The Mystery Of The Martello Tower

It's the first day of summer vacation and Hazel's 12th birthday is next week, but things aren't looking good. First, she has that dream, the one that's always followed by bad news, as her annoyingly brilliant nine-year-old brother Ned points out. Next there's the disappearance of Colin, their art- ealer father-their only living relative. Then there are those e-mails on Colin's computer-one about an Interpol investigation and another about a family reunion. Before Hazel and Ned can investigate, their summer plunges into chaos: a valuable painting goes missing, their apartment is burgled, the babysitter leaves town, their father is arrested in Istanbul and two menacing thugs begin turning up everywhere.

Escaping to an island for a reunion with family they never knew they had sounds perfect. But there's no escaping this adventure, and even as Hazel and Ned gain help from new family and friends, they learn of a second, darker secret they must uncover. Only by solving both mysteries can they bring their father home.

Red-haired Hazel Frump is a heroine with a wicked crossover dribble and a brother with near-lethal chemistry skills. The beginning of a series that has echoes of the best of Enid Blyton and is written in the tradition of stories where children rule the day (and adults conveniently fade away), The Mystery of the Martello Tower is habit-forming reading.