Plum and Woo: The Puzzling Pearls is the first in an ongoing adventure series featuring a mismatched pair of amateur sleuths. Mystery reader/ enthusiast Patti Woo has little in common with fashion tragic Hannah Plum. The two girls find themselves reluctant poolside companions at the Heartbreak Hotel, while Hannah’s dad and Patti’s mum embark on daily birdwatching expeditions together outside the hotel grounds.

Things get interesting when a series of suspicious events occur at the hotel, and the girls are drawn from their poolside vantage point into the unfolding drama. There are surreptitious drop-offs, cloaked escapades, coded signals and a slew of stolen valuables, including the theft of a bride’s wedding dress. Plum and Woo find themselves in the heart of a mystery where they must use all their wits to take on a villain and embark on a noble quest to save a wedding – and the hotel itself – from potential ruin.

Author Lisa Siberry was the 2019 Ampersand Prize winner for her debut The Brilliant Ideas of Lily Green, and her new series is quirky, fun and certain to appeal to adventure seeking readers ages 8–12.

Natalie Platten is the assistant manager and children’s book buyer at Readings Doncaster.