The following morning, after her mother has left, Aveline explores her surroundings visiting the local second-hand bookshop run by the eccentric Mr Lieberman. With a little help from the old man’s nephew Harold, she finds an old volume of local ghost stories which she decides to buy. Meeting her aunt afterwards at a coffee shop, she is puzzled by her aunt’s decision to leave immediately, having barely touched her cake after reading the name written inside the front cover. A creepy old book, child scarecrows and a seaside village with a secret: this is Halloween fun for the strong of heart and the perfect ghost…” Aveline has to spend the Autumn Half Term holiday with her aunt who she doesn't know that well, in her seaside town in Cornwall. Seaside towns in winter can be rather dreary and desolate places where it feels like it just rains all the time, and Malmouth is rather like that.

So begins a riveting mystery, laden with masterfully balanced tension and a sense of foreboding which builds a tightrope of suspense, orchestrated perfectly to send shivers down your spine. Is there any truth in a local almost forgotten ghost story? Why are scarecrows placed outside homes on Halloween? Aveline Jones is the brilliant main character who loves ghost stories and old books. She also seems to be met with a new mystery to solve wherever she goes. And in the first book of the series, she sets to find out why the owner of a strange old book, who was only a young girl at the time, vanished into thin air. And each book in the series has a new case for Aveline to solve. My only tidbits about this book is that 1) it was too short! I wanted more! She did all this within practically 2-3 days! Why not the full week that she was visiting? Author Luke Palmer introduces his new book, Play (Firefly Press) about four boys growing up together, the challenges, the friendships, and what hap...

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The exact amount of suspense needed is delivered at just the right moments; a scraping sound in the middle of the night, small marks on the window pane that resemble a small hand...these build to a deliver a spectacular dose of horror appropriate to middle grade fiction. When Aveline is sent to stay with her aunt in a small, sea-side village, she finds a book full of ghost stories. Strange happenings begin to occur and Aveline finds herself entangled in a very dangerous showdown with a vengeful ghost.

Aveline Jones is forced to stay with her uptight Aunt in a spooky seaside town in October. Storms, creepy scarecrows and a strange boy who likes eating chips all await. Aveline can't think of anything worse. Until she finds a book, a book of ghost stories, that belonged to a girl. A girl who went missing over 30 years ago. Cue a mystery to be solved... This was exactly the sort of middle-grade story I adore - eerie, full of adventure, and with a sassy protagonist unafraid to throw herself into danger, if it also means getting to the heart of the mystery! The seaside setting, blanketed in its relentlessly gloomy weather, also added an extra chilling element and I adored Aveline's exploration of her new setting as much as I did the expansion of her sleuthing abilities. This was full of sinister atmosphere as it was heart and I adored both sides of charming yet ghostly little tale.I loved this book, and would've loved it as a middle grade aged person too. Aveline was a fab protagonist, and the side characters were great too. I loved the bookshop and could fully imagine myself getting lost for hours in there (especially when the prices sound so reasonable) And when Aveline starts to suspect some ghostly goings on, they don’t dismiss her, but walk a careful line between believing her and suggesting alternative theories, helping her to get to the bottom of it. Following Aveline as she visits a Cornish seaside town and visits a book shop to find local ghost stories. This leads her to a cold case mystery from the 80’s and to a local myth that are somehow connected!

Thank you to Usborn Publishing for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway. Set by the sea and so beautifully described that at times I could truly imagine the sound of the waves, Aveline embarks on an adventure after finding a mysterious book. Alongside her friend she sets to solve a town’s mystery and save a missing girl, or is the girl trying to save her? Satisfyingly eerie, supernatural children’s book, with a slightly old-fashioned feel - reminding me of similar books by classic authors like Penelope Lively. This is centred on Aveline Jones who’s dreading having to spend half-term with her fussy, forbidding aunt in a remote, Cornish fishing village. But once there Aveline’s love of ghost stories unexpectedly leads her to Primrose, a girl who vanished without a trace years before. Primrose’s disappearance is somehow intertwined with local legends about a vengeful spirit who rises from the sea at Halloween, a spirit who may be pursuing Aveline. This is a simply told but highly effective, atmospheric piece, the characters are a little sketchily drawn but the plot's intriguing enough to make it a compelling read. I particularly enjoyed the depiction of the strangely deserted, eccentric village and the inventive incorporation of a reworking of the La Llorona myth. A Toppsta reviewer said they couldn't put down this exciting middle grade mystery adventure series for ages 8+, so read up and don't miss out on this fun, Halloween-y read that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The book follows Aveline Jones, who's gone to stay with her aunt, Lilian, for about a week or so when her mother travels up to Scotland to visit her ill mother. Aveline's aunt lives in the small coastal town of Malmouth, where she tutors some of the local children. Lilian and Aveline have something of a strained relationship, thanks to not having seen each other for a while, and Lilian's slightly removed and regimented way of dealing with children takes some getting used to.

LoveReading4Kids Says

Aveline finds herself pushed into visiting the local bookstore. There she finds a friend in its chatty owner and his nephew, but she also discovers a mysterious book telling some of the local stories. I started this yesterday and I am sooo glad I did! I live in the south where this book is set and we had a very blustery, rainy, cold, and overcast day, which was an absolutely perfect setting for this book! ... I may have lit a fire to top off the atmosphere... This is a fantastic fast-paced paranormal middle grade mystery with engaging characters and a marvellously spooky atmosphere throughout. The setting of the desolate seaside town in the autumn/winter when it has been abandoned by the tourists was perfect. The town almost felt like another character within the book. To access eLibrary content for free all you need is a library card number. If you don’t have a library card, you can apply straight away: And, what do I recommend? I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE HAUNTING OF AVELINE JONES!!! I’ll be perfectly honest when I say that I went into this book with pretty much no expectations, and then came out of it FULLY CREEPED OUT BUT SMILING!