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London Eye Mystery #2
The Guggenheim Mystery
My name is Ted Spark. I am 12 years and 281 days old. I have seven friends.
Three months ago, I solved the mystery of how my cousin Salim disappeared from a pod on the London Eye.
This is the story of my second mystery.
This summer, I went on holiday to New York, to visit Aunt Gloria and Salim. While I was there, a painting was stolen from the Guggenheim Museum, where Aunt Gloria works.
Everyone was very worried and upset. I did not see what the problem was. I do not see the point of paintings, even if they are worth £9.8 million. Perhaps that's because of my very unusual brain, which works on a different operating system to everyone else's.
But then Aunt Gloria was blamed for the theft - and Aunt Gloria is family. And I realised just how important it was to find the painting, and discover who really had taken it.
Age Range: 9 - 13 years
Three months ago, I solved the mystery of how my cousin Salim disappeared from a pod on the London Eye.
This is the story of my second mystery.
This summer, I went on holiday to New York, to visit Aunt Gloria and Salim. While I was there, a painting was stolen from the Guggenheim Museum, where Aunt Gloria works.
Everyone was very worried and upset. I did not see what the problem was. I do not see the point of paintings, even if they are worth £9.8 million. Perhaps that's because of my very unusual brain, which works on a different operating system to everyone else's.
But then Aunt Gloria was blamed for the theft - and Aunt Gloria is family. And I realised just how important it was to find the painting, and discover who really had taken it.
Age Range: 9 - 13 years
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 3, 2017
156 people are currently reading
1854 people want to read
About the author
Robin Stevens
52 books2,609 followersRobin's books are: Murder Most Unladylike (Murder is Bad Manners in the USA), Arsenic for Tea (Poison is Not Polite in the USA), First Class Murder, Jolly Foul Play, Mistletoe and Murder, Cream Buns and Crime, A Spoonful of Murder, Death in the Spotlight and Top Marks for Murder. She is also the author of The Guggenheim Mystery, the sequel to Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery.
Robin was born in California and grew up in an Oxford college, across the road from the house where Alice in Wonderland lived. She has been making up stories all her life.
When she was twelve, her father handed her a copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and she realised that she wanted to be either Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie when she grew up. When it occurred to her that she was never going to be able to grow her own spectacular walrus moustache, she decided that Agatha Christie was the more achieveable option.
She spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she’d get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn’t). She then went to university, where she studied crime fiction, and then worked at a children's publisher.
Robin lives in England with her husband and her pet bearded dragon, Watson.
Robin was born in California and grew up in an Oxford college, across the road from the house where Alice in Wonderland lived. She has been making up stories all her life.
When she was twelve, her father handed her a copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and she realised that she wanted to be either Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie when she grew up. When it occurred to her that she was never going to be able to grow her own spectacular walrus moustache, she decided that Agatha Christie was the more achieveable option.
She spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she’d get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn’t). She then went to university, where she studied crime fiction, and then worked at a children's publisher.
Robin lives in England with her husband and her pet bearded dragon, Watson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
November 29, 2017
I found this book through Robin Stevens. Her Murder Most Unladylike series is one of my favourite, and when I heard she had taken over the mantle for Siobhan Dowd, I was intrigued. Queue getting the first book, The London Eye Mystery, written by the late author, featuring a 12-year old boy with Asperger’s who finds himself in the middle of a puzzling case, namely the disappearance of his cousin.
To write a book is a daunting job in itself, but this must be even harder when trying to continue someone else’s work. Stevens does a stellar job. Ted is back with his fascinating view of the world. Running on a different ‘operating system’ to everyone else gives him the ability to see unusual patterns and facts, but makes it also very difficult to understand people, their body language and consequently their emotions. He is learning however and his inner voice is candid and very compelling.
Finding himself visiting his aunt and cousing in New York, a nerve-wracking experience Ted has difficulty with, it isn’t long before something happens - a priceless painting is stolen and Aunt Gloria is arrested. She is obviously innocent. Therefore, who is the thief and why is he framing her? This is the starting point for Ted, Kat, and their cousing Salim. Once more the mystery is handled with dexterity in a realistic way, the author offering all the clues while showcasing the metropolis. The first novel focused a lot on the interactions in families, between all the characters and this is present once more, although in a more subdued fashion. The focus is on the trio and on dealing with an alienating setting.
I think Siobhan would have approved :0)
To write a book is a daunting job in itself, but this must be even harder when trying to continue someone else’s work. Stevens does a stellar job. Ted is back with his fascinating view of the world. Running on a different ‘operating system’ to everyone else gives him the ability to see unusual patterns and facts, but makes it also very difficult to understand people, their body language and consequently their emotions. He is learning however and his inner voice is candid and very compelling.
Finding himself visiting his aunt and cousing in New York, a nerve-wracking experience Ted has difficulty with, it isn’t long before something happens - a priceless painting is stolen and Aunt Gloria is arrested. She is obviously innocent. Therefore, who is the thief and why is he framing her? This is the starting point for Ted, Kat, and their cousing Salim. Once more the mystery is handled with dexterity in a realistic way, the author offering all the clues while showcasing the metropolis. The first novel focused a lot on the interactions in families, between all the characters and this is present once more, although in a more subdued fashion. The focus is on the trio and on dealing with an alienating setting.
I think Siobhan would have approved :0)
May 20, 2018
The late Siobhan Dowd wrote a fabulous middle-grade mystery in The London Eye Mystery, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, one sure to appeal to readers of any age. The sequel, The Guggenheim Mystery, written by Robin Stevens, while not as suspenseful as The London Eye, still proves an excellent read.
Set in the summer after The London Eye, The Guggenheim Mystery narrates how 12-year-old Ted Sparks, older sister Kat and their mother Faith cross the Atlantic to visit Faith’s sister Gloria McCloud and her son 14-year-old Salim. Aunt Gloria is fresh in a job as a curator at the Guggenheim; unfortunately, on the Sparks’ second day in New York City, a $20 million painting disappears (Vasily Kandinsky‘s In the Black Square, which really does hang in the Guggenheim!), and Aunt Gloria gets arrested.
Luckily for Aunt Gloria, Ted launches his own investigation. Beset with autism, Ted has some disadvantages common to those with the condition: an obsession (weather); flapping and moaning when upset; struggles with crowds, loud noises, surprises, and slang and figures of speech; and reluctance to hug or make eye contact. But, as Ted points out, he has a very, very important advantage, due to his “funny brain, which works on a different operating system than other people’s…. I see the way things connect, and I connect things that other people do not seem able to.” As in The London Eye, Ted’s different way of looking at clues solves the mystery when the police are headed in the wrong direction. Readers — of any age — will be glad they took the trip with Ted and his family.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.
Set in the summer after The London Eye, The Guggenheim Mystery narrates how 12-year-old Ted Sparks, older sister Kat and their mother Faith cross the Atlantic to visit Faith’s sister Gloria McCloud and her son 14-year-old Salim. Aunt Gloria is fresh in a job as a curator at the Guggenheim; unfortunately, on the Sparks’ second day in New York City, a $20 million painting disappears (Vasily Kandinsky‘s In the Black Square, which really does hang in the Guggenheim!), and Aunt Gloria gets arrested.
Luckily for Aunt Gloria, Ted launches his own investigation. Beset with autism, Ted has some disadvantages common to those with the condition: an obsession (weather); flapping and moaning when upset; struggles with crowds, loud noises, surprises, and slang and figures of speech; and reluctance to hug or make eye contact. But, as Ted points out, he has a very, very important advantage, due to his “funny brain, which works on a different operating system than other people’s…. I see the way things connect, and I connect things that other people do not seem able to.” As in The London Eye, Ted’s different way of looking at clues solves the mystery when the police are headed in the wrong direction. Readers — of any age — will be glad they took the trip with Ted and his family.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.
March 28, 2019
Robin Stevens has done a great service to the memory of Siobhan Dowd, an excellent rendering of the original characterisation of The London Eye Mystery; and a fabulous story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading to my 11 year old.
December 23, 2020
I was a bit disappointed by this book to be honest... I don’t know what it was but something about the narrator (it was written in first person, therefore the narrator was one of the main characters in the book) just annoyed me so so so so so so much!! I don’t know if it is just me, but sentences/phrases like these really annoyed me ‘Aunt Gloria erupted. This is a figure of speech used during extreme emotion, therefore there wasn’t physically lava erupting from Aunt Gloria, rather that she was very sad or very angry’. Is it just me who finds this kind of stuff annoying....?!!! Anyway, I think younger readers would enjoy this more than I did; i think it’s aimed at more ages 8-10.
August 16, 2025
This was the 3rd book of the summer for my schools summer reading challenge. it was great! gives a real insight into autism and aspergers so will be encouraging my tutor group to read to develop their understanding.
November 15, 2017
The Guggenheim Mystery is the follow up story to Siobhan Dowd's 2007 The London Eye Mystery. Dowd sadly died of cancer at the end of 2007. She had been contracted to write two Ted Spark mysteries, but other than selecting the title of book two, she died before planning any of it.
The Siobhan Dowd Trust (established by Siobhan herself in her dying days) set out to find someone to finish her stories. Patrick Ness took over the half conceived A Monster Calls while Robin Stevens was given a title!
In her Author's Note at the end of the book, Stevens says,
I realised why Siobhan had chosen it (the Guggenheim) as the setting of Ted's second adventure. If Ted is a different detective, the Guggenheim, with its curving ramp, its rotunda shape and its insistence on viewing art from all angles at once, is a different sort of museum. Ted would be perfectly at home there - and if anything were to happen to one of the paintings, he would be the perfect person to solve the mystery.
It turns out that Stevens, like Ted's cousin, Salim, also grew up with a mother who worked in a museum. In fact, her mother was working at the Ashmolean in 2000 when thieves stole a Cezanne using smoke bombs. Steven's The Guggenheim Mystery is the perfect example of art imitating life!
The mystery was relatively easy for an adult reader to work out, but of course, I'm not the target audience. The three main characters are likeable and believable. The use of logical reasoning and deduction techniques appealed to my practical brain. There was a quest-type element to the detective work as each person who was questioned and eliminated, then gave them clues or advice on who to proceed to next.
Dowd created a love letter to London in The London Eye Mystery, in The Guggenheim Mystery Stevens has created her own love letter to New York.
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/20...
The Siobhan Dowd Trust (established by Siobhan herself in her dying days) set out to find someone to finish her stories. Patrick Ness took over the half conceived A Monster Calls while Robin Stevens was given a title!
In her Author's Note at the end of the book, Stevens says,
I realised why Siobhan had chosen it (the Guggenheim) as the setting of Ted's second adventure. If Ted is a different detective, the Guggenheim, with its curving ramp, its rotunda shape and its insistence on viewing art from all angles at once, is a different sort of museum. Ted would be perfectly at home there - and if anything were to happen to one of the paintings, he would be the perfect person to solve the mystery.
It turns out that Stevens, like Ted's cousin, Salim, also grew up with a mother who worked in a museum. In fact, her mother was working at the Ashmolean in 2000 when thieves stole a Cezanne using smoke bombs. Steven's The Guggenheim Mystery is the perfect example of art imitating life!
The mystery was relatively easy for an adult reader to work out, but of course, I'm not the target audience. The three main characters are likeable and believable. The use of logical reasoning and deduction techniques appealed to my practical brain. There was a quest-type element to the detective work as each person who was questioned and eliminated, then gave them clues or advice on who to proceed to next.
Dowd created a love letter to London in The London Eye Mystery, in The Guggenheim Mystery Stevens has created her own love letter to New York.
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/20...
May 16, 2017
I loved this. Robin has done an incredible job of continuing Siobhan's story without simply mimicking it. She's brought her own flair to the story, while adding even more depth to the brilliant characters of THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY. Ted has one of the most unique voices in fiction, and it's a pleasure to see the world through his eyes. I hope there are many more in this series.
August 28, 2019
This is a great story and it is clear that the author studied on what the wjole world she created in this story was actually like in real life. To all the Brits out there i am sure you can agree how close to home all the British food references were great
September 12, 2021
I loved Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery and so was very excited to be spending time with Ted Spark again. Although one may feeling some trepidation with a different author taking on the mantle of a previous one - and with such a memorable character to boot -, I had absolutely no qualms about Robin Stevens taking the helm and only wish she would promise more Ted Spark stories in the future.
Ted is twelves years old when he, his sister Kat and his mother head over to New York to pay a visit his auntie and cousin. Aunt Gloria works at the Guggenheim and when she takes her extended family on a tour, she becomes framed in a mysterious crime: a painting goes missing from the museum and she seems the most likely candidate. Together, Ted, Kat and their cousin, Salim, must try to find and disseminate all the clues that will lead them to the perpetrator before Gloria is sentenced to jail.
For those who have not read the first book, Ted is neurodivergent. Since the first book, he has grown and learned to navigate complex concepts such as figurative language and reading people's feelings. He uses his incredible observation skills and recall of world knowledge to pick apart moments and memories like none of the others can. Told from Ted's first person perspective, the book is refreshing.
This story is full of smarts and you know that with Stevens the 'mystery and crime' aspect of the story will deliver. What I was very pleased with though was how Robin ensured that the main cast, especially Ted, still felt as real and as similar as those created by Dowd in the first place. A cracking addition to the London Eye Mystery series.
Ted is twelves years old when he, his sister Kat and his mother head over to New York to pay a visit his auntie and cousin. Aunt Gloria works at the Guggenheim and when she takes her extended family on a tour, she becomes framed in a mysterious crime: a painting goes missing from the museum and she seems the most likely candidate. Together, Ted, Kat and their cousin, Salim, must try to find and disseminate all the clues that will lead them to the perpetrator before Gloria is sentenced to jail.
For those who have not read the first book, Ted is neurodivergent. Since the first book, he has grown and learned to navigate complex concepts such as figurative language and reading people's feelings. He uses his incredible observation skills and recall of world knowledge to pick apart moments and memories like none of the others can. Told from Ted's first person perspective, the book is refreshing.
This story is full of smarts and you know that with Stevens the 'mystery and crime' aspect of the story will deliver. What I was very pleased with though was how Robin ensured that the main cast, especially Ted, still felt as real and as similar as those created by Dowd in the first place. A cracking addition to the London Eye Mystery series.
September 20, 2018
Ted, Kat and Salim solve their second mystery when Salim's mother is accused of stealing an important painting by Kandinsky from her new job at the Guggenheim Museum. Ted, Kat, and their mother are visiting in New York City which is a very stressful thing for Ted. Being autistic, he is better if he can stay in familiar surroundings. He is also concerned that people aren't staying the same. Kat and Salim seem to be communicating from London to New York and leaving him out. He's wondering if Salim is still his friend.
Ted, Kat, Salim, his aunt and his mother are all visiting the Guggenheim Museum on a day when it isn't open and a new exhibition - the first one his Aunt Gloria is in charge of - when smoke fills the museum, the fire alarms go off, the fire department comes, and when the smoke clears it is discovered that the painting is missing. Being Ted, he knows to the minute when each person left the museum. That list of people helps the kids when they begin to try to figure out who is trying to frame his aunt for the theft.
I liked the way Ted thinks and his unique viewpoint on events. I also liked that both Salim and Kat added their own viewpoints on the case. The pace was fast and the story was filled with action as the kids use their subway passes to travel all around New York City pursuing leads and eliminating suspects.
I liked the Author's Note which explains how Robin Stevens came to write this book after the untimely death of Siobhan Dowd who first introduced these characters in THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY and who had contracted for, but not yet begun, the mystery with this title.
Ted, Kat, Salim, his aunt and his mother are all visiting the Guggenheim Museum on a day when it isn't open and a new exhibition - the first one his Aunt Gloria is in charge of - when smoke fills the museum, the fire alarms go off, the fire department comes, and when the smoke clears it is discovered that the painting is missing. Being Ted, he knows to the minute when each person left the museum. That list of people helps the kids when they begin to try to figure out who is trying to frame his aunt for the theft.
I liked the way Ted thinks and his unique viewpoint on events. I also liked that both Salim and Kat added their own viewpoints on the case. The pace was fast and the story was filled with action as the kids use their subway passes to travel all around New York City pursuing leads and eliminating suspects.
I liked the Author's Note which explains how Robin Stevens came to write this book after the untimely death of Siobhan Dowd who first introduced these characters in THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY and who had contracted for, but not yet begun, the mystery with this title.
August 12, 2018
In the long-awaited sequel to the London Eye Mystery (written by Robin Stevens on behalf of Siobhan Dowd and her Trust), protagonist Ted sets off to New York and soon finds himself with a new case to solve when a painting is stolen from the Guggenheim Museum and his Aunt Gloria is accused. Ted is one of my favourite narrators and characters of all time and I was really worried before reading that his voice wouldn`t be the same, but he was in the safest of hands with Robin as if anything, I adored him even more this time around. Robin managed to be both incredibly faithful to London Eye, but I also felt some of her influences throughout the book, which was lovely. The New York setting was so well described that I felt I was there with Ted, his sister Kat and Salim, his cousin. The relationships between these characters also changed, and I enjoyed the subplot about Kat and Salim`s plans for their future careers. I did partially guess the solution to the mystery (which I don’t usually, so I was very pleased with myself!) but I still loved following the plot and I`d recommend this to anyone who wants a fun mystery with a glorious setting and some of the most iconic characters in British children`s books back and better than ever.
July 5, 2019
Ted, Kat and their mom are in New York to visit Aunt Gloria and Salim. Aunt Gloria works at the Guggenheim Museum, and when she is accused of stealing a priceless painting, the three kids are determined to investigate and exonerate her.
Having enjoyed the first book so much, I had to read the follow-up of course, but it was only when I was puzzling over why the authors were different that I discovered that Siobhan Dowd, the creator of Ted, Kat and Salim, died of cancer shortly after The London Eye Mystery was published. Robin Stevens was approached to write the sequel, which had already been planned, and the result I believe would have pleased Dowd. Set only three months after the events of the first book, the children's characters here feel true to the originals as Dowd wrote them, despite the 10-year gap between publication dates. The mystery and the solution were well done, and I hope there will be more adventures for these kids in the future.
Having enjoyed the first book so much, I had to read the follow-up of course, but it was only when I was puzzling over why the authors were different that I discovered that Siobhan Dowd, the creator of Ted, Kat and Salim, died of cancer shortly after The London Eye Mystery was published. Robin Stevens was approached to write the sequel, which had already been planned, and the result I believe would have pleased Dowd. Set only three months after the events of the first book, the children's characters here feel true to the originals as Dowd wrote them, despite the 10-year gap between publication dates. The mystery and the solution were well done, and I hope there will be more adventures for these kids in the future.
April 1, 2022
Se avete apprezzato la serie tv “Atypical” o il libro “Lo strano caso del cane ucciso a mezzanotte”, questo romanzo fa sicuramente per voi!
Un giallo per ragazzi che vede come protagonista -e voce narrante- Ted, un ragazzino di 12 anni affetto da autismo. Insieme a sua sorella e a suo cugino deve scoprire chi ha rubato un famosissimo dipinto dal Guggenheim Museum di New York, così da scagionare la zia ingiustamente arrestata.
Ho apprezzato diverse cose di questo romanzo.
1) l’inclusione: Ted non viene mai messo in disparte e nessuno lo considera diverso o non in grado di compiere certe azioni.
2) Il rapporto tra Ted e sua sorella Kat.
3) La possibilità di osservare le cose da una prospettiva diversa dalla mia.
Per quanto riguarda la risoluzione del mistero, avevo già scovato il colpevole nei primi capitoli.
Un giallo per ragazzi che vede come protagonista -e voce narrante- Ted, un ragazzino di 12 anni affetto da autismo. Insieme a sua sorella e a suo cugino deve scoprire chi ha rubato un famosissimo dipinto dal Guggenheim Museum di New York, così da scagionare la zia ingiustamente arrestata.
Ho apprezzato diverse cose di questo romanzo.
1) l’inclusione: Ted non viene mai messo in disparte e nessuno lo considera diverso o non in grado di compiere certe azioni.
2) Il rapporto tra Ted e sua sorella Kat.
3) La possibilità di osservare le cose da una prospettiva diversa dalla mia.
Per quanto riguarda la risoluzione del mistero, avevo già scovato il colpevole nei primi capitoli.
November 28, 2017
Thank you Robin Stevens for taking on the challenge of continuing to write Ted’s adventures.
When Ted goes with his mother and sister to New York he is nervous about what the trip will entail. He is happy to visit The Guggenheim museum but things take a dramatic turn when a priceless Kandinsky painting is stolen, and Ted’s Aunt Gloria is arrested for its theft.
What follows is a wonderful exercise in problem solving as Ted, Kat and Salim do what they can to solve the mystery. Stevens’s own interest in this genre is evident throughout, but she adds a certain warmth to Ted that made this a captivating read.
When Ted goes with his mother and sister to New York he is nervous about what the trip will entail. He is happy to visit The Guggenheim museum but things take a dramatic turn when a priceless Kandinsky painting is stolen, and Ted’s Aunt Gloria is arrested for its theft.
What follows is a wonderful exercise in problem solving as Ted, Kat and Salim do what they can to solve the mystery. Stevens’s own interest in this genre is evident throughout, but she adds a certain warmth to Ted that made this a captivating read.
February 27, 2019
The Guggenheim mystery by Robin stevens is a book following on from the book The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. It is focused of the viewpoint of Ted Spark a boy who is very smart and solved the London Eye Mystery with his sister Kat. However, this time a painting goes mysteriously missing, stolen, and there Aunt Gloria is to blame (as she works at the guggenheim where the painting went missing). In order to prove Aunt Gloria, Ted, Kat and Salim must find the real person who stole the paiting. They find out more about each suspect and rule out people they find to be innocent, and record any information on people who might not be.
Personally i think Robin Stevens did a great job on following the story and perspectives of ted spark.
Personally i think Robin Stevens did a great job on following the story and perspectives of ted spark.
November 8, 2021
I liked this book because I love mysteries, and this one I wasn't sure who did it. This book gives you lots of theories. The main character Ted Spark is very smart. I loved this book. Another reason I loved this book is it is about the Guggenheim which is designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and I really love his buildings so it was extra exciting!
June 26, 2019
I think Siobhan Dowd would be happy with Robin Stevens’ sequel to the London Eye Mystery. I especially enjoyed reading about all the patterns and connections that Ted discovered.
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January 20, 2021I read this too long ago to remember anything
March 30, 2022
Amazing! I'm soooooo glad Robin Stevens continued on this great story from Siobhan Dowd😁
June 28, 2020
When I stared reading 'The Guggenheim mystery' I wasn't that into the characters and the plot but when the twist took place I refused to put it down. Every single person in the novel has their own book-worthy back story but none of those even compare to the main mystery...
February 19, 2023
Another enjoyable YA mystery featuring Ted Sparks, a British teen on the spectrum. Along for the ride are his older sister, Kat and his cousin, Salim.
I still do not really like his Aunt Gloria. I also don't much like Kat, either. Self-centered people often come across as simply mean and selfish.
There are "takers" in this world that don't really care about what the cost of following their dreams is to others, especially their loved ones.
Author Robin Stevens did an admirable job keeping Ted the unique human being that he is - the one who made The London Eye Mystery so very entertaining!
I still do not really like his Aunt Gloria. I also don't much like Kat, either. Self-centered people often come across as simply mean and selfish.
There are "takers" in this world that don't really care about what the cost of following their dreams is to others, especially their loved ones.
Author Robin Stevens did an admirable job keeping Ted the unique human being that he is - the one who made The London Eye Mystery so very entertaining!
August 8, 2023
I picked this up thinking it was going to be a cute little easy teen murder mystery. Turns out the main character is 12 and that age is definitely more of the target audience :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2018
The kind of book I like!
Mistery, suspense and art!:)
Mistery, suspense and art!:)
April 9, 2022
My daughter was reading the prequel to this book - The London Eye Mystery, and her eyes would repeatedly peek over the cover, accompanied by different questions about this and that from the book. We would have short conversations about what was happening in the story, and various side topics such as the coriolis effect and other things she wanted to learn more about. I was intrigued, and started reading as she was completing it.
Sadly, the author of the first book is deceased, and the author Robin Stevens wrote this second installment in the Ted Spark universe. Stevens is already known in our family as the kids have read - and greatly enjoyed - the murder most unladylike series. However, Stevens is not able to deliver the same natural atmosphere and dialogue concerning Ted as we saw in the first book. This now comes across more forced, and even though Stevens tries to follow the same recipe, it just doesn´t flow as easily. Ted literal and scientific thinking is now disconnected more from his special interest such as metereology and linked more to a general scientific data bank. While this can be a useful literary device, it removes an important link to what defines Ted.
A little more about the main character - Ted Spark - who thinks a little differently. He himself tells us in the first book that his mind runs on a different operating system, and that he has been given a diagnosis. The author didn´t spell out exactly what Ted is diagnosed with, but it seems clear that he is on the mild side of the autism spectrum, displaying asperger-like behaviour with ticks and literal/sensory processing of information.
For example, Ted is a literal thinker. He doesn´t generalize from experience or use metaphors or idioms. For example, he would not understand intuitively what giving someone a cold shoulder would mean. His literal interpretations are part of his inner dialogue presented to the reader, were we see that Ted consistently struggles with ambigous syntactic expressions conveying humor, sarcasm or imagery. His older sister Kat is a normal teenager, and presents Ted with a barrage of colorful language. This is great stuff for kids reading this book, I think they enjoy the different perspective and how Ted breaks down these images and tries to understand what is being communicated.
Ted also displays sensory thinking, processing information less in a language based approach, where we use shortcuts such as «chair» or «table» as generic categories or labels. Instead Ted relies more on specific images linked to the specific context. The combination of literal and sensory thinking means that Ted stores information less like «there was a group of people at the station», and more in line of «there were 12 people at the station, three women, 8 men, and there was one child. One of the women and the child boarded the bus. The woman may have been the childs mother.».
This is woven into the story in a very elegant manner in the first book, providing an insight into how Ted thinks differently and applies this in his attempts at solving the detective riddle. In the second book, this comes across as more heavy handed. It was also easier to believe in Ted when he was surrounded by his family, and with Ted and Kat having small adventures in their own London. The setting in New York is not introduced in a manner which allows us to feel comfortable with the characters and how Ted handles travelling and all the new impresions. We meet potential suspects related to the Guggenheim mystery, but these are presented more as names on lists than real people. It all feels more disconnected, and with too many details on the Guggenheim and suspect-lists. I think it would be better for a potential third run in this series with a smaller gallery of persons and a more credible backdrop for Ted and his special operating system. This would also make it easier to feel emotionally invested in the plot and the characters, It will be interesting to see if Stevens goes on with another book in this series. I think she can carry that, hoping that there will then be less focus on the mechanics of the heist and a little more on the people - this was an important part of the first book.
Sadly, the author of the first book is deceased, and the author Robin Stevens wrote this second installment in the Ted Spark universe. Stevens is already known in our family as the kids have read - and greatly enjoyed - the murder most unladylike series. However, Stevens is not able to deliver the same natural atmosphere and dialogue concerning Ted as we saw in the first book. This now comes across more forced, and even though Stevens tries to follow the same recipe, it just doesn´t flow as easily. Ted literal and scientific thinking is now disconnected more from his special interest such as metereology and linked more to a general scientific data bank. While this can be a useful literary device, it removes an important link to what defines Ted.
A little more about the main character - Ted Spark - who thinks a little differently. He himself tells us in the first book that his mind runs on a different operating system, and that he has been given a diagnosis. The author didn´t spell out exactly what Ted is diagnosed with, but it seems clear that he is on the mild side of the autism spectrum, displaying asperger-like behaviour with ticks and literal/sensory processing of information.
For example, Ted is a literal thinker. He doesn´t generalize from experience or use metaphors or idioms. For example, he would not understand intuitively what giving someone a cold shoulder would mean. His literal interpretations are part of his inner dialogue presented to the reader, were we see that Ted consistently struggles with ambigous syntactic expressions conveying humor, sarcasm or imagery. His older sister Kat is a normal teenager, and presents Ted with a barrage of colorful language. This is great stuff for kids reading this book, I think they enjoy the different perspective and how Ted breaks down these images and tries to understand what is being communicated.
Ted also displays sensory thinking, processing information less in a language based approach, where we use shortcuts such as «chair» or «table» as generic categories or labels. Instead Ted relies more on specific images linked to the specific context. The combination of literal and sensory thinking means that Ted stores information less like «there was a group of people at the station», and more in line of «there were 12 people at the station, three women, 8 men, and there was one child. One of the women and the child boarded the bus. The woman may have been the childs mother.».
This is woven into the story in a very elegant manner in the first book, providing an insight into how Ted thinks differently and applies this in his attempts at solving the detective riddle. In the second book, this comes across as more heavy handed. It was also easier to believe in Ted when he was surrounded by his family, and with Ted and Kat having small adventures in their own London. The setting in New York is not introduced in a manner which allows us to feel comfortable with the characters and how Ted handles travelling and all the new impresions. We meet potential suspects related to the Guggenheim mystery, but these are presented more as names on lists than real people. It all feels more disconnected, and with too many details on the Guggenheim and suspect-lists. I think it would be better for a potential third run in this series with a smaller gallery of persons and a more credible backdrop for Ted and his special operating system. This would also make it easier to feel emotionally invested in the plot and the characters, It will be interesting to see if Stevens goes on with another book in this series. I think she can carry that, hoping that there will then be less focus on the mechanics of the heist and a little more on the people - this was an important part of the first book.
August 16, 2017
I loved this book! It was wonderful. I am a ginormous Robin Stevens fan, her series Murder Most Unladylike is one I just adore reading and I always look forward to the new Wells and Wong mystery. With ‘The Guggenheim Mystery’, Robin Stevens has taken characters originally created by Siobhan Dowd in ‘The London Eye Mystery’ and written a brand new utterly captivating mystery. I haven’t read ‘The London Eye Mystery’, although I’ve always meant too, so I can honestly say you can still enjoy Guggenheim without having read it.
With this book Robin Stevens has managed to capture the voice of unique Ted Spark perfectly. His brain works differently to everyone else and he views the world with different eyes. He is a charming character and I like to think that Siobhan Dowd would be over the moon with his new adventure.
The descriptions of New York were superb. I felt like I was having the New York experience from my sofa. I loved exploring the city with Ted, his sister, Kat and cousin, Salim. These three make a brilliant crime busting team, with Ted’s mind, Kat’s attitude and Salim’s knowledge of New York they set out to clear Salim’s mum of being accused of stealing a painting for the Guggenheim.
Like every great mystery there are red herrings, clues, nefarious characters and often more questions than answers, but Ted doesn’t stop until he’s solved the case. I just also want to mention the cover, it is just perfect for this book! David Dean has done a terrific job of capturing the book in picture form. This is a book that will be enjoyed by many, delightful, charming and entertaining, it’s one I recommend!
With this book Robin Stevens has managed to capture the voice of unique Ted Spark perfectly. His brain works differently to everyone else and he views the world with different eyes. He is a charming character and I like to think that Siobhan Dowd would be over the moon with his new adventure.
The descriptions of New York were superb. I felt like I was having the New York experience from my sofa. I loved exploring the city with Ted, his sister, Kat and cousin, Salim. These three make a brilliant crime busting team, with Ted’s mind, Kat’s attitude and Salim’s knowledge of New York they set out to clear Salim’s mum of being accused of stealing a painting for the Guggenheim.
Like every great mystery there are red herrings, clues, nefarious characters and often more questions than answers, but Ted doesn’t stop until he’s solved the case. I just also want to mention the cover, it is just perfect for this book! David Dean has done a terrific job of capturing the book in picture form. This is a book that will be enjoyed by many, delightful, charming and entertaining, it’s one I recommend!
April 12, 2024
Ted y Kat están de visita en la ciudad de Nueva York en la cual ahora Gloria (su tía ) y Salim (su primo ) residen así que estando ahí su tía Gloria los lleva a conocer el museo donde ella trabaja y mientras están ahí ocurre un robo en el cual inculpan a su tía Gloria .
Así que Salim , Kat y Ted se ponen manos a la obra para descubrir quien es el ladrón y así poder ayudar a su tía.
Me gustó mucho el libro ( a pesar de no haber leído el primero ) y la forma de cómo está narrado por Ted un chico que a mi entender está dentro del espectro autista.
Así que Salim , Kat y Ted se ponen manos a la obra para descubrir quien es el ladrón y así poder ayudar a su tía.
Me gustó mucho el libro ( a pesar de no haber leído el primero ) y la forma de cómo está narrado por Ted un chico que a mi entender está dentro del espectro autista.
February 12, 2018
A delightful tribute to Siobhan Dowd, the author who was supposed to write The Guggenheim Mystery. I'm writing a full review of this later in the week, but I have to say: if you loved The London Eye Mystery, trust Robin Stevens and give this sequel a go. If you didn't know better, it would be impossible to guess that they were written by different authors.
EDIT 12/02/2018:
When we rejoin the Sparks three months have passed and Ted, Kat and their mother are heading to America to visit Aunt Gloria and Salim. Aunt Gloria's job at the Guggenheim is going well, and she's excited to show her family the exhibition that she's curated. The day they arrive, they head straight to the museum for an exclusive first glance at the new installation.
While they're gazing at one of the paintings, Ted starts to smell smoke. The museum is evacuated and the fire brigade are called, but after investigating they realise that the smoke was caused by smoke bombs and one of the paintings is missing. Aunt Gloria was the last one out of the building and the police use that fact to arrest her.
It's up to Ted, Kat and Salim to prove Aunt Gloria's innocence, find the real culprit and locate the valuable painting. Who said holidays were supposed to be relaxing?
I enjoyed The Guggenheim Mystery more than The London Eye Mystery. If you didn't know that the author had changed you couldn't guess, because Stevens mimics Dowd's writing style beautifully. Not only does she maintain the essential essence of the characters, but she manages to give them more layers.
A big improvement is the change of location. Ted struggles to cope with being in a different country, and that's made worse because he's separated from his father who stays at home to work. Throughout the book, he finds different ways to adjust to being in New York, showing his different brain in action once again.
Meanwhile, Kat and Salim also go through a lot of development: Kat takes steps to start following her dream of working in fashion - a dream which her parents have refused to take seriously - while Salim loves life in New York and is already friends with everyone who works in the Guggenheim.
Because of the events the characters go through, it makes sense for them to be more mature by the end of the story, but the development is written in a subtle, realistic way. It makes me wish that there could be more additions to the series in the future, because Ted, Kat and Salim have so much potential, and I'd love to follow them as they investigated more mysteries.
Another great aspect is the casual diversity. New York is one of the most culturally diverse locations on the planet, so it makes sense that the background cast are of a variety of different races and sexual orientations. It's another subtle inclusion, but it really adds dimensions to the story. The races of the characters aren't relevant to the plot but it's nice to see them mentioned anyway: it's realistic, and means the extended cast aren't cookie cutter copies of each other.
The investigation does verge on repetitive. The characters go from suspect to suspect, interviewing them and ticking them off of their suspect list, and it threatens to become formulaic, but Stevens doesn't use that structure throughout the entire novel. It might take you a little while to settle into the flow of the story, but as soon as the investigation is in full swing it's nigh on impossible to put the book down.
This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Blogger.
EDIT 12/02/2018:
When we rejoin the Sparks three months have passed and Ted, Kat and their mother are heading to America to visit Aunt Gloria and Salim. Aunt Gloria's job at the Guggenheim is going well, and she's excited to show her family the exhibition that she's curated. The day they arrive, they head straight to the museum for an exclusive first glance at the new installation.
While they're gazing at one of the paintings, Ted starts to smell smoke. The museum is evacuated and the fire brigade are called, but after investigating they realise that the smoke was caused by smoke bombs and one of the paintings is missing. Aunt Gloria was the last one out of the building and the police use that fact to arrest her.
It's up to Ted, Kat and Salim to prove Aunt Gloria's innocence, find the real culprit and locate the valuable painting. Who said holidays were supposed to be relaxing?
I enjoyed The Guggenheim Mystery more than The London Eye Mystery. If you didn't know that the author had changed you couldn't guess, because Stevens mimics Dowd's writing style beautifully. Not only does she maintain the essential essence of the characters, but she manages to give them more layers.
A big improvement is the change of location. Ted struggles to cope with being in a different country, and that's made worse because he's separated from his father who stays at home to work. Throughout the book, he finds different ways to adjust to being in New York, showing his different brain in action once again.
Meanwhile, Kat and Salim also go through a lot of development: Kat takes steps to start following her dream of working in fashion - a dream which her parents have refused to take seriously - while Salim loves life in New York and is already friends with everyone who works in the Guggenheim.
Because of the events the characters go through, it makes sense for them to be more mature by the end of the story, but the development is written in a subtle, realistic way. It makes me wish that there could be more additions to the series in the future, because Ted, Kat and Salim have so much potential, and I'd love to follow them as they investigated more mysteries.
Another great aspect is the casual diversity. New York is one of the most culturally diverse locations on the planet, so it makes sense that the background cast are of a variety of different races and sexual orientations. It's another subtle inclusion, but it really adds dimensions to the story. The races of the characters aren't relevant to the plot but it's nice to see them mentioned anyway: it's realistic, and means the extended cast aren't cookie cutter copies of each other.
The investigation does verge on repetitive. The characters go from suspect to suspect, interviewing them and ticking them off of their suspect list, and it threatens to become formulaic, but Stevens doesn't use that structure throughout the entire novel. It might take you a little while to settle into the flow of the story, but as soon as the investigation is in full swing it's nigh on impossible to put the book down.
This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Blogger.
October 10, 2025
I read this novel because I really loved The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. This was a great read, too. I love how Stevens honored the characters created by Dowd and wrote from Ted's point of view, just like Dowd did. Dowd passed away soon after London Eye was published, although she wanted to write a second book with this title and these characters. I love the fact Stevens made that wish come to life, and that she's donating the proceeds from this book to https://siobhandowdtrust.com/ to bring books to disadvantaged kids in the UK. I hope she writes another one with Ted, Kat and Salim, but if she doesn't, I'm still going to check out her other mystery series!
Ted describes his brain by saying that it "works on a different operating system," and readers will recognize his attention to detail, his need to eat only familiar things in certain ways (e.g., chopping a banana into exactly seven pieces and leaving both ends on the plate), shaking his hand out when he is anxious, and the way he describes others not by their emotions but by the way their lips turn up or down or their foreheads crease. I love Ted's character and how Kat and Salim have come to value his brain even more in this second book: they actively recruit him to their cause and rely on him earlier in the story than Kat had in The London Eye Mystery. But the beauty of their relationship is that they also have typical sibling squabbles and have to navigate how to interpret each other's behaviors in order to appreciate them, just like every kid.
I feel like these two books are excellent choices for any middle-grade mystery lover who also likes the challenge of seeing the world through the eyes of a narrator on the autism spectrum. The London Eye Mystery has more British terminology than The Guggenheim Mystery, so the series takes a bit of a dedicated reader to get started. But I've handed the book to many students over the years, and they all have declared it a very good read and liked seeing the world through Ted's perspective.
Why not a 5 star rating? In order to get 5 stars out of me, it's got to be one of the best books I've ever read. In this one, Mum's pretty uninvolved in their care, much less than I'd expect in a major city that she and they are unfamiliar with, leaving both kids to the inattentive care of someone who's not very close to the family, even overnight, after they've proven untrustworthy by ditching the babysitter and running all over the city by themselves. That seemed pretty unrealistic, and I kept coming back to that point in my mind (I guess my mother-senses were interfering with my ability to suspend my disbelief).
The mystery is fun to follow through to the end, and I liked the details about the Guggenheim Museum and New York. Ted and Kat's lists of suspects and details will be very good reminders as students read the story and try to figure out the mystery on their own.
Ted describes his brain by saying that it "works on a different operating system," and readers will recognize his attention to detail, his need to eat only familiar things in certain ways (e.g., chopping a banana into exactly seven pieces and leaving both ends on the plate), shaking his hand out when he is anxious, and the way he describes others not by their emotions but by the way their lips turn up or down or their foreheads crease. I love Ted's character and how Kat and Salim have come to value his brain even more in this second book: they actively recruit him to their cause and rely on him earlier in the story than Kat had in The London Eye Mystery. But the beauty of their relationship is that they also have typical sibling squabbles and have to navigate how to interpret each other's behaviors in order to appreciate them, just like every kid.
I feel like these two books are excellent choices for any middle-grade mystery lover who also likes the challenge of seeing the world through the eyes of a narrator on the autism spectrum. The London Eye Mystery has more British terminology than The Guggenheim Mystery, so the series takes a bit of a dedicated reader to get started. But I've handed the book to many students over the years, and they all have declared it a very good read and liked seeing the world through Ted's perspective.
Why not a 5 star rating? In order to get 5 stars out of me, it's got to be one of the best books I've ever read. In this one, Mum's pretty uninvolved in their care, much less than I'd expect in a major city that she and they are unfamiliar with, leaving both kids to the inattentive care of someone who's not very close to the family, even overnight, after they've proven untrustworthy by ditching the babysitter and running all over the city by themselves. That seemed pretty unrealistic, and I kept coming back to that point in my mind (I guess my mother-senses were interfering with my ability to suspend my disbelief).
The mystery is fun to follow through to the end, and I liked the details about the Guggenheim Museum and New York. Ted and Kat's lists of suspects and details will be very good reminders as students read the story and try to figure out the mystery on their own.
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