Dead Man's Cove (Laura Marlin Mysteries 1): Book 1

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He has illustrated multiple award-winning books and is known for his lively and colourful work, with a strong focus on mood and drama. Each character definitely had their own manner of speaking throughout the entire story that made it easy to know who was speaking at different parts.

It's a wonderful tale that will appeal not only to kids, but also to grown-ups, even those who don't usually read children's books.Lauren St John grew up surrounded by horses, cats, dogs, horses and a pet giraffe on a farm and game reserve in Zimbabwe, the inspiration for her bestselling White Giraffe and One Dollar Horse series. The book reminded me very much of the Famous Five books I enjoyed as a child but brought right up to date and given a social conscience. Laura made a note of the time because she'd been waiting for this moment for eleven years, one month and five days and she wanted always to remember it - the hour her life began.

Her new life in Cornwall proves more mysterious than she might have wished for, however, and Laura has to use all her powers of deduction to unravel the secrets surrounding Dead Man’s Cove. It was lent to me by one of the kids in my class who thought I would like it since I enjoy The Famous Five. This is on Coast Guard property and was closed to the public in 2020 due to idiots trying to take selfies on the rocks and the Coast Guard not wanting to deal with it anymore. The last part of the book was one that had me totally immersed in the book, I just had to know if Tariq and Laura would be all right. But I had to say the ending was not satisfying as it skipped lots of the climax action and just jumped to the uncle's POV of the story.You can pick up any of her books – The Dragonfly Pool and One Boy and His Dog are also fantastic – and be guaranteed a good read.

One of the best things about Dead Man’s Cove is it manages to do everything I’ve mentioned above, keeping the prose simple enough for an 8 year old, yet without being condescending. Inspired by a fictional detective, Matt Walker, Laura is an eleven year old girl aching for some action of her own, except that she is in orphanage so her options are limited. Calvin Redfern: “The ink-black figure of a man stood framed against the yellow light with a wolfhound at his side. When orphaned Laura is sent to live with her Uncle, she is sure that a life of adventure awaits her, but wherever she goes she is confronted with strange mysteries. Dead Man’s Cove challenges its audience, confronts them with some of the stark realities of the world, and it’s all the better for it.All of the subjects, I thought, were kind of mature for a book written for ten-year-olds, but it was written in a very tasteful fashion meant for a younger audience. Bought this yesterday as I’m on holiday in Cornwall and it seemed like a fun idea to read something set here.