Mandrake's Plot [Kindle Edition]

When two girls, Evie and Mia, dressed in identical tartan skirts find themselves on the same train, there is no doubt that they are bound for the same boarding school: Saint Agatha's. By the time they reach their destination, they are fast friends, which is a good thing because Saint Agatha's is a very creepy kind of school.

Their first clue that something is amiss is when no one meets them at the train station and the girls have to find their own way in the dark in the pelting rain. They are greeted at the door by Mandrake, the caretaker, a hunched over old man with long scraggly hair, a bulging eye and yellow teeth. The humorless headmistress who is obsessed with tidiness and symmetry, dumps them unceremoniously in a dreary room with bare floors, austere furnishings, and but two small windows to shed light into the gloom. The next morning the girls discover that classes are equally as cheerless with eccentric teachers and fellow students who are less than kind.

Then the girls discover a disused chapel where a long dead nun clutches a piece of paper in her skeletal hands that contains a curse. They also find a book with the antidote written in code. They soon find themselves fleeing from the school, which has suddenly become their prison, in the middle of the night, whereupon they set about fixing what isn't right at Saint Agatha's.

Mandrake's Plot is a fun read, a mystery with some unexpected twists and turns. The girls are good natured, full of humor, and undaunted by the tasks set before them. I recommend it to all middle grade readers who love a mystery.

Mandrake's Plot is a well crafted story filled with mystery and suspense. It is an ideal book for the younger reader aged 7-12. In Chapter 1 we meet Evie who is on her way to her new school, St Agatha's in Scotland. She meets Mia, her new friend and I couldn't help but be reminded of Harry Potter on his first train journey to Hogwarts. To be clear, this is not an attempt to capture the magic of the Potter books and St Agatha's is not a school for magic. This is truly an original and unique story.

The school appears to be a foreboding place with gargoyles guarding the entrance and an old caretaker called Mandrake. The author has depicted the characters well, with rich description they spring to life before you. The dialogue is realistic and the story is very easy to read. The narrative, well written and filled with vivid imagery, flows nicely. There are hints along the way that give the reader clues as to what may happen and as a reader it's good to be kept guessing for a while. By the end of the book, I was reminded a little of Enid Blyton's tales of the Famous Five. Mandrake's Plot is very much on that level and is a fabulous tale with an air of intrigue and mystery at its heart.