"This gripping ghost-and-gag-packed paranormal mystery is underpinned by themes of friendship and overcoming fears"
November 2022 Debut of the Month
David Wandsworth’s The Corny Scaredy Cat Paranormal Investigation Squad debut is a treat for readers who like stories that blend adventure with lots of laughs. Driven by entertaining dialogue and the unmistakeable voice of its anxious eleven-year-old protagonist, it’s a pacey page-turner with plenty of paranormal hi-jinks and hilarious absurdities.
Alastair has been feeling pretty isolated since his best friend Barry moved away: “You see, since we’d met in nursery it had been me and Barry against the world. Now, it was the world against me.” But everything changes when new girl Saoirse arrives at his school. In Alastair’s words, she “looked like trouble…She looked like she could be the best friend you could ever have, who’d defend you to the death, or your worst enemy who’d never give up until she beat you.”
Thankfully, despite being somewhat akin to chalk and cheese (Saoirse is confident and fearless, while Alastair is often anxious and confused), they strike up a bond and she soon has him drawn into her obsession with solving ghostly mysteries. As their adventure leads them back in time to the history of their Cornish village, more mayhem comes courtesy of Saoirse’s wild boy of a little brother — readers with younger siblings will sagely recognise his endearing penchant for yelling “Bum bum!” at any moment, opportune or otherwise.
Characterful and comic, this tale of unlikely friendship and overcoming fears is a fun romp of a read.
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