View source for Shrinking Violet Absolutely Loves Ancient Egypt by Lou Kuenzler

{{infobox1
|title=Shrinking Violet Absolutely Loves Ancient Egypt
|author=Lou Kuenzler
|reviewer=Louise Jones
|genre=Confident Readers
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781407143743
|pages=240
|publisher=Scholastic
|date=July 2014
|website=http://www.loukuenzler.com/
|summary=Violet and her family take a Nile cruise, but someone aboard the boat has criminal intentions. When a cat goes missing, Violet must investigate and solve the mystery.
|cover=1407143743
|aznuk=1407143743
|aznus=1407143743
}}

''Shrinking Violet Absolutely Loves Ancient Egypt'' is the fourth instalment in the popular series about a tween girl who magically shrinks to the size of a doll whenever she gets excited. In her latest adventure, Violet's gran wins a trip to  Egypt and decides to treat Violet, her surly sister Tiff and moody cousin Ant to a Nile cruise. The trip culminates in an archaeological dig at the mysterious 'Temple of the Cats', but when Ozzy the ship's cat goes missing, it is up to Violet and Gran to solve the mystery before it is too late for the unfortunate feline.

The story features an eclectic mix of characters and I loved reading about the different passengers aboard the Nile cruise, all of whom become suspects when Ozzy vanishes. Louis and Lola L'Amour are newlyweds and only have eyes for each other, so surely they are innocent, aren't they? The elderly, eccentric Calendar Sisters, Miss June and July seem harmless enough, but Violet isn't so sure about the 'Famous Egyptologist', Professor Gus, who seems to know very little about Egypt. Then there is cousin Ant, who has been playing computer games during the whole holiday. He has been acting very suspiciously indeed and has a strange habit of disappearing without notice. What is his secret?

The story is full of action, humour and mystery. Violet always seems to shrink at the worst possible time, for example when she is out shopping in a bustling Egyptian market, but the results are always very entertaining. The book has a big (or should I say small) plot twist which gives the series plenty of potential for future storylines.

The black-and-white cartoon illustrations compliment the narrative perfectly, especially the pictures of freckle-faced Violet all wrapped up like a mummy for the fancy dress party and the image of her vain sister Tiff having an adverse reaction to a Nile mud pack! As with other books in the series, the author also uses a variety of crazy fonts to give the text an extra bit of pizazz.

I always enjoy reading about Violet's adventures and would love to see her travel to different countries in future books. I can't wait to see where she ends up next! Many thanks to the publishers for my review copy, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Although this book is fine to read as a standalone novel, readers may wish to try the [[Shrinking Violet by Lou Kuenzler|original]] first and the [[Shrinking Violet is Totally Famous by Lou Kuenzler|Shrinking Violet is Totally Famous]].  We can also recommend [[Poppy Pym and the Pharaoh's Curse by Laura Wood]].

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