The High Rise Mystery by Sharna Jackson is a contemporary murder mystery - our central duo Anika aka Nik (11) and Norva (13) are sisters who live with their Dad in a tower block in East London called the Tri. Together they are a perfect team as there is Nik with her methodical and scientific approach while Norva works on instinct and 'feels things in her waters.’ When their friend and art teacher Hugo is found murdered Nik and Norva are determined to solve the case and it swiftly becomes apparent that the publics main suspect is someone very close to them both!
The community of the Tri is brilliantly depicted and the girls are resilient no matter what hurdles are put in their way. The book is fast paced and the dialogue keeps the story moving as they unearth new facts and clues for the Tri Files (they use it to record anything and everything that happens at the Tri however unimportant it may seem.) Both me and Ottie were left guessing until the final stages of the story and look forward to more adventures and no doubt near scrapes in the next books in the series.
So, if you love murder mysteries and want something that feels contemporary and fast paced then grab yourself a copy and enjoy.
This is Sharna Jackson's first novel and is published by Knights Of, a new children's publishing house who are devoting themselves to "Creating quality content for kids - with as many perspectives as we can squeeze into the making-of each book." And this is one of their first handful of books they have published and we are really excited to see what other stories and new writers they share with us.
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