PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Lady Rose Raventhorpe is very fond of her butler, Argyle, who is the only one who has time and love for her. On the night of her twelfth birthday, Argyle becomes the fourth victim of the Black Glove Murderer, who is targeting butlers in the city of Yorke. Just as disturbing, the black cat statues who are reputed to be the city's guardians are starting to disappear, and Rose stumbles upon a clandestine society of butlers, who know how to use a rapier just as well as they know how to supervise setting a table. Together with her best friend (a poetess with a taste for black and Gothic mysteries) Rose sets out to make sure that an ancient prophesy does not come to pass. Lots of adventure and intrigue and a determined (but well brought up) heroine! Upper primary readers. Lindy Jones
A former journalist, Janine Beacham has written all her life. She has always loved fairy tales and fantasy, and as a child would make up games for her friends to play at school. Janine once entered a competition where the prize was a real-life butler - which partly inspired the secret society of butlers in the Rose Raventhorpe Investigates series. Janine lives in Western Australia with her family.
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Lady Rose Raventhorpe is very fond of her butler, Argyle, who is the only one who has time and love for her. On the night of her twelfth birthday, Argyle becomes the fourth victim of the Black Glove Murderer, who is targeting butlers in the city of Yorke. Just as disturbing, the black cat statues who are reputed to be the city's guardians are starting to disappear, and Rose stumbles upon a clandestine society of butlers, who know how to use a rapier just as well as they know how to supervise setting a table. Together with her best friend (a poetess with a taste for black and Gothic mysteries) Rose sets out to make sure that an ancient prophesy does not come to pass. Lots of adventure and intrigue and a determined (but well brought up) heroine! Upper primary readers. Lindy Jones
This is a funny, page turner of a book... * Making Them Readers * This is an unputdownable, exciting first book in a new series: Rose Raventhope Investigates, full of surprises and seeped in Victorian atmosphere with interesting, well-rounded characters. It will keep you guessing to the very end. -- Debbie Williams * Primary Times * This stunning debut by Australian author Janine Beacham is definitely one for the curious, who love stories that are a little dark and a little different * Read it Daddy * ...for me, the stand-out element is the amount of humour in the story - caricatures abound from the butlers and their gloves, to Emily, Rose's friend in mourning. A historical giggle with darkness and magic. * Minerva Reads * Fun to read, this is a sprightly told tale of murder and trickery with a twisty plot and a cast of unlikely characters led by the smart and determined Rose Raventhorpe. -- Julia Eccleshare * Love Reading 4 Kids - Julia Eccleshare's Pick of the Month * Grave robbers, magicians and ancient feline guardians will keep young readers gripped. * South Wales Evening Post *
