Sunday 3 June 2018

Zorro Reviews #KidLit #Mystery: Murder on the #Canadian

Title: Murder on the Canadian 
Author: Eric Wilson
Genre: Action Adventure / Murder Mystery / Juvenile Fiction
Status: Read
Cats?: Nope.

Zorro Says:

I admit it: I'm hooked on Juvenile Fiction. Ever since I read my first Hardy Boys mystery last year, I haven't been able to kick the habit.

My latest kidlit read is Murder on the Canadian, A Tom Austen Mystery written by Eric Wilson. Yes, our amateur sleuth is a young lad. Yes, he's hilarious. And yes, he's about to solve a murder on a train.

Great cast of characters in this one. So much personality. There's nothing worse than dull characters in a murder mystery, and you won't find any here.  Young Tom loves Hardy Boys mysteries and detective novels, but he's no kid genius. There are a number of clues an adult reader picks up on that Tom doesn't notice. This builds tension.  You're sitting there going "That's a clue, Tom! It's a clue!"

He gets there eventually, I should mention. Kid's not a total dope. In fact, he does a better job at solving this murder than I would have, as a kitten. I shouldn't be so hard on Tom.

There's a great action sequence toward the end of the book, as well.  Something to look forward to.

Murder on the Canadian is a fun read. I honestly wasn't prepared for how much I would enjoy this one.  Big personality, lots of fun suspects, a smattering of jokes, and a physical struggle that could mean the difference between life and death.  What more could a cat ask for?

The agonizing sound of a woman's scream hurls Tom Austen into the middle of a murder plot on board the sleek passenger train The Canadian. Who is responsible for the death of lovely Catherine Saks? As Tom investigates the strange collection of travellers who share Car 165, he gets closer and closer to the truth . . . and then without warning, he is suddenly face to face with the killer, and his own life is threatened in the most alarming possible way.