Deron R. Hicks

First sentence: It was almost time. Henry Hamilton plopped down on the well-worn braided rug that occupied most of the floor in his family's living room.

Premise/plot: Henry Hamilton, our twelve-year-old narrator, works for his school paper as a reporter. He is fascinated with journalism--particularly high-stakes war journalism. As he follows the clues in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, he might just find himself in great danger from an outside threat. And he might not be at home show more in time for his banana pudding.

This one is a middle grade mystery set in 1942 on the American homefront.

My thoughts: I am so conflicted. On the one hand, I enjoy mysteries, most of the time. I enjoy historical fiction, most of the time. I love middle grade fiction. World War II is one of my favorite time periods to read about. On paper--in theory--this one should have been a great match for me. On the other hand, Henry Hamilton does hundreds of things that could lead to his death. And if he's dead, there's no story to be told, no warning message to get out to the proper authorities. He doesn't really have a plan on how to escape all the dangerous situations he finds himself in. He's twelve and invincible? I suppose that's the theory? I don't know that the target audience would have the same concerns I did. Probably not. show less

This is one of those cases that justifies the saying" Don't judge abook by its cover." I was somewhat reluctant to try the book because of the cartoonish nature of the cover picture. I'm so glad that I decided to give it a try. It is a kid's version of a Dan Brown novel, full of adventure, suspense, and historical intrigue. The characters are well developed and there is just the right touch of humor. The contemporary dialogue will attract 4th through 7th grade readers but it does not talk show more down to the them. It is full of beautiful descriptive language that would make it a good mentor text for word choice and vivid vocabulary usage. This book had everything; secret codes and passageways, humorous chase scenes, nail biting adventures in a cemetary and of course the evil plotting villian. I can't wait for the sequel. Sign me up for the Letterford Mystery Series fan club! show less

The first two books took place in Washington, D.C. and I enjoyed those but I was excited that this book was to take place to London. I loved it!

I liked that in this book it’s the girl who takes the lead in the detective work and she also takes many of the risks and is the one who puts herself in the most danger. There is a lot of danger and even violence in these books, especially considering that they are written for children.

The frequent time & day and place notations throughout the show more book(s) contribute a lot to building suspense and there is a lot of suspense. I appreciated that at one point deep into the book that I guessed very wrong about a character. I started wondering if Eunice was in on the theft plot and did not know her identity until the reveal.

This book doesn’t do a great job with backstory. There is nothing about how Art met Camille & her mother, for instance. I suppose that this book could be a standalone but readers would lose a lot that way. As I usually do, I strongly suggest reading the books in this series in order.

I think that the author is brave to use real museums, monuments, and other known attractions. Somehow it works. I wouldn’t think it could work but it does. The reader learns a lot about art and in this book a lot about history too. The QR codes in the e-book work and I enjoyed looking at the images as I was reading. Being able to see images of what is being described in the book is one of the best things about this series. Yes, the reader could look up the items as they read, but having them be so convenient is a huge plus. In this third book it’s not only artworks that are shown but also buildings and images connected with them and other objects.

Readers do have to suspend disbelief about a lot of plot details but the relationships ring true, and the books are tremendous fun. I always like the main characters and many of the new characters in each book.

I will say that I’m wondering how many more books there might be. The kids have now saved both their fathers. I suppose there is lots more that they can do and there are certainly a lot more settings where the stories could take place. Now that I think about it, I suppose there could be many more books in this series. Given what the author says in his Author’s Note I am assuming that there will be more books, likely in this series. In this note the author also says that many think of art as paintings in museums but he then mentions four other kinds of art that appeared in this book: architecture, stained glass, murals, and the floor of Westminster Abbey – the Cosmati pavement.

Highly recommended for boys & girls, ages 8-12 and all the way up for the older readers who enjoy children’s literature.

4-1/2 stars show less

Fun!

Great characters! I love Art and Camille.

It was a bit confusing at the beginning but the development of the story was done very well.

Amusing.

Suspenseful and intense. It was much more intense and contained more danger to the characters than I’d expected to read in a middle grade mystery.

Great mystery!

The story makes fine use of the Washington, D.C. settings, especially the National Gallery of Art. A not too detailed but useful pictorial map of the National Mall area is included at the show more front of the book and I bookmarked it and referred to it several times.

In addition to Art and Camille, I also liked Camille’s mother, Mary Sullivan and a couple of others. All the characters are interesting, even though I would say there is not much depth to most of the secondary characters.

I guess this is middle grade but the crimes aspect I wouldn’t recommend for younger middle grade readers. I am not sure but I’d say ages 9-12 most girls and most boys could enjoy this book. I think it would make a great read aloud book for families and for classrooms. It’s also a page-turner and for independent readers could be a one day book or even an in one sitting book.

I appreciated how for the Kindle edition there are QR codes to “follow the codes” and they’re clickable to see the particular art work mentioned in the story on those pages. There is the image and information about the piece and which museum and where in the museum the piece is housed. There is also a website given whose site has most of the artwork that I think can be used for audiobook and paper book readers. It was a pleasure to be able to effortlessly view the artworks as they were mentioned. For this reason this is one time I would always recommend an e-edition over audio or paper book editions.

If you do not like spoilers please do not read reviews that might have them and do not read the description fields for books 2 and 3 or any other books in this series that might be listed online. I read a couple of things before reading the book that I wish I had not seen.

I see that there are already two other books in this mystery series and I’m eager to read them. I have some ideas of what might happen with the adults as well as with the kids in the books’ stories. It will be entertaining to find out if my hunches prove true or not.

Perfect book/series for kids who enjoy mysteries, adventure, art, and museums, or any of the above. This would be a good book for kids who live in or have visited Washington, D.C. and for kids who will move to or will visit Washington, D.C.

Highly recommended!

4-1/2 stars, rounded up because it’s an excellent mystery for children and for older readers too. I enjoyed it immensely. show less