Book Review- Eric Wilson- The Emily Carr Mystery

Eric Wilson- The Emily Carr Mystery (HarperCollins 2003) 3 Stars

Liz Austen is Visiting Victoria, British Columbia for a friend’s wedding when a man sinks the boat they are on and a valuable painting goes missing. Now Liz finds herself thrown into the middle of a mystery. She must try to locate the thieves before it is too late, all while trying to prepare for the wedding. The Thirteen Oaks mansion may not be as safe as it seems and the family may not be as happy as they put on.

Normally I really love this series, but I have found that the deeper I get into this series the more educational Eric Wilson’s books become. I do not have any problem educational as I think that it is a great thing to have in a middle reader novel. That being said it gets in the way of the mystery and slows things down to a crawling pace at times, which made it so that I almost did not finish this one, as was the case with the book right before this one in the series. The overall plot as usual was good, although I would have been happy with more depth. I did enjoy the characters as they were well-created and fun. It had some intense moments, but these were drowned out by fluff.

I am sad to say that I do not recommend The Emily Carr Mystery.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Eric Wilson- Spirit in the Rainforest

Eric Wilson- Spirit in the Rainforest (HarperCollins 2003) 3.5 Stars

Tom Austen is on summer holidays in British Columbia when he discovers the mysterious Nearby Island. Haunted by ghostly voices and a strange hermit Nearby Island is avoided by all locals. Tom and Liz Austen take shelter in the forest and are afraid that this may be one mystery they are not brave enough to solve.

This mystery was slightly disappointing for me. The actual mystery was only a very tiny portion of the book (maybe 15%), which was not what I was hoping for. It took me a really long time to actually figure out what the point of the novel was. It was also the weakest character development I have seen from Eric Wilson yet. That being said it does take place in British Columbia where I was born and raised for many years, and continued to spend most summers and many Christmases at after I left (including a week of this past summer). The BC factor has given it some bonus points as it brought back some memories and made me want to return to beautiful British Columbia. It also had a great educational factor in the book, which is great for kids.

I am afraid that I can only recommend Spirit in the Rainforest to Eric Wilson fans.

For more of my reviews check out my website, http://www.tonypeters.webs.com/

Tony Peters
Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

www.eloquentbooks.com/kidsonacase.html