Frankie Dupont and the Mystery of Enderby Manor and Frankie Dupont and the Lemon Festival Fiasco by Julie Anne Grasso (Children's, 9 years +, 10/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

 July 2014/March 2015, Julie Anne Grasso, 135 pages/158 pages, Ebook, Review copy  

Summary from Julie's website

Frankie Dupont and the Mystery of Enderby Manor

When his cousin Kat disappears from Enderby Manor, Frankie Dupont jumps on the case. Bumbling Inspector Cluesome is convinced that Kat is lost in Myrtle's Mesmerising Maze, but Frankie isn't buying it.

He follows the evidence trail to a conniving concierge, a six fingered chef, a talking parrot, a mad maid and a shifty dwarf, and quickly finds himself in a desperate to recover Kat before her time runs out...

 

Frankie Dupont and the Lemon Festival Fiasco from Amazon (I don't gain anything by mentioning them)

Hot off cracking his first official case, Frankie Dupont is on the scene when his new teacher takes ill. The pint-sized detective suspects a classic case of sour grapes, but the evidence leads him to the one place he wouldn’t mind avoiding for the rest of his natural life. 

Enderby Manor has a few more secrets up her sleeve, and as Frankie begins to unravel them, he uncovers a plot stinkier than a sardine sandwich.

In Book 2 of the Frankie Dupont Mysteries, Frankie will make some new friends, upset some old ones, and of course, there will be lemon meringue pie

Nayu's thoughts  

This is one of a few books which I managed to read but somehow not review. Apologies go to Julie who is a sweet author and a little bit of an email pen friend. So I may be biased in my reviews for her work but I don't care! Her books are fun! Sure, Frankie is a boy and not a girl but I knew Julie's stories are good so I did want to read it. In the case of FD#1 I reread it before the second book, remembering accurately certain parts of the story about Kat being involved in a time travel mystery, and totally forgetting some main points. There is a slight element of Frankie being a bit dorky (sorry Julie, I couldn't view his outfit in any other way), but he uses his substantial knowledge of what being a detective involves to get to the bottom of the mystery, which was a surprise for me.

I wasn't sure what his second adventure would entail, but I loved it way more than the first. Frankie's cousin Kat got more page time, which delighted me since she is fun to be around and does try to help Frankie solve the crime. I really liked how the same hotel from the first book is the centre of the plot, as are lemons which I enjoy eating. Yes, I love eating lemons. Always have, always will. I was horrified by what happened to the lemons, and how they were used to ruin people's lives. There were some really scary moments where I couldn't predict what would happen next. Rest assured the lemons you buy will be safe, unless you know a certain hotel where strange things happen....

Be sure to check out the rest of Julie's books on her website.