Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Clueless Guide to Solving a Mystery: Clueless #1 – Samera Kamaleddine. Illustrations by Hykie Breeze.

    Harper Collins Australia May 2026 ISBN: 9781460767443 RRP: $17.99 MG readers will thoroughly enjoy meeting Claudia as she has an extended stay with her grandparents in their retirement village. The residents make for hilarious friends with their various quirks but it is when ‘the cousins’, Yasmin and Zayn, come to visit their own grandmother that her…

  • Freddie Jones: The Mystery of the Ghostly Garden – Kate Foster

    Walker Books Australia May 2026 ISBN13:9781760659943 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 I am really loving this new series from Kate Foster, who writes not only entertaining narratives but ones that give us all a much clearer insight into neuro-diversity. Freddie is such a likeable character and his self-awareness, especially using the literary device of first-person…

  • Dazzling Diamond Egg: Claris the Chicest Mouse in Paris – Megan Hess

    Hardie Grant Australia September 2025 ISBN:9781761215193 Price:AU$26.99, NZ$29.99 Series:Claris Publisher:Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing I absolutely adore Megan Hess’ books! Though I’ve only had two for review, I’ve bought every one of her fashion titles I could get my hands on for my libraries. I can assure you that my fashionista and arty girls went mad…

  • The Haunting of Hindmarsh Hall – Kate Gordon

    Riveted Press Simon & Schuster April 2025 RRP: AU$ 16.99 / NZ$ 18.99 If you have kidlets who are mad for detectives and mystery, and particularly if they’re the ones who love an Enid Blyton ‘find-outer’ adventure, then you are going to need this one. In a small town of indeterminate location, two boys are…

  • Escape from Marigold Manor – Rachel Jackson

    For someone with a mild [understatement] addiction to cozy murder mysteries, this new Rachel Jackson Solve it Your Way was right up my alley. Not that I didn’t also enjoy the first in the series Escape from Cuttlefish Cove, but this one had the perfect setting and characters for my taste. In this new one,…

  • This Book Kills – Ravena Guron

    Harper Collins Australia March 2024 I recently read someone ‘predicting’ that murder mystery for teens/YA was going to be a big new trend this year. I have news for them. It has been for quite a few years now as any of the devotees of Karen McManus, Holly Jackson or Robin Stevens will affirm –…

  • Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose #9- Nancy Springer

    Allen & Unwin August 2023 ISBN:9781761180613 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $19.99 We are big Enola fans here, both books and Netflix adaptations, so a bit morose that this is the final in the series *sad face*. But it is certainly a ripper of a finale, with another very clever blend of historical…

  • Einstein the Penguin – Iona Rangeley. Illustrated y David Tazzyman.

    Harper Collins Australia December 2021 ISBN: 9780008475963 ISBN 10: 0008475962 Imprint: HarperCollins GB List Price: 19.99 AUD This is a fun new read for your kiddos who are moving on from those first easy chapter books to something a little more challenging. Imagine stirring up Paddington stories with Mr Popper’s Penguins with a good dash of Finding Nemo and…