The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder: The new mystery series from the author of WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU MANGOES (Di Island Crew Investigates)

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The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder is the first book in the series, and will publish in June 2023. It tells the story of six friends who investigate cases on a small island off the coast of Jamaica. On arrival in her refined and intimidating new surroundings, Fayson discovers that her cousins and the rest of The Greatest Gang OF All Time, are counting on her crime-busting talents to solve the island's own shadowy mystery of a figure spotted over at the lighthouse. As well as honing her detective skills, Fayson learns that being wealthy doesn’t necessarily make people happy, as the most valuable things in life, such as love, kindness and friendship, can’t be bought. On the mystery side, there's a gang of kids on a private island just off Jamaica who have seen someone in a lighthouse who shouldn't be there, and they've been unable to figure out who they are or what they're up to in there despite repeated attempts. When Fayson arrives on the island with her cousins, who are both in the gang already, she's challenged to solve the mystery in three days. What follows is a series of investigations, sleepovers, stakeouts, break ins, a lot of deductive thinking and a classic reveal.

What elevates The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder is raising awareness of a range of issues relating to wealth, happiness and family values. Kereen Getten does not flinch from opening a potential can of worms, but writes sensitively, creating three-dimensional characters. Fayson discovers that her aunt and uncle only want what they perceive to be the best for her, however uncomfortable and alien that might seem. Her uncle explains that whilst it might be unfair, he has discovered that being able to speak Queen’s English, and mixing with other wealthy people has helped him prosper, and that sadly but often it is the case that to be accepted you need to adjust. Whether you agree or not, these are big concepts worthy of significant open-minded and potentially painful classroom discussion around its rights and wrongs. The second book, The Case of the Haunted Wardrobe, will come in October 2023, and The Case of the Abandoned Boat in 2024. The series follows Getten’s novels When Life Gives You Mangoes (Pushkin Children’s Books) and If You Read This (Pushkin Children’s Books).Fayson lives with her mother and dreams of becoming a detective. Until she grows up, she invents mysteries only she can solve – her most recent one being a major assassination plot against the King of England. A sudden invitation to join her cousins – rarely seen and not particularly liked – jolts her out of her reveries and into a real-life mystery on the holiday island to which they all travel. Fayson is not particularly fond of her wealthy aunt and uncle either – she feels they are always trying to make her something she is not: correcting her English from her preferred Patwah and dressing her differently from her usual clothes. She also finds the island life stifling, unreal, with too many people pretending to be something they are not. She longs for what she regards as the genuine life she has with her mother, which is materially poorer but which she thinks is more honest. Fayson has always dreamt of being an FBI detective, taking inspiration from the characters of her favourite books, so when her cousins invite her to stay with them, it's her perfect opportunity. The thing is, she doesn't particularly get on with them and struggles to relate to their way of living. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. I didn’t like her aunt and uncle, especially the uncle he was so nasty and mean, even when he explained why he was forcing her to speak differently he never once apologised for the way he was doing it. Not for belittling and degrading her making her feel like she was worthless and less than him because she spoke a different language to him. I really hated the mis-treatment towards her. This was a really interesting book, I liked the setting of it being on a private lighthouse island in Jamaica it was so fascinating to me, and I love lighthouses and stories about them so it was just beautiful. I loved the illustrations before each chapter a really great little addition to the story.

The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder is such a fun mystery adventure, and this promises to be the start of an excellent new series!

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Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child... What a unique and interesting mystery, I honestly had no clue who was doing it, who the shadow was at all not once. It was so fascinating seeing Fayson linking it all together and solving who it was and why they were doing it. The Primary School Library Alliance is calling on the government to match-fund the private investment it has brought into helping primary schools c... Ongoing Covid restrictions, reduced air and freight capacity, high volumes and winter weather conditions are all impacting transportation and local delivery across the globe.

Odedina said: “Kereen has such a flair for catching a child’s voice; their energy and passion for life. Fayson, around whom these heart-warming adventure stories are built, is a high-spirited irrepressible young person who readers are certain to fall in love with.”It's clearly aimed at the younger end of the middle grade market. It is fairly short, illustrated beautifully by Leah Jacobs-Gordon, and there's very little peril in it. The worst danger is the threat of being thrown off of the island. But it doesn't suffer for any of that. What we get is a very accessible, very fun little mystery, with a main character we can really root for!