Thiswas only Siobhan Dowd’s second novel but it’s clear her talent as a superb storyteller is beyond question. Sadly, however she died in late 2007 so whatever you do don’t miss her four novels. Her first,A Swift Pure Cry, was shortlisted for nearly all the major awards and although this second novel is very different it has that same page-turner quality about it. It’s a beautifully written mystery set in Manchester and London and featuring two young boys, one of whom disappears on the London Eye shortly before he’s due to emigrate to the US with his mother. This edition features an Introduction from bestselling author Robin Stevens.
Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye, but after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off-except Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery.
This is an unput-downable spine-tingling thriller-a race against time.
? "Everything rings true here, the family relationships, the quirky connections of Ted's mental circuitry, and, perhaps most surprising, the mystery."-Booklist, Starred
? "The best mysteries have at their centers gifted but very human sleuths-their abilities balanced by equally significant flaws or idiosyncrasies. This one is no exception."-The Horn Book Magazine, Starred