Paul Adshead

The Child's Play Library is an excellent series with a wide appeal: I enjoyed them and my daughters loved them from the ages of at least five to 15. The Red Herring Mystery was probably our favourite - a whodunnit it set in a stately home with the requisite eccentric suspects.

It features a spoiled cat, lots of red herrings, and readers must collect clues from the text and illustrations to help solve the disappearance of the fabulous fish-shaped ruby. It's quite a tough puzzle too - rather too much of a challenge for younger readers who will nevertheless enjoy the book for the wonderful pictures and amusing characters, one of whom is called Agnes Crusty in homage to the mistress of the genre...… (plus d'informations)