Orchard Books Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery: 2

A great follow up to the first book in the series, exciting and actioned packed. Can also be read as a standalone as there is enough references to the first book that you understand the plot. A very enjoyable read for both older and younger readers.

April has no family and lives in a huge mansion called Winterborne Home which is a home for orphans.Winterborne is full of mystery and tales from the past, but could all the stories be true?Gabriel Winterborne, who’s the children’s guardian, had grown up in a very different environment to April, he had butlers and servants and didn’t want for anything - that is until he went on the run for ten years to train for the day he could kill the man who had killed his entire family. Gabriel is back at Winterborne, although he does still go away from time to time. Gabriel is a hard man to work out, there’s something about him April doesn’t quite understand.April and her four closest friends at Winterborne soon discover Gabriel has rivals who want to take his place at any cost. Gabriel will not give up Winterborne easily. Is the masked man with the swords and the hat another mysterious story or could it be true!? Is he real?I don’t want to give too much of the story away as this book is well worth reading - this is a story about a group of children who’ll do all they can to save their home and new family - each other.This book is part of the Winterborne Home series, however it can be read as a stand-alone.Mayhem and Mystery is a paperback containing 339 pages of an amazing adventure story! Suitable for ages 9+

Both of our daughters (7 and 10) love a good mystery book and this was no exception! Both are proficient readers and our ten years old found it a relatively simple read but really enjoyed the storyline and suspense throughout.Our 7 year old really loved this, she found the characters easy to relate to and the story line had just the right level of complexity for her. The book easily held her attention and she enjoyed the unraveling mystery and second guessing what might be going on.

An adventure story for younger readers. Second in a series called 'Winterborne Home'. First was 'Winterborne Home for vengeance and valour.'I did find there was enough exposition in this as it went along to make the fact that I hadn't read the former not an issue. So this will work as a jumping on point.It runs for three hundred and thirty nine pages. It has a prologue. Thirty one chapters. An epilogue.It is one of those books that despite being in the middle of a series manages to be reasonably self contained, but leave the door open for more stories for the characters at the same time.There's a very slight bit of superheroing in the story, but it's more an adventure mystery in the way Enid Blyton used to do them.Five children who are orphans have been taken in at Winterborne Home, a big mansion with many secrets. It's owner Gabriel is realy the Sentinel, a masked vigilante who is sworn to protect the city.But when he goes missing, the children find enemies all over. They have to fight to keep hold of their new home and new family. Especially April, who's never had anything like this before...April is the viewpoint character throughout, and a very sympathetic lead. The prose is good and clear and large, so it is easy reading. Ideal age would be nine and up. Thanks to some mild violence. And some mild distress. As it's not all plain sailing for the characters, and things can get a bit emotional at some points as a result.Of the other four, con artist Colin and inventor Sadie are very endearing from the off also, because of strong quirky and appealing characterisations. Young Violet and other boy Tim don't make quite as much as impression, but do have their moments.There is a bigger plot of which the events of the book are clearly just a part, which is why not all is resolved by the end. It does a very good job of steadily and slowly unfurling such things. There are good surprises and reveals, and I didn't see all of them coming.But where this works best is as a character story for April, a girl who has been through a lot and has a lot of baggage as a result. The arc she gets in this book is believable, emotional, and involving. And it was a good read thanks to that.Hopefully there will be more stories to come for these characters. They should be good.

My 9 year old daughter read the first book and thoroughly enjoyed it. Here is her review of this book (the second in the series): “The Winterborne Home for Mayhem and Mystery follows on brilliantly from the first book (Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valour). April and the rest of the kids at the Winterborne foundation have to find Gabriel, when he mysteriously goes missing. As well as that, Smithers, their butler, has just gone on holiday when the action starts. I really love this book and would rate it five stars.”