- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1st edition (16 April 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0439978416
- ISBN-13: 978-0439978415
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 13.8 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 505,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Five years after giving up his life of crime in the sewers Montmorency is back in London. But his evil alter ego, Scarper, is back too, pulling him into a dark world of addiction. His old friend and fellow government agent, Lord George Fox-Selwyn, fights to rescue him from disaster, and risks calling in Montmorency's prison doctor, Robert Farcett, to help. However, what should be a rest on a Scottish island throws up another mystery, with the discovery of a row of tiny graves...As Montmorency struggles to regain his health, he is called back to London, where unexplained bomb blasts have reduced the government to despair. Can he and Fox-Selwyn catch the bombers? How far can they bend the rules and still stay on the side of good? Can Doctor Farcett find out why the babies have died? And will Montmorency be able to return to life at the Marimion hotel without falling back into his old ways?
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Doctor Robert Farcett had had a bad day. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Doctor Robert Farcett had had a bad day. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is an amazing sequel to the first book in the Montmorency series. It has the same pacy style as the first book making it a page turner. Montmorency has found it hard during his undercover work to keep his alter ego Scarper out and we see him in the grip of drugs encountered on his travels struggling with his addiction a theme that struck me as being relevant to today as anyone who has known someone struggling with addiction will identify. His friend George Fox Selwyn sticks by him and introduces him to someone who knows more of Montmorency's past than he does to help his recovery. The three are then plunged into two seperate mysteries on a isolated island where Montmorency ends up trying to recover and in the heart of London where a bomber has caused panic (again resonant with issues of today) Characters are developed more fully than in the first book and Montmorency's friends learn more of his past giving rise to complex feelings between the three friends as they come to accept Montmorency for who he is and help and are exasperated by his struggle to get rid of the darker side of Scarper while his skills are still needed. The relationships between characters are woven into the book in a subtle and interesting way that allows you to empathise with each character. The humour of the first book is still present in this fascinating and highly readable book. I feel that unsually for a sequel it is better than the first as it is slightly more developed in the issues characters face and in the storyline. Read the first in the series first though as it is also excellent and needs to be read to appreciate this book fully.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Wow! I read this after I'd read the first Montmorency tale (which is considerably thinner) and I couldn't believe they were written by the same person. Whilst it would be harder to find a book with a better storyline than Montmorency I felt no sympathy for any one of the characters. Also it moved along far too quickly. Then, I bought Montmorency On The Rocks and was blown away. I rank this the 3rd best teenage novel I have read (after Stravaganza:City Of Flowers by Mary Hoffman and Small Steps by Louis Sachar respectively). Updale deals withs the consequences felt by Montmorency because of his drug addiction brilliantly and Fox-Selwyn's desire to help his friend equally well. The feelings experienced on Tarimond by Montmorency is a highlight as is the superb chapter on the train when Fox-Selwyn realises that if he can't resist eating his toffee in the middle of the night then how can Montmorency cope with his addiction. I also liked the way Chivers' unquestionable loyalty to Fox-Selwyn, Farcett and Montmorency was portrayed. But, for me the best part is Doctor Robert Farcett and the insight into his feelings from his despair after the death of his patient to the surprise at refinding Montmorency to the refusal of believing Maggie Goudie is a murderer. Read this.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Thrilling Victorian Mystery
3 Mar 2006
Format:Hardcover
This is the sequel to "Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman", which I found necessary to read before I started on this one. Actually, I listened to it on tape and it was excellent. I never would have picked up either volume because the covers did not appeal to me, but as you read the story it becomes clear what is trying to be conveyed. This volume picks up 5 years after the first one ends and it is assumed that Montmorency and his partner Fox-Selwyn have spent it working undercover for the Home Secretary. However, somewhere towards the end of that time Montmorency has picked up the bad habit of using some Turkish drug and is quite addicted. When they return to London, Fox-Selwyn has worked out a scheme of whisking Montmorency away to the Scottish country and having another one of his friends, Doctor Farcett, come along to cure Montmorency of his habit. This would be the same Doctor Farcett that had used Montmorency as a medical speciman during the years when he was in prison. Following some initial awkwardness, the three become inseparable and begin working on a couple of capers. One involves the death of dozens of babies being born on the remote island of Tarimond in the northern Scottish isles, and the other involves two bombings in London. Many characters from the first book are reintroduced and the twists and turns in the plot leave the reader wanting more. And there is room for a third volume. An excellent purchase for those wanting a good mystery.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Full of life and the plot was suspensful
18 Sep 2005
Format:Hardcover
In the sequel to the first book Montmorency, Montmorency now works with Sir Fox-de-Sewlyn as spies for England. Unfortunately, Montmorency must battle his addiction to a foreign drug and meet the man who saved his life in the first book: Doctor Farcett. In getting the doctor and fellow spy to meet, de-Sewlyn arranges for the three of them separately to go to his brother's estate in Scotland where the doctor eventually helps Montmorency get off his addiction, and then he and Montmorency must help a servants' village escape a massive death of dead babies.
Overall this book was written well, the characters were full of life and the plot was suspensful. I felt that while I was reading it, I was actually in the story. The characters were not bland but were vivid and full of life. The book contains intellegent language but not too hard for any one. I recommend this book to people who wish to read a historical fiction or are interested in spies.
Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations
Overall this book was written well, the characters were full of life and the plot was suspensful. I felt that while I was reading it, I was actually in the story. The characters were not bland but were vivid and full of life. The book contains intellegent language but not too hard for any one. I recommend this book to people who wish to read a historical fiction or are interested in spies.
Preteen, teen, and young adult book reviews and recommendations
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
An Engaging Mystery
22 Aug 2006
Format:Hardcover
The search for something as engaging and magical as Harry Potter is a tough one. However, I found the characters of Montmorency, Fox-Selwyn, and Dr. Farcett wonderfully human with both unsavory pasts and compassionate hearts. And the thickly interwoven mysteries compelled me to read late into the night.
I picked up this trilogy at its midpoint reading the second in the series first (Montmorency on the Rocks). Nevertheless, Eleanor Updale manages to catch up the reader quite quickly on the who's who and sketches the important events which lead up to the current plot. For a yonger reader (I'm not sure I shall admit to being a 20-something reading this book for fun:), I would suggest starting with the first in the series to make the chronology easier to understand.
For those children who gobble up Sherlock Holmes, Montmorency will quench their thirst. A very high recommendation.
I picked up this trilogy at its midpoint reading the second in the series first (Montmorency on the Rocks). Nevertheless, Eleanor Updale manages to catch up the reader quite quickly on the who's who and sketches the important events which lead up to the current plot. For a yonger reader (I'm not sure I shall admit to being a 20-something reading this book for fun:), I would suggest starting with the first in the series to make the chronology easier to understand.
For those children who gobble up Sherlock Holmes, Montmorency will quench their thirst. A very high recommendation.
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