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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Case of the Exploding Brains by Rachel Hamilton (view source)
Revision as of 12:28, 26 August 2020
, 12:28, 26 August 2020no edit summary
Second books are hard, and lots of things that occurred in book one of this series have a big impact on what happens here. Porter's living with the Hawkins family, Dad's locked up and being as unhelpful as ever when it comes to clues and suggestions, even though he's being bullied by a bunch of inmates with huge muscles and tiny brains, and a particularly nasty villain is back with revenge in mind. Like it or not you have to understand certain key relationships between the characters, and Ms Hamilton makes a good fist of dropping essential facts in where needed. Such background information doesn't hold the story up particularly, but the reader won't be able to avoid the thought that it would be much easier to read the books in order. Having said that, this story is full of bounce and slapstick and general silliness which will have you gasping with shock one minute, while the next will see you laughing so much you roll off your chair and almost squash the cat.
Noelle is a fabulous heroine. She's quirky and single-minded and not ashamed of the fact that she's extremely clever. In lesser hands , a bright girl like her could end up being portrayed as bossy and snooty, but in fact , she's very endearing, and has a brilliantly sharp sense of humour. Any nine-year-old would be glad to have her as a friend (as long as she didn't invite her older sister along: - Holly's solution to most problems is to pummel somebody until things are fixed) and the pages of the book are littered with funny bits of word play wordplay and cards listing clues and conclusions so no one is left out. It's a light-hearted read that will cause you to both think and laugh – what more could you ask?
As mentioned above, you'd probably do well to read the first book in this series, [[The Case of the Exploding Loo by Rachel Hamilton|The Case of the Exploding Loo]] before getting stuck into this one. If you like your girl detectives bright and cheery, getting into all sorts of scrapes, do try [[Murder Most Unladylike (Wells & Wong Mystery 1) by Robin Stevens]] and the sequel [[Arsenic For Tea (A Wells and Wong Mystery) by Robin Stevens|Arsenic for Tea]]. Oh, and while we're on the subject of mysteries from another century, don't forget [[Slightly Jones Mystery: The Case of the Glasgow Ghoul by Joan Lennon]] and [[A Slightly Jones Mystery: The Case of the Hidden City by Joan Lennon|The Case of the Hidden City]] – lots and lots of fun! Newer readers might enjoy [[Unicorn in New York: Louie Lets Loose! by Rachel Hamilton]].
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