Raise your hand if you love Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys.

Would you love to read something similar, but new?

I have a series to recommend to you.

Rachel Selle has just published the second in her European Adventures series.

Book two, Aix Marks the Spot, takes place in Provence, France, specifically in Aix (pronounced “X”).

About the Book

Title: Aix Marks the Spot
Author: Rachel Selle
Publisher: The Uppercase Lowercase Press
ISBN-10: 3910403018
ISBN-13: 978-3910403017
Available at amazon.com.

The Murphy children (13-year-old Maxine, 10-year-old Simon, and 6-year-old Jane) and their 16-year-old cousin Agatha travel to Aix-en-provence, where they have been invited by their detective friends to see the exhibit of the renowned Card Player paintings by Paul Cézanne at the Musée Granet.

Someone wants these paintings, though, for their own nefarious reasons and the Murphy children and Agatha spot the clues that help find the thief.

Could it be the work of Jean-Luc Xavier who was implicated in the theft of the Coronation Coins in Rachel’s first book, Mystery at Mouse Castle?

Rachel has created a wonderful series of adventures through Europe (book number three will be set in England).

The stories—suitable for independent readers 8-12 years old, and for reading aloud to younger children—are well-researched, offering a bit of history with your mystery.

She sneaks in interesting info about the fountains of Aix, delicious desserts of the region, and about symbolism in paintings.

For example, cats in paintings can symbolize either good luck or bad luck depending on when the painting was made, and dogs symbolize loyalty, of course.

I also learned that the reason some people name their dogs Fido is because it comes from the Latin word for fidelity, fidelis.

In addition, the characters in Aix Marks the Spot are kind to each other (gasp!) and polite, just like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were.

The mysteries have fun twists that kids will enjoy figuring out.

But just when they think they’ve got it all worked out, that may not be the case.

Rachel Selle is an expat from the United States, living in Germany where she teaches elementary school.

With so many European countries close by, Rachel should have lots and lots of European Adventures to tell.

And I’ll look forward to reading each of them.

Treat yourself or the child in your life to these books, and you’ll see just what I mean.

Also, read my earlier post that features an interview with Rachel Selle and my review of Mystery at Mouse Castle, here.

Have a great week,

~ Gail

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