, and individuality is an especially healthy tonic - “Weird is the best!” And, in dead good news, we haven’t heard the last from the Dead Good Detectives.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen is a writer, reviewer and workshop presenter whose lifelong love of books began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About Dead Good Detectives

Meet the ghosts in this hilariously heart-racing and spooky adventure and young souls of 8+ by the author of the bestselling Land of Roar series. Perfect for fans of BBC's Ghosts!

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