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The Magical Detectives #1
The Magical Detectives
When his mother is kidnapped, Otto embarks on a strange and risky adventure in a very unusual world. His life is about to change for ever...
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 3, 2011
2 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Brian Keaney
50 books145 followersBrian writes novels for adults, young adults and children. HIs latest novel for adults is The Alphabet of Heart's Desire (Holland House Books), based on an incident in the life of the nineteenth century writer and opium addict, Thomas De Quincey
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 19, 2011
This is another book that has been nominated for Children's Book of the Year with our Children's Book Group. I am reading all the shortlist first before they are given to the Children. Aimed at 8-12 year olds.
I read this in about 2 hours, it is just over 200 pages long but I actually really enjoyed it.
Otto comes up to find his mother missing, when he comes across a card advertising a magical detective agency he decides he needs all the help he can get.
Otto ends up traveling to a completely different world with Maximillian the wizard and Juliet a girl from school and her cat Cornelius.
The pacing is good and the story flows, there is a good mixture of adventure, magic, mystery, monsters, humour and intrigue.
Cornelius is my favourite, he can 'talk' in the magic world and has a great dry sense of humour, I loved it.
I think this will be a god one for my reading group, perfect for both boys and girls, fun and gripping and just the right length.
I read this in about 2 hours, it is just over 200 pages long but I actually really enjoyed it.
Otto comes up to find his mother missing, when he comes across a card advertising a magical detective agency he decides he needs all the help he can get.
Otto ends up traveling to a completely different world with Maximillian the wizard and Juliet a girl from school and her cat Cornelius.
The pacing is good and the story flows, there is a good mixture of adventure, magic, mystery, monsters, humour and intrigue.
Cornelius is my favourite, he can 'talk' in the magic world and has a great dry sense of humour, I loved it.
I think this will be a god one for my reading group, perfect for both boys and girls, fun and gripping and just the right length.
September 22, 2017
This book would be a fun story for the ages of 9-12. The author is a vivid picture painter without bogging one down with too much description, making it easy to visualize the book shop and the magical world the Detectives visit while working to figure out what happened to young Otto's missing Mum.
January 20, 2021
The Magical Detectives was an easy read, which is not to say it was a simple story. It's just that Brian Keaney tells his story so flawlessly that, as anything done well, it's easy to consume. I really enjoyed Otto's adventure.
I felt that perhaps Keaney could have explored some of the emotion and details a little deeper, but it was otherwise a fantastic read.
I felt that perhaps Keaney could have explored some of the emotion and details a little deeper, but it was otherwise a fantastic read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews