Eye Spy II by Tessa Buckley
| Eye Spy II by Tessa Buckley | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: Second outing for the teen detectives of Eye Spy Investigations. A great blend of mystery and family drama. Tessa Buckley popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 160 | Date: July 2017 |
| Publisher: Matador | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 1788032667 | |
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Fresh from the success of solving its first case, Eye Spy Investigations is certainly up for another. So twins Alex and Donna jump at the chance to investigate the strange things happening at the Priory, home to school friend Jimmy Devlin. Alex doesn't believe in ghosts and he is very keen to persuade Donna that they don't exist.
But what about the strange power outages? What about the strange, robed figures that keep appearing? What about the items that keep going missing? Alex is about to have his own beliefs severely tested.
Outside the new investigation, things have changed for Alex and Donna since the first book in the series. Dad is still a mad inventor but no longer a penniless one as he has been employed by Holtech, a local tech company, to develop his robot. So there is now money sloshing around the house and Nan doesn't have to do quite so many cleaning jobs. She's still a school dinner lady though, and she still has a very good line in tellings off. There's just one problem - robot technology is proprietary and secretive and Dad's job is secret, so the twins still get mocked at school about him and can't say anything. Other than that, though, everything is looking up...
... and will look up even further if the twins can get another solved case under the belt of Eye Spy Investigations.
This second story is as much fun as the first. Multiple mysteries are occurring at the Priory and it's obvious to the twins that the Devlin family has problems. But untangling what is and isn't real proves both tricky and dangerous. Alex still keeps his cards close to his chest while Donna is impetuous and impulsive, often getting herself into trouble. Together, they make a great investigating team. Nan still lectures given half a chance and Dad - who spends some of the book out of the country - is still distracted and slightly eccentric.
Eye Spy II is a fun read with relatable central characters and a great and varied background cast. I particularly enjoyed the appearance of a TV chef who is fun to watch on screen but pretty obnoxious in real life. Middle-grade readers will enjoy the blend of mystery to be solved and kitchen sink issues to empathise with, I think. I certainly did. It's a great follow-up to the first book and further fleshes out what is promising to become a solid series. I'll look forward to reading the third instalment when it arrives!
If Eye Spy II appeals, you might also enjoy Murder Most Unladylike, a murder mystery set in a girls' boarding school in the 1930s. It's great fun with a twisting turning plot. For more about twins, we can recommend Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy.
Tessa Buckley was kind enough to be interviewed by Bookbag.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Eye Spy II by Tessa Buckley 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 Eye Spy II by Tessa Buckley at Amazon.com.
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