Saturday, 19 September 2015

Frankie Dupont and the Science Fair Sabotage + Frankie Dupont and the High Seas Heist by Julie-Anne Grasso (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E)


 May 2015 & July 2015, 134 pages & 138 pages, Paperback, Review copies 

Content: mystery, peril, lots of humour

Summary from Amazon 
Frankie Dupont is less than impressed when he has to attend the Sustainable Science Fair with Kat and Amy. Upon his arrival, he learns that Amy's brothers have had their robotics chip stolen. Keen to recover the chip, Frankie questions the kids in the competition, but everyone seems to have a motive. When baffling clues start rolling in via “Snap-Goss” instant messages, Frankie realises it will take all of his detective muscles to solve this case

Frankie Dupont seems to catch odd-ball cases in the most unlikely places. You would think he would be used to it by now. When his next case lands him on a luxury cruise liner full of devious chocolatiers with ulterior motives, Frankie will be expected to solve the crime, even before it's committed. Although his mind is certainly up for the challenge, Frankie realises his stomach is yet to find its sea legs. 

Nayu's thoughts    
*grins* Yes I'm probably entirely biased because I know Julie-Anne through email, and love her work, but these two Frankie books are ace! 

I loved the short time frame which Frankie had to solve the science fair mystery, as well as the high page time for Amy (you know how much I prefer female protagonists!). The timeframe for Frankie to solve the case is super short, which held me in more suspense than usual. I was surprised by the eventual suspect, and I'm looking forward to rereading it and spotting all the hints leading to that conclusion. 

As for the High Seas Heist...wow, wow and WOW! It's the first book where Frankie is taken away from familiar surroundings (apart from the early part of book 1, Enderby Manor became familiar) – being at sea is totally different to being on dry land. Especially when the sea gets stormy and a chocolate thief is involved. I managed to figure out the mystery chocolatier before they re-revealed in the story (not much before), who I truly hope Frankie can have more adventures with! He's a unique detective whose thoroughness puts the adults to shame (who can dismiss him for being 'a kid'). 

Find out about her other books on Julie-Anne's website

Suggested read 
As well as checking out the other boos in the series, do check out Julie-Anne's other work, the latest book being Adventures of Caramel Cardamom #3: Stellarcardia (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)
 

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