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Lone Pine #19
Where's my girl?
Set on holiday in Dartmoor. The story opens with a shocking accident in Shropshire. The scene then moves to Dartmoor, to Kings Holt, now owned by Penny Warrender's father. She and Jon don't really feature in the story; it is left to the others to resolve the mystery which rapidly comes into focus when they gather at the house for a holiday. On the way to the station, the Mortons witness a vicious crime and are glad to reach the peace of the countryside. However, Dartmoor is not very peaceful, thanks to the twins !
160 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1977
42 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm Saville
194 books34 followersLeonard Malcolm Saville was an English author best known for the Lone Pine series of children's books, many of which are set in Shropshire. His work emphasises location; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns.
(wikipedia)
(wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 5, 2019
I have this craze for ferreting out the best children's books from the yesteryear and reading them. Very often they are out of print and have not made it to Gutenberg.That kind of adds to the thrill of the chase. It is like a treasure hunt searching through online and offline used book stores to find these precious little books. Children's books are of course my comfort read. They are my guilty pleasure that helps me relieve my professional stress. I find the books from the bygone eras even more effective as they have a warm, fuzzy comfortable feeling about them. The fast pace of modern life has crept into the children's books of today as well and they remind you too much of the world you want to escape. The book from olden days are on the other hand calm, peaceful and soothing. I know people might not find them politically correct. But I am too old to be influenced by such ideas - I can ignore them and just immerse myself into the simplicity of life.
Malcolm Saville was one of these old time authors I discovered during my researches. He actually is not that old. He was still writing in the decade of my birth. He is from an era much later than Blyton. I could sense that while reading the book. It feels much closer to our current world. But I guess 90s was when the current world order really took off. So it can still be considered a book from a different era.
After lot of searching, I have so far managed to locate only two books by this author. This is the first one I am reading. I must say I got what I was looking for to a great extent. It has that nice feel of the bygone era. The story is a children's crime thriller. However unlike Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, the focus was more on characters and the scenic locales than on the mystery. Like Enid Blyton and Trixie Belden. The story takes us around the English country side which had a pleasant feel to it. The mystery builds up slowly as the children are getting acquainted the sights, sounds and smells of the new place. Overall I found it a pacy read.
However I did not like this one as much as my favorite Enid Blyton mysteries. One of the reasons was the children who are main characters had limited agency. It might be argued that children cannot do as much in real life as they manage to do in Blyton's mysteries. But the problem was here the mystery did not even feel realistic. There were too many coincidences and kind of felt contrived. And as a reader I did not get the pleasure of seeing my favorite characters solve the mystery in its entirety on their own. Also somehow the story did not maintain that much of a suspense. Most stuff were revealed upfront. So the crime part did not come off that well at least in this book, which is the penultimate one of the series. I am hoping it would be better in the earlier books. The other thing I did not like much about the novel was the romance. I see romance as something of the adult world and don't really like to see it in my children's stories. That is also one of the reasons I seek out books from the earlier times as most of the modern children's works have even 11-12 year old s romancing. In this book the two couples are in their late teens. And as per the author's forward, they have grown up in this one and they are much younger in the earlier books. So I am hoping there won't be the element of romance in them.
Despite the nitpicks, I found it a pleasurable experience overall. A good way to relax on a Sunday evening. I am definitely looking forward to the other one I have from this Lone Pine series - the fourth one. And I shall be on the look out to acquire more from this series.
Malcolm Saville was one of these old time authors I discovered during my researches. He actually is not that old. He was still writing in the decade of my birth. He is from an era much later than Blyton. I could sense that while reading the book. It feels much closer to our current world. But I guess 90s was when the current world order really took off. So it can still be considered a book from a different era.
After lot of searching, I have so far managed to locate only two books by this author. This is the first one I am reading. I must say I got what I was looking for to a great extent. It has that nice feel of the bygone era. The story is a children's crime thriller. However unlike Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, the focus was more on characters and the scenic locales than on the mystery. Like Enid Blyton and Trixie Belden. The story takes us around the English country side which had a pleasant feel to it. The mystery builds up slowly as the children are getting acquainted the sights, sounds and smells of the new place. Overall I found it a pacy read.
However I did not like this one as much as my favorite Enid Blyton mysteries. One of the reasons was the children who are main characters had limited agency. It might be argued that children cannot do as much in real life as they manage to do in Blyton's mysteries. But the problem was here the mystery did not even feel realistic. There were too many coincidences and kind of felt contrived. And as a reader I did not get the pleasure of seeing my favorite characters solve the mystery in its entirety on their own. Also somehow the story did not maintain that much of a suspense. Most stuff were revealed upfront. So the crime part did not come off that well at least in this book, which is the penultimate one of the series. I am hoping it would be better in the earlier books. The other thing I did not like much about the novel was the romance. I see romance as something of the adult world and don't really like to see it in my children's stories. That is also one of the reasons I seek out books from the earlier times as most of the modern children's works have even 11-12 year old s romancing. In this book the two couples are in their late teens. And as per the author's forward, they have grown up in this one and they are much younger in the earlier books. So I am hoping there won't be the element of romance in them.
Despite the nitpicks, I found it a pleasurable experience overall. A good way to relax on a Sunday evening. I am definitely looking forward to the other one I have from this Lone Pine series - the fourth one. And I shall be on the look out to acquire more from this series.
October 7, 2018
A refreshing return to the world of the Lone Piners after all my recent reading of fantasy & magical novels. I'll admit that the Lone Pine stories can come across as a bit formulaic and predictable but simpler times and a younger audience would probably have dictated that. This book does not deviate much from Malcolm's recognized writing style for this series. We start out with an accident happening to one of the main characters closely followed by an incident involving three others on their way to a train station; an incident which, ironically, points the way to the eventual climax of the book. Naturally, the players are taken on many "side trips" throughout but eventually come out on top as in all the other 19 books. For once, it is two of the older characters who fall victim to some of the villainy involved - again, somewhat refreshing. I can honestly see where my stepfather gained his love and appreciation for this series. I am happy to have access to all twenty.
One last thing and this is aimed directly at GoodReads: you guys show this story as first published in 1977. Our copy - ISBN 0 00 160210 - shows it being First Published in 1972. Typo? Perhaps. Worth investigating though don't you think? If I need to, I'll do the "Add An Edition" thing but will let your people check first. Everything else is the same; cover art, number of pages etc. Good luck.
One last thing and this is aimed directly at GoodReads: you guys show this story as first published in 1977. Our copy - ISBN 0 00 160210 - shows it being First Published in 1972. Typo? Perhaps. Worth investigating though don't you think? If I need to, I'll do the "Add An Edition" thing but will let your people check first. Everything else is the same; cover art, number of pages etc. Good luck.
December 24, 2022
19th in the Lone Pine adventure series for teenagers. In this story, the club go on holiday to an old house in Dartmoor that has been converted for guests. Gradually they realise that strange things are happening, and not everything is quite as it seems. Danger threatens, and then the two older girls go missing...
Exciting, fast-paced and well-written; seems a little dated now, but then it was written in the mid-1970s. I've always enjoyed these books and thoroughly enjoy re-reading them from time to time.
Latest full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
Exciting, fast-paced and well-written; seems a little dated now, but then it was written in the mid-1970s. I've always enjoyed these books and thoroughly enjoy re-reading them from time to time.
Latest full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
July 23, 2016
Another cracker (although we only get Jon and Penny by proxy, boo). Back at King's Holt on Dartmoor (more Dan Sturt, yay) and plunged into a very murky underworld. It's Jenny and Peter's turn to get abducted and rescued. The twins are on fine form. It's a good mystery (although stacked full of coincidences). And there's some proper character development for Jenny who finally reconciles herself to her stepmother. Worth a read.
December 6, 2017
Penultimate book in the Lone Pine series. It brings the inherent dangers of so-called "modern times" into the lives of the characters. Even though it was published forty years ago, some of the events are topical today.
It's good to witness two of the three main Shropshire characters finally taken out of their comfort zone both at the same time - whatever the reasons. I am so happy that my upbringing included travels like this.
So.....one more to go and then I get to start over - again!
It's good to witness two of the three main Shropshire characters finally taken out of their comfort zone both at the same time - whatever the reasons. I am so happy that my upbringing included travels like this.
So.....one more to go and then I get to start over - again!
March 30, 2011
The Lone Pine Club discovers a gun-smuggling group, who kidnap the girls. Not to worry, the boys rescue them. An unlikely plot, and not as much connection to the natural world as the Lone Pine books sometimes have. Originally published in 1978, this book is no longer PC.
June 28, 2016
A good if rather predictable story of the Lone Pine Club.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews