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P.K. PINKERTON & THE PETRIFIED MAN

Name: P.K. PINKERTON & THE PETRIFIED MAN
Author: Caroline Lawrence
ISBN: 978-0-399-25634-9

From the P.K. Pinkerton series , Vol. 2

by Caroline Lawrence ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2013

A warm, wise, wild and woolly second offering in the Western Mysteries series.

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In this quick-on-the-draw funny follow-up to The Case of the Deadly Desperados (2012), 12-year-old P.K. Pinkerton still roams the seedy streets of Virginia City of 1862…and he’s still up to his eyeballs in trouble.

The good news is his dream of setting up shop as a private eye has come true, even if the “eye” in his newspaper ad does look more like a potato. His first client is a runaway slave girl who witnessed the strangulation of a Soiled Dove named Short Sally Sampson and thinks Sally’s killer is stalking her. P.K. is so absorbed in the case it’s easy to forget his foster parents were murdered just two weeks before. As in the last Wild West adventure, our half-Lakota hero records his suspenseful story on ledger sheets and struggles with his “Thorn”—his inability to show or read emotion that today might be called high-functioning autism. P.K.’s straight-shooting personality, integrity and good heart make readers want to follow him to the ends of the Earth…if not directly to Short Sally’s killer. Run-ins with the truth-twisting Sam Clemens and Civil War references tether this lively mystery to a colorful, if grisly time in U.S. history.

A warm, wise, wild and woolly second offering in the Western Mysteries series. (1862 maps of the Washoe and Virginia City, glossary) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: April 18, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-399-25634-9

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
P.K. PINKERTON AND THE PISTOL-PACKING WIDOWS
by Caroline Lawrence

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE DEADLY DESPERADOS
by Caroline Lawrence

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PIRATES OF POMPEII
by Caroline Lawrence

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THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE

by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8, 2024

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.

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Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England.

Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother—who’s attempting to bring her back to America—Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who’s stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother’s estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother’s likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was “Polish Jewish British,” eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie’s directness is repeatedly attributed to her being “half American,” which proves tiresome, but Jakob’s development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative’s time period.

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates. (Historical mystery. 10-14)