Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Midnight Tunnel

Today’s pick: The Midnight Tunnel by Angie Frazier

Scholastic, 2011

Publisher’s Description:

It is 1905 and young Suzanna works at her family’s inn in Loch Harbor, New Brunswick, where she is trained to be a well-mannered hostess and a charming lady. Suzanna has other ideas for her future, however—she wants to be a detective like her famous uncle, Bruce Snow from Boston, who regularly makes headlines in the newspapers for solving hard-to-crack cases. This summer seems typical enough for Suzanna until a young guest goes missing on a stormy summer night. When no clues turn up, Bruce Snow arrives to solve the case. But Suzanna learns that not everything is as it seems. With a little help from her friends, can she solve the mystery of the missing girl before her uncle gives up?

Fast-paced, absorbing, and wonderfully rich, The Midnight Tunnel: A Suzanna Snow Mystery is sure to keep readers following the clues until the case has been solved.

My take:

It can be hard to find a good middle grade mystery so I was happy to find this one. Even though it takes place in the early 1900’s, I could relate to the main character and girl detective Suzanna Snow. Her determination to solve the mystery kept me reading. The novel moves along at a good pace, and I liked the tension between Suzanna and her friends Lucy and Isaac, and her cousin detective-in-training Will. There are a few quirky hotel guests and lobster fishermen too, and a big change in Suzanna’s thinking about her idol and uncle, a famous detective.

I loved the way the setting was so integral to the plot and I could picture myself visiting the dewy field of wildflowers, the secret tunnel to the servant’s house, the musty attic storage room or the land bridge to the island that is only exposed during low tide. As a writer, I’d look to this novel to remind me how to bring the setting alive for my readers.  

 Favourite quote:

“I wanted to write down everything that had unraveled so that I would never forget each detail…”

Other info:

Angie Frazier lives in New Hampshire. The Midnight Mystery was inspired by a visit to the historic Fairmount Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick, Canada.

According to the author’s blog, Suzanna is “the me I wanted to be when I was 11 or 12. Writing her character and stories is such a treat.”

Angie Frazier gives a honest perspective on self-promotion in The Importance of Making Hope Happen over at Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing, December 14, 2011.

Other books by this author include:

The Mastermind Plot (A Suzanna Snow Mystery), 2012
The Eternal Sea, 2011  (YA)

Everlasting, 2010 (YA)

For more, visit Angie Frazier’s website.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday was dreamed up by the amazing Shannon Messenger. Visit her blog for an up-to-date list of all the bloggers who are participating and posting about middle grade books today!