Our Book of the Month is the first instalment in a fantastic new adventure series by Lauren St John,  the award winning author of The White Giraffe series, Laura Marlin Mysteries and One Dollar Horse series.  Published by Macmillan, it’s a great middle grade read and perfect for budding young detectives and animal lovers!

Kat Wolfe loves her new home in idyllic Bluebell Bay, especially as it comes with a resident wildcat. But when she starts pet-sitting for pocket money, she finds that beneath the town’s perfect surface lie some dark and dangerous secrets . . . After a pet owner vanishes from his clifftop mansion, Kat turns to her new friend, Harper Lamb, for help. What began as mystery-solving holiday fun quickly turns deadly for Wolfe and Lamb. Can they count on their unruly animals to save their lives?

Kat Wolfe Investigates begins with Kat and her mother, Dr Wolfe taking the decision to move from their London home after a break-in.  When they arrive in their new idyllic home on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, it couldn’t be more perfect with a beautiful cottage, busy veterinary surgery for Dr Wolfe to run and a wildcat, Tiny, for Kat to try her cat-whispering talents on. Kat begins to make friends, starting a pet sitting agency and meeting computer-whizz Harper Lamb who is laid up with a broken leg and needs Kat to look after her horse.  The plot thickens and it soon becomes clear all is not as it seems with disappearances, mysterious messages and worrying behaviour all around. Kat and Harper set-up their very own detective agency to get to the bottom of things, little realising the deadly dangerous plot they are about to become embroiled in….

Lauren St John’s writing always reminds me of the stories I read when I was young – in particular the Enid Blyton Adventure series and the Nancy Drew Mysteries. This is true of Kat Wolfe Investigates, a story with a great sense of adventure, transporting you to that place of excitement when you can’t wait to find out what happens next!   Kat Wolfe makes a great heroine – persistent, loyal and caring.  Add to this a droll fellow detective in Harper; lots of animal characters from capuchin monkeys to overweight dogs to vicious wildcats; the odd human here and there, and you have a wonderful array of possible heroes and villains! It’s a well-paced plot with some lovely moments where Kat shows her truly caring nature. The mother and daughter bond between Kat and Dr Wolfe is great to read.  There are suitably tense action scenes with an edge-of-your-seat finale and a lovely satisfying ending which leaves the door open for the next adventure. I can’t wait to read it!

Find out more at www.laurenstjohn.com and www.panmacmillan.com

With thanks to Macmillan for a proof copy of this book to review.