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The Sign of the Black Dagger
Award-winning author Joan Lingard weaves a fast-paced mystery set in and around Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The story alternates between Will and Lucy, searching for their dad in the present day, and their ancestors William and Louisa, struggling to save their own father while following the sign of the black dagger and uncovering a plot to kill a French aristocrat.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Joan Lingard
93 books63 followersJoan Lingard was born in Edinburgh, in the Old Town, but grew up in Belfast where she lived until she was 18. She attended Strandtown Primary and then got a scholarship into Bloomfied Collegiate. She has three daughters and five grandchildren, and now lives in Edinburgh with her Canadian husband.
Lingard has written novels for both adults and children. She is probably most famous for the teenage-aimed Kevin and Sadie series, which have sold over one million copies and have been reprinted many times since.
Her first novel Liam's Daughter was an adult-orientated novel published in 1963. Her first children's novel was The Twelfth Day of July (the first of the five Kevin and Sadie books) in 1970.
Lingard received the prestigious West German award the "Buxtehuder Bulle" in 1986 for Across the Barricades. Tug of War has also received great success: shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 1989, The Federation of Children's Book Group Award 1989, runner up in the Lancashire Children's Book Club of the year 1990 and shortlisted for the Sheffield Book Award. In 1998, her book Tom and the Tree House won the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award. Her most recent novel, What to Do About Holly was released in August 2009.
Lingard was awarded an MBE in 1998 for services to children's literature.
Lingard has written novels for both adults and children. She is probably most famous for the teenage-aimed Kevin and Sadie series, which have sold over one million copies and have been reprinted many times since.
Her first novel Liam's Daughter was an adult-orientated novel published in 1963. Her first children's novel was The Twelfth Day of July (the first of the five Kevin and Sadie books) in 1970.
Lingard received the prestigious West German award the "Buxtehuder Bulle" in 1986 for Across the Barricades. Tug of War has also received great success: shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 1989, The Federation of Children's Book Group Award 1989, runner up in the Lancashire Children's Book Club of the year 1990 and shortlisted for the Sheffield Book Award. In 1998, her book Tom and the Tree House won the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Award. Her most recent novel, What to Do About Holly was released in August 2009.
Lingard was awarded an MBE in 1998 for services to children's literature.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 11, 2015
The Sign of the Black Dagger reads rather like A Wrinkle in Time, A Pattern of Roses, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or The Children of Green Knowe, just a soupçon of an old-timey feel despite the book’s mention of cellphones and answering machines. Created by the rich language perhaps? Or the nostalgic plot in which modern-day children learn of the doings of their own ancestors as children? I actually checked to see if the book was a re-issue of something from the 1950s or 1960s! (It’s not.) I think, if anything, that vague sense of nostalgia made me love The Sign of the Black Dagger all the more.
I promise not to give too much away. Modern-day twins Will and Lucy Cunningham become quite frightened when their feckless father Ranald does not come home from work — especially as a rather nasty man is trying to track him down. Soon thereafter they discover a journal from 1796 hidden in the fireplace wall of their ancient Edinburgh home. The journal was written by yet another pair of twins, William and Louisa Cunningham, whose own father was named, yes, Ranald; this Ranald, equally impractical and improvident as his descendent, also runs into some trouble. Could these two events, separated by two centuries, be related? And what is the meaning of the Black Dagger, found both on the cover of the journal and in the modern-day Ranald’s doodles?
Author Joan Lingard had me from the very first page. Like A Pattern of Roses, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the other children’s classics mentioned above, The Sign of the Black Dagger will appeal to discerning adults who love a good and well-written yarn. Highly recommended.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC, in exchange for an honest review.
I promise not to give too much away. Modern-day twins Will and Lucy Cunningham become quite frightened when their feckless father Ranald does not come home from work — especially as a rather nasty man is trying to track him down. Soon thereafter they discover a journal from 1796 hidden in the fireplace wall of their ancient Edinburgh home. The journal was written by yet another pair of twins, William and Louisa Cunningham, whose own father was named, yes, Ranald; this Ranald, equally impractical and improvident as his descendent, also runs into some trouble. Could these two events, separated by two centuries, be related? And what is the meaning of the Black Dagger, found both on the cover of the journal and in the modern-day Ranald’s doodles?
Author Joan Lingard had me from the very first page. Like A Pattern of Roses, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the other children’s classics mentioned above, The Sign of the Black Dagger will appeal to discerning adults who love a good and well-written yarn. Highly recommended.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC, in exchange for an honest review.
August 25, 2014
Two Ripping Yarns in One
Some blurbs and reviews make this book sound like a time travel tale. It isn't. Some suggest that our modern heroes are trying to solve an historical mystery. That isn't quite it either. We have Will and Lucy in modern Edinburgh trying to solve the mystery of their father's disappearance. By chance they find a journal written two hundred years earlier by another set of Will and Lucy siblings, who had to find their father, who had also disappeared. The journal written by the historical Will and Lucy is a complete story in itself. The modern Will and Lucy, who are direct descendants of the historical pair, read the journal and draw clues from it to help them in trying to find their father.
So, you have an historical adventure revolving around emigres from the French Revolution, a mysterious Black Dagger society, and two resourceful and engaging kid heroes. Then, you have a modern mystery revolving around a missing father and two equally resourceful and engaging kid heroes. The book is written in alternating chapters. First we set up the modern mystery, then we read a bit from the journal, then we advance the ball on the modern mystery, then we read a bit more from the journal, then we get a little further on in the modern mystery, and so on. This sounds cumbersome, but it actually works really well. There are many parallels between the two stories and some clues to be drawn from the historical tale, so the effect is rather elegant. Further, I would suspect that any youngster reading this would be pleased to understand how the two tales fit together and sort of intrigued by this sophisticated approach to story telling. Either story, alone, wouldn't be nearly as compelling as are the two mixed together.
This works especially well because the writing is a very good example of "literary" writing for younger readers. While the presentation is direct, clear and without irony or pretension, it seems very "grown up". There is some humor and lightness, but the author never condescends to her audience. On the other hand, the author also doesn't include vocabulary, plot points, or complications beyond the ken of the target reader. I would suspect that a confident reader would like this book. To be fair, though, a reader who demands more fantasy, magic, humor or action/adventure might not be held by this book. Since it is in any event a crisp, quick read, it does seem like a book you could recommend to a fairly wide audience.
So, a happy find and a satisfying read, with some nice touches, an interesting dual plotline and two sets of engaging tween heroes. And you even get a bit of a feel for Edinburgh, which is a nice bonus.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
Some blurbs and reviews make this book sound like a time travel tale. It isn't. Some suggest that our modern heroes are trying to solve an historical mystery. That isn't quite it either. We have Will and Lucy in modern Edinburgh trying to solve the mystery of their father's disappearance. By chance they find a journal written two hundred years earlier by another set of Will and Lucy siblings, who had to find their father, who had also disappeared. The journal written by the historical Will and Lucy is a complete story in itself. The modern Will and Lucy, who are direct descendants of the historical pair, read the journal and draw clues from it to help them in trying to find their father.
So, you have an historical adventure revolving around emigres from the French Revolution, a mysterious Black Dagger society, and two resourceful and engaging kid heroes. Then, you have a modern mystery revolving around a missing father and two equally resourceful and engaging kid heroes. The book is written in alternating chapters. First we set up the modern mystery, then we read a bit from the journal, then we advance the ball on the modern mystery, then we read a bit more from the journal, then we get a little further on in the modern mystery, and so on. This sounds cumbersome, but it actually works really well. There are many parallels between the two stories and some clues to be drawn from the historical tale, so the effect is rather elegant. Further, I would suspect that any youngster reading this would be pleased to understand how the two tales fit together and sort of intrigued by this sophisticated approach to story telling. Either story, alone, wouldn't be nearly as compelling as are the two mixed together.
This works especially well because the writing is a very good example of "literary" writing for younger readers. While the presentation is direct, clear and without irony or pretension, it seems very "grown up". There is some humor and lightness, but the author never condescends to her audience. On the other hand, the author also doesn't include vocabulary, plot points, or complications beyond the ken of the target reader. I would suspect that a confident reader would like this book. To be fair, though, a reader who demands more fantasy, magic, humor or action/adventure might not be held by this book. Since it is in any event a crisp, quick read, it does seem like a book you could recommend to a fairly wide audience.
So, a happy find and a satisfying read, with some nice touches, an interesting dual plotline and two sets of engaging tween heroes. And you even get a bit of a feel for Edinburgh, which is a nice bonus.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
January 10, 2021
What a cracking little book, well written, fast paced. History and adventure intertwine. Brilliant book.
October 14, 2014
I received an e-galley of The Sign of the Black Dagger through Net Galley and Puffin in exchange for a fair and honest review. When Lucy and Will's father suddenly disappears without a trace they are frantic to find out what has happened to him. While exploring their house for clues to help locate their father they stumble across a diary written by their ancestors Louisa and William which they notice has similarities to their current situation. The book toggles back and forth between present day and the seventeenth century revealing the story of the two father's disappearances centuries apart. The Sign of the Black Dagger is targeted towards middle grade audiences but I think the storyline would hardly be of interest to that age group. The fact that the father disappeared is intriguing but the reason he disappeared isn't going to resonate with middle schoolers. Also, the lack of character development and the slow pacing will make it difficult for this book to grab the interest of most readers. I thought the book had some interesting moments and that the period detail was an excellent addition the the story but overall the book fell somewhat flat. I think the story definitely had potential but needed to be fleshed out more thoroughly.
October 21, 2014
The Sign of the Black Dagger, by Joan Lingard, (Floris Books, Myrick Marketing and Media, LLC), 192 pages, originally published in 2005, new edition released September 1, 2014.
If you’ve got a middle-grader who enjoys historical adventures, you may want to check out The Sign of the Black Dagger. The plot follows two pairs of children: the present-day Will and Lucy and historical figures William and Louisa, who lived in Will and Lucy’s house two hundred years ago.
Both sets of children face similar problems. Their fathers have run up huge debts and have left their families. Will and Lucy’s dad is hiding from unsavory creditors; William and Louisa’s dad must live in the debtor’s sanctuary attached to a noble house. The present-day scenes are written in third person. The historical scenes are written in first person, alternating between the voices of William and Louisa.
This isn’t one of those children’s books that transcend the genre sufficiently to make good reading for adults as well. Nonetheless, for the right age group (perhaps fourth through seventh grades) this book will provide a relatively quick, satisfying read.
If you’ve got a middle-grader who enjoys historical adventures, you may want to check out The Sign of the Black Dagger. The plot follows two pairs of children: the present-day Will and Lucy and historical figures William and Louisa, who lived in Will and Lucy’s house two hundred years ago.
Both sets of children face similar problems. Their fathers have run up huge debts and have left their families. Will and Lucy’s dad is hiding from unsavory creditors; William and Louisa’s dad must live in the debtor’s sanctuary attached to a noble house. The present-day scenes are written in third person. The historical scenes are written in first person, alternating between the voices of William and Louisa.
This isn’t one of those children’s books that transcend the genre sufficiently to make good reading for adults as well. Nonetheless, for the right age group (perhaps fourth through seventh grades) this book will provide a relatively quick, satisfying read.
December 8, 2015
I received a free copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Sign of the Black Dagger was a fun and quick middle-grade read. We follow the twins William and Locy, who's Dad just vanishes one day. They find an old diary of other twins with their names from their family who lived a couple hundred years earlier and who's Dad also disappeared. Both stories are told intertwinedly, and we follow both pairs of children through their search for their Dad.
I enjoyed this book. It was quick and fun. However, I felt that it was nothing outstandingly special. I suppose that for middle grade aged children this is a really great story and very fun, too, but for me, it kind of lacked depth at times. I really liked to read the stories of both pairs of children and loved how they were intertwined, but to me the characters were a little flat and the black dagger that even is in the title didn't seem to play a big role at all, which was to me a little disappointing. I also felt that the ending was a bit anti-climactic.
However, I would recommend this for middle grade aged children who are looking for a fun detective book.
The Sign of the Black Dagger was a fun and quick middle-grade read. We follow the twins William and Locy, who's Dad just vanishes one day. They find an old diary of other twins with their names from their family who lived a couple hundred years earlier and who's Dad also disappeared. Both stories are told intertwinedly, and we follow both pairs of children through their search for their Dad.
I enjoyed this book. It was quick and fun. However, I felt that it was nothing outstandingly special. I suppose that for middle grade aged children this is a really great story and very fun, too, but for me, it kind of lacked depth at times. I really liked to read the stories of both pairs of children and loved how they were intertwined, but to me the characters were a little flat and the black dagger that even is in the title didn't seem to play a big role at all, which was to me a little disappointing. I also felt that the ending was a bit anti-climactic.
However, I would recommend this for middle grade aged children who are looking for a fun detective book.
April 16, 2021
Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
January 27, 2023
Seriously...what was the point of this? One of the most lacklustre and boring books I've ever read...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews