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Laura's an orphan who has spent most o her life in a children's home, dreaming of long-lost relatives coming to find her. When an uncle suddenly does come to claim her and bring her to live with him in his seaside home in a small Cornish town, Laura is excited to begin her new life. But while her uncle is kind and gives her plenty of things she's never had in her life (including a doggo friend), he's not so generous with his time, always busy with some vague assignments and working at strange hours. Laura also can't work out if the shopkeeper's boy actually wants to be friends with her or not, and there's lots of suspicious and worrying things happening with him and his family, which of course Laura must investigate. Middle grade mysteries are among my favourite books to read because they're so much fun and Dead Man's Cove certainly isn't short of mysteries to figure out. Why is the cove so dangerous? Is Tariq, the shopkeeper's quiet son, who he appears to be? Why is the housekeeper, Mrs Webb, so mean? Does her uncle really work in the fisheries? And what does Laura have to do to find her place in St Ives? Dead Man's Cove was (to my delight!) much more complicated and darker than expected, but it also leaves you nostalgic for a childhood you (likely) never had, full of breakfast by the sea, accompanied by a loyal Siberian Husky named Skye, roaming sand the 'colour of a Labrador puppy'. It made me miss living by the sea while I was at university, waking up to seagulls every morning. An orphaned girl with a big love for detectives finds herself thrown into mystery when she moves in to live with her uncle.
Her uncle, Calvin Redfern is a very intriguing character. Whenever he's around, you get the sense that there's something hidden about him. - secrets.I decided to read this book because a family member recommended it to me and said that it was very good. I also liked the themes of the book. Overall winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2011 and winner of the Favourite Story Category. - A Lovereading4kids 'Great Read' you may have missed 2011 selection - Shortlisted for the Galaxy Children's Book of the Year Award 2011. Tariq? I loved that guy, though I did feel sorry for what was happening to him. As for what was going on with him? It took me a bit longer to find out all the details, sure, I had some suspicions but I hadn't expected the story to take that turn.
The town of Cornwall? It was quite a lovely place, going by the descriptions. Quiet, small, it has a beach (I would love to live near the beach), there are all kind of fun shops and foodplaces. And then there are the mysterious things that are going on in the town. I was highly curious about Deadman's Cove. Dead Man's Cove was the first book chosen for my monthly book club. I had been wanting to read it for a while because it sounded like a perfect middle grade adventure and mystery in the vein of Enid Blyton, plus the cover is stunning! Dead Man's Cove is the first story in the Laura Marlin Mysteries series, following 11-year-old Laura as she works on becoming an ace detective, inspired by her favourite fictional detective Matt Walker. Laura is living in Sylvan Meadow's Children's Home when she is discovered by her uncle, Calvin Redfern, and taken to live in St Ives, Cornwall, where her detective skills are about to be put to use.
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Lauren St John was born and raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). From the age of 11 she lived on a game reserve, which provided the inspiration for her memoir Rainbow’s End and her White Giraffe series of children’s books. Dead Man’s Cove is the first in her series of Laura Marlin mysteries. I'm definitely going to read more of St. John's books, especially more of the Laura Marlin mysteries. This book would be an absolute corker of a read for LKS2 as a whole class. Even a seasoned reader could be forgiven for not seeing all the plot twists before they take place. St. John also reveals the darker elements of society (factory sweatshops from India/slavery/child labour) which I think could open up some interesting debate among the class. Orion Children's Books (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) an imprint of Orion Publishing Co
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