Sesame Seade Mysteries 3: Scam on the Cam by Clementine Beauvais and Sarah Horne

Sesame Seade Mysteries 3: Scam on the Cam by Clementine Beauvais and Sarah Horne
Buy Sesame Seade Mysteries 3: Scam on the Cam by Clementine Beauvais and Sarah Horne at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Robert James
Summary: Sesame's toughest mystery yet is perhaps her best book. A brilliant end to a fabulous trilogy. (Except it CAN'T be the end, we need more!)
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 192	Date: April 2014
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1444912548
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Something strange is happening on or near the river. Finding a pirates' chest is surely likely to be the weirdest thing that happens to most people in an average week, but not Sesame, Toby and Gemma. As well as the possibility of pirates, there's a chance that nefarious goings-on are responsible for the university rowing team dropping like flies. Can Sesame save the day again?

If you've read the first two Sesame Seade books, you know what you're getting by now. Awesome action, clever characterisation, precise plotting and amazing artwork! (I seem to have caught Sesame's own tendency for alliteration there.)

(If you haven't read the first two Sesame books, then why are you reading this review? Head back to Sleuth on Skates - I think I've avoided spoilers here, but you can't be too careful!)

I'm not sure whether Sesame is slightly slower on the uptake here than in her previous two adventures or whether it's just that it's an especially twisty mystery which means even someone who has a brain with as many connections as there are stars in the universe needs a bit of time to find the right answer, but it's definitely the toughest one yet for her to solve. It also features the best ending of the trilogy so far - and while I believe we're supposedly stopping at a trilogy, there's no way Hodder can be cruel enough to leave us on the cliffhanger that is the climax to this one, is there? (In fairness - especially since everyone knows that I can't stand actual cliffhangers - this mystery does get wrapped up properly, but there's an intriguing last page which paints a character in a very different light, and I need a fourth book to find out more about this!)

As always, the pictures from Sarah Horne are some of the most gorgeous black and white illustrations around - I can't decide on whether my favourite is Sesame spying on two people trying to break open the chest, or Toby organising a frog race; both are packed with humour. Oh, but then there's the crowd on the day of the boat race itself. It's definitely too hard to choose a favourite!

Highly recommended as a great read, and the three books so far would make a perfect present for any young reader!

Fans of Sesame will love Kat Stephenson! Check out her adventures starting in A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Sesame Seade Mysteries 3: Scam on the Cam by Clementine Beauvais and Sarah Horne at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Sesame Seade Mysteries 3: Scam on the Cam by Clementine Beauvais and Sarah Horne at Amazon.com.

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