This writer has written a 14-book series called Adventure Island, about the adventures of three children, siblings Scott and Jack Carter and their friend Emily Wild. By the way, the whole series (14 books) can be bought as a single ebook very cheaply from stores like Amazon, Kobo, Apple and others (search for "Adventure Island Complete 14-Book Collection").

I have just read the first book (The Mystery of the Whistling Caves). It's very much in Enid Blyton's style. Scott and Jack are staying during the holidays with their great aunt, a writer of mystery novels who lives in an island called Castle Key. In the beginning, the boys' attitude is not very positive, thinking they are going to be bored in such an out-of-the-way place, without even cell phone coverage, but all that changes when they meet a local girl called Emily, who is very much into investigating mysteries. Soon an archaeological treasure is stolen from the local museum and the three children (with the help of Emily's dog) have a mystery of their own to investigate.

The story itself has mystery elements in the style of the Five Find-Outers and adventure elements. There are a lot of things that the writer does well. The story is well-written, it does a good job of keeping the style of Enid Blyton's stories even though it's set in modern times (helped by the lack of cell phone coverage in many parts of the island), there is humor and banter between the children, the characters have their own distinct personalities... On the minus side, I did not quite warm to the characters as much as I did to Enid Blyton's. I guess the boys' dismissive attitude, although realistic in modern kids, is not as appealing. And I think we are lacking some of the quieter moments that we have in many of Enid Blyton's books, when we can just relax and enjoy the characters' having fun. Perhaps it should have been a little bit longer and let us get to like the characters more before the mystery starts. In this book, it seemed to me that at the end the characters got into a very dangerous situation when they could have done more to avoid it.

Nevertheless, this was a good read, and the whole collection is so cheap that it is worth trying. ( )

Jack and Scott Carter are on holiday with their Aunt Kate in Stone Cottage. At first, they think that it is so physically boring they were going to die of boredom. But when they meet Emily Wild, everything changes completely as they investigate who stole the Chieftain's Shield, the King's Sword, and the Ceremonial Helmet from the British Museum.

At first, they find Mrs Loveday fairly suspicious. But then, more suspects appear everywhere; and there is only one way to find out who really did it. They had to enter the Whistling Caves of Castle Key.

This book was very good, quite absorbing and an easy-read, but it involves stuff that only the modern-day-child would want to read: "for one horrible moment, it looked like Jack was going to kiss her. She shrank back." You see, I may be from the modern times, but I disapprove of these yucky moments highly. ( )

3 kids and a dog solve the mystery of the stolen historical treasure.