A Spoonful of Murder 

Review By : Amanah Rizvi

Introduction 

This fascinating book shares many interesting genres, such as mystery and drama. The Spoonful of murder is not like other murder mystery books because it’s not limited to one or two people; it involves a whole family. For me, this shows family and teamwork throughout the story.

Characters and the Story 

The story starts with two young girls in school, called Hazel and Daisy. These girls love crime and solving it with their family. One day, the telephone rang at Daisy’s and Hazel’s school (called Deep Dean). When Hazel answered, she was confused, but found it was actually her father. Her father informed her that, unfortunately grandfather had passed away. This was because he had not been feeling well at all. At this point, Hazel was not only devastated but also confused. She clutched onto the telephone and wanted to know more, and was awfully shocked that this had happened. This could not slide past her; she wanted to investigate. Father told her that she had to come to his funeral because if she didn’t, she would miss seeing her grandfather and being next to him for the last time. Hazel hung up the phone and didn’t know what to do, but the thought of meeting her grandfather, who lay in Hong-Kong, was still in her mind, and she didn’t know how to handle it. She loved her grandpa and would do anything for him, so she decided to pack her bags and go with her whole family, including Daisy. Daisy and Hazel wanted to investigate where, how and when it happened. They were still questioning his death even though they knew his grandfather was terribly ill. Her father told her that he would talk to their school, Deep Dean Primary School, and inform them that they won’t be going for the next few months. Later on, when they arrived in Hong-Kong they could all smell the fresh city and foods of the place with birds flying above them, people chatting away. They then went to their hotel and started unpacking things - Hazel and Daisy finished as soon as they could. Everyone was settled in except for them because, again…. all they could think of was uncovering the occurrence of her grandfather’s death. Mother says they should just say he was very old. Which he was. She said he was in his eighties, but he was still moving and fit. As they returned outside into the lively air, they dashed through the roads, passing the old ladies selling delicious Chinese sweets and treats. Then there he was…grandfather’s bed with father beside him on the hospital grounds. They asked the nurses and doctors if they noticed something whilst his dreadful death occurred. They just said he dies by old age – of course they did. It would be weird to say the truth: he was MURDERED….the evidence was right in front of the nurses. Near the body, people stood staring and wondering what had happened, since they weren’t there to know what had happened…..

The people there did though… so the girls asked them. The girls thought that it would be easy, so easy – they would get the answer straight away and wouldn’t need to investigate further. Yet they were disappointed, once again. But the girls knew that they couldn’t give up. They HAD to find out what had happened

Part Two: Death by Appointment 

A year passes by. It felt like ages. NOTHING! After talking to some people, the family had a little hope - just a little.... They had some evidence.

After this, when Hazel and the whole family investigated even more, they found a detective called Mr Leung. They spoke to him and told him the whole story. Telling him that grandpa died made him surprised and frustrated, too. When Hazel finished explaining….

Find out what happens next and solve the murder by reading the book.

Rating of the Story 

A Spoonful of Murder is an amazing book, as I really enjoyed reading it. This book has 5 or 6 parts to it, and I’m on part 3, nearly on 4. If this book had a max rating of 10, it would be a 10/10. Although… I haven’t finished the book yet, but so far in the story, many, many and MANY interesting things have happened. To be exact, the murderer has now been revealed. Who is it?

Who has done this terrible act?

WHO MURDERED GRANDFATHER…?

Tom Gates- A Tiny Bit Lucky 

Review By :Rayyan Mohamed Ehisan

Tom Gates is a hilarious and wonderfully illustrated book by Liz Pichon. This book is about a boy named Tom who has a best friend called Derek. Tom loves doodling; he even doodles with a string sometimes! He also loves chocolate wafers and watching his favourite show called ‘The Crazy Fruit Bunch’. Tom and his best friends Derek and Norman try to go through their days at school, but it's difficult with his annoying sister Delia and beady-eyed teacher Mr Fullerman, who does not take his eyes off Tom. Tom, Derek and Norman try out for a band competition, and they think they have lots of time to enter, but the competition actually ends at the end of the month. They go to the tryout out and they unfortunately do not win because they are distracted by various events like the evil inspectors visiting the school! 

Why is this book good? 

In my opinion, this book was incredibly good because it helps to expand my vocabulary whilst making me laugh. I think lots of kids will think this book is hilarious and worth reading as well. There are lots of fantastic drawings in this book, and it perfectly shows what it's like to be a kid and go through lots of different kinds of friendships and days at school. He has silly accidents like bringing too much cheese to school to make his pizza and making the whole classroom smell, which makes the book funnier and more realistic. 

Book rating 

I rate this book a 5/5. People like me who enjoy diary-style books might prefer books like Tom Gates that have many jokes and pictures! I love all the books by Liz Pichon and hope to read all of them in the future.