Murder Mysteries 1: Mondays Are Murder

Description: (WINNER OF PHOENIX BOOK AWARD 2009 (UK) AND RED HOUSE CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD 2010 (UK). SHORT-LISTED FOR BOLTON CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD 2010 (UK) AND LEEDS CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARDS 2010 (UK)

A dramatic and moving story set in the same world as the international bestseller The Island from the celebrated novelist Victoria Hislop. The absorbing story of the Cretan village of Plaka and the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony - is told to us by Maria Petrakis, one of the children in the original version of The Island. She tells us of the ancient and misunderstood disease of leprosy, exploring the themes of stigma, shame and the treatment of those who are different, which are as relevant for children as adults. Gill Smith's rich, full-colour illustrations will transport the reader to the timeless and beautiful Greek landscape and Mediterranean seascape.


Review: This is a fast-paced page turner with a likeable heroine, believable characters and a sharp, tight plot that keeps you guessing whodunit * South Wales Echo *
A page-turning plot * School Librarian Journal *


Author Biography: Tanya Landman runs Storybox Theatre, a touring puppet theatre for children, with her husband Rod Burnett. She is the author of the junior novel Waking Merlin and its sequel Merlin's Apprentice; two novels about William Popidopolis, The World's Bellybutton and The Kraken Snores; and a series for younger children, Flotsam and Jetsam, Flotsam and Jetsam and the Stormy Surprise and Flotsam and Jetsam and the Grooof. She has also written two novels for teenagers, Apache and The Goldsmith's Daughter. Mondays Are Murder is the first of a ten-book junior murder mystery series. Tanya has two children and lives in Bideford, Devon.