Review: Amanda Lester and the Green Monkey Gotcha by Paula Berinstein

AMANDA LESTER AND THE GREEN MONKEY GOTCHA

Amanda Lester, Detective, Book #7

by Paula Berinstein

The Writing Show

YA Mystery

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse...

A teacher has gone rogue, Nick's sister is in danger, and Holmes is missing. The last thing the detectives need is another problem.

But now a secret warning involving a mysterious green monkey has come to light and Amanda must investigate. Too bad she won't get the chance to discover what it means. Just as she begins to make progress the Moriarty brothers reappear, and this time they're mad, bad, and unstoppable. They're also coming for her. 

MY TIDBITS

I've been an Amanda Lester fan from the moment I read the very first chapter of the very first book, and this feeling definitely doesn't change with the newest venture. Packed full of mystery, action and so much more, this book continues the series with tons of excitement and surprises.

Everything in the world of Amanda and her fellow detective students is a mess. Nick and Holmes are both missing without a trace. The only thing Amanda assumes is that they aren't together. . .unless they both killed themselves while fighting, but that's not her first suspicion. The only bright spot is the reappearance of the detective Bible. But even this positive note turns off-key as a hidden warning against a green monkey is found in the pages. Amanda doesn't get a chance to sink her teeth into this mystery too far before the Moriarty brothers return, and she is their main target.

This isn't just a mystery. This is a mystery with endless twists, engaging characters, danger around every bend, a dash of teenage drama, and even a tiny bit of something almost magical. The author has woven layer upon layer of plots and sub-plots together until it forms an exciting and oh-so delightful adventure. Every character has grit, whether good or bad, and each one comes to life with their own history and desires. But like a masterful puzzle, it all has its rhyme and reason, and slides together in the end.

I love how Nick and Holmes have developed in relationship to Amanda, and how Amanda has grown not only in relationship to her friends, but in ways which make her a real opponent to some very clever villains. Of course, she doesn't do any of this alone, but has support from her friends even when there are stumbling blocks on this end. These kids might be very talented, but they have their troubles like any other teen. And it's this which makes them easy to sympathize with and root for.

There's always something going on, and every scene holds valuable hints to be used later on. Especially the smooth and continual switch between scenes and characters, never leaves a boring moment but allows the plot to unfold from every angle. Still, there are tons of unexpected twists and surprises making it impossible to predict what will happen next.




And here she is. . .

Paula Berinstein (Paula B) is the author of the Amanda Lester, Detective middle-grade/YA series, which features a descendant of the Sherlock Holmes character Inspector Lestrade and is set in the English Lake District.

From 2005 to 2012, Paula produced and hosted the popular podcast The Writing Show (http://www.writingshow.com). She holds degrees in English literature and librarianship from UCLA.

You can find out more about Amanda Lester:
http://www.amandalester.net

Cover Reveal: Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacock's Secret by Paula Berinstein

Today is the cover reveal for Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret by Paula Berinstein. This cover reveal is organized by Lola's Blog Tours.

Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret 

Amanda Lester, Detective #4

by Paula Berinstein

The Writing Show

YA Mystery

362 pages

Coming. . .

March 31, 2016!!!

What does a dusty old secret have to do with peacocks?

Everything, as it turns out. When Amanda is knocked off her skateboard by a rare all-blue peacock, she learns that the species harbors a vital secret she must race to uncover. But before she can unravel the mystery, a startling archaeological discovery turns all of Britain against the detectives and threatens their very existence.

As old enemies gather strength and new adversaries emerge, Amanda finds herself dealing with hysterical teachers, a disappearing mentor, a mysterious poisoner, and a would-be magician. With so much at stake and so little time, the last thing she needs is to fall in love.

Excerpt

On Monday Amanda and her friends had their first class with the new logic teacher. It was a scary affair. The pirate was rude, strict, and humorless, and now he smelled like cigars. Probably drank grog too, by the look of him, Amanda thought, whatever that was.

The first thing Professor Darktower said, in a really loud voice, was, “Alice in Wonderland is not fun!” No introduction, no “Good morning,” nothing. The statement was so abrupt and the message so out of any context that every kid in the class dropped something, gasped, choked, or bit their tongue, even if they weren’t chewing. Then he said, “In this class we will read nothing but Lewis Carroll—Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, the whole shebang. These publications are no laughing matter. You think Tweedledum and Tweedledee are funny? The Mad Hatter is a joke? Alice is cute? BALDERDASH!”

This extremely loud exclamation caused poor Dreidel to fall off his chair and twist his knee. But Professor Darktower would not let him go to the nurse. “Detectives are not sissies,” he said. “You will stay here and learn to be absolutely, impeccably logical. Got that?”

The boy nodded up and down and attempted to hide his pain. It was obvious that he was hurt, though, because he kept grimacing every time he tried to move his leg. Amanda was so outraged that she refused to keep quiet. “He’s hurt. He needs medical attention.”

The huge man fixed her with a stony stare and said, “Then he’s out of my class. Do you think, missy, that when you’re out battling the likes of Blixus Moriarty you can take a time out and go to the nurse? Now stop acting like a girl and be a detective. And as for you, laddie, one more sissy incident like this and you’re out of my class. Got that?”

Dreidel nodded again but Amanda was furious. She opened her mouth to protest, but Ivy tugged on her sleeve and gave her a low “Uh uh,” and she realized that her revenge would have to wait. But revenge she would have, and it would be a doozy. The man was worse than a boor. Why, he was even ruder than an arch-criminal. Even Blixus had never been as bad as that. She wondered what Professor Darktower’s parents must be like to produce a son like him.

There was something she could do right then and there, however. She reached into her bag and surreptitiously texted Dreidel: “R U OK?” “Y,” the response came almost immediately. Of course he would say that. Dreidel was a trouper. And then it hit her that he hadn’t gone off to Skye after all. She was glad, not just because he’d stayed to support Legatum, but because he was a good guy and a great lab partner. She texted back a smiley and let it go for the time being.

Darktower glared at the class and said, “As I was saying, there are equations and syllogisms in these volumes that underlie every word, and we’re going to find them. You will be responsible for finding them. Then, for your term paper, you will be expected to arrange them in a different way that’s still logically valid and write the text they would produce. Is that clear? I repeat: this task is not humorous or fanciful. It is deadly serious work, and you won’t be able to build ironclad cases unless you can master it.”

The man made about as much sense as that strange page Amanda had found. Sometimes it was hard to understand Professor Ducey, but not like this. What did he mean, equations and syllogisms underlie every word? It sounded like he was saying that the books had been translated into English from math. You could read an equation out loud, of course, and you could translate it into Spanish or Chinese, but how could you—OMG. This was storytelling, just like the way she and Holmes had done when they’d put together the training film about a cyberforensics problem, except with math rather than words.

She glanced over at Holmes and found him looking at her and smiling. He’d got it too. He gave her a quick wink and then everything exploded.

“MR. Holmes!” bellowed the teacher. “Out, NOW!” Holmes looked astonished, then got up and walked out of the room. “MISS Lester!” the teacher continued. Amanda was surprised. “Oh, you thought I didn’t know who you were,” the man said. “I want you to take your things, find Mr. Holmes, and wait in my office. Is that clear?” 

“But—” Amanda said.

“OUT!” he roared.

Amanda felt the strongest urge to stick her tongue out at him again, but she managed to control herself and abstained. She picked up her bag and followed Holmes out into the hall.

“What in the world was that?” he said when she’d caught up with him. He looked confused, as if he didn’t know quite what to do with himself.

“The man is a lunatic,” said Amanda. “He wants us to go to his office.”

“But the class just started,” said Holmes. “It will be fifty minutes.” Gosh, he looked good. His eyes seemed to be on fire. She looked away for a second.

“All I know is that’s what he said.”

He shook his head but he was smiling. “You know, the dumb thing is that up until he had his little meltdown, he was making sense.”

“You got that too?” she said, matching his grin.

“Of course. You taught me.”

“I did, didn’t I?” she said. She felt absolutely triumphant. It was a wonderful feeling after that ridiculous scene in the classroom. “Who needs him?”

“I guess we do,” said Holmes. “If we want to stay here.”

“You’re not thinking of going to Skye?” xhe said.

“Never. Not even for Professor Ducey.”

And then, instead of worrying or fuming or plotting revenge, the two of them cracked up so hard they had to hold their stomachs.

When they calmed down enough to speak, Holmes looked at her with mischief in his eyes and said, “You know what this means, don’t you?”

She threw back her head and laughed. “We have forty-five minutes to do whatever we want.”

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”

All about. . .



Paula Berinstein is nothing like Amanda. For one thing, she’s crazy about Sherlock Holmes. For another, she’s never wanted to be a filmmaker. In addition, compared to Amanda she’s a big chicken! And she wouldn’t mind going to a secret school at all. In fact, she’s hoping that some day she’ll get to build one.

You can find and contact Paula here:

- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads
- Paula's blog on Goodreads
- The Writing Show podcasts

GIVEAWAY!!!

There is a cover reveal wide giveaway for the cover reveal of Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret. You can win a 50$ amazon gift card. Open international.

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:

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Review: Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis by Paula Berinstein

AMANDA LESTER AND THE ORANGE CRYSTAL CRISIS

Amanda Lester, Detective Volume 2

by Paula Berinstein

The Writing Show

YA/MG Mystery

ages 10 +

424 pages

If only Sherlock Holmes's great-great-grandson weren't such a dork . . .

There’s a new student at the Legatum Continuatum School for the Descendants of Famous Detectives and Amanda is supposed to work with him. Scapulus Holmes is a descendant of the great Sherlock and he’s crazy about her. Unfortunately she thinks he’s a dork and would rather die than have anything to do with him.

But when the kids discover a dead body encrusted with strange living crystals, Amanda realizes she needs Holmes’s help. If the crystals fall into the wrong hands they could be used for nefarious purposes, and only he knows how to protect them.

Can the detectives keep the bad guys from learning the crystals' secrets? It would help if they could figure out who the dead body is too. Only if Amanda and Holmes can find a way to work together can they prevent a disaster, and it isn’t looking good.

MY TIDBITS

I have already read the first book in this series, and although I'd recommend starting with book one, it's no problem to dive into Amanda Lester's adventures with book two. In other words, this can be read as a stand alone.

The first pages already had me smiling. In the beginning scene, Amanda finds out that there might again be trouble at the Legatum Continuatum School for the Descendants of Famous Detectives, and her first thought--instead of jumping excitedly into another mystery--is to run away. I don't blame her, and this reaction alone shows how human and realistic she can be.

Amanda is not the average detective. She might have a knack for it, but it's not her favorite thing in the world. And this slightly negative attitude sets the stone for her delicious personality which is sometimes sweet, sometimes kind but full of prickly faults too. She's out-spoken, opinionated, a little dramatic and simply goes over board at times. It's exactly these things which make her so much fun and easy to relate to. I appreciated the fact that although she believed to have over-come some of her faults in book one, suddenly finds herself battling with the same problems all over again. It was great to see that things don't change that easily.

There isn't a character in the book which lacks personality, though. Although there are many friends, enemies, classmates, teachers and others involved in Amanda's life, none of them is like the other and each has obvious flaws and oddities. It makes each one stick out in their own way and adds a lot of color to the story, not to mention that it makes it that much easier to remember who was who. . .something which is always important in a mystery, especially one with multi-layers.

The plot  is not a simple one and neither are the secrets Amanda faces. Clues are hard to sort out and nothing is necessarily as it seems, which makes finding out the true facts behind the mystery as difficult as sorting out a bowl of sticky spaghetti. To add more depth, Amanda must take on other problems from all directions of life--sub-plots upon sub-plots. At one point in the book, she admits that there's more going on than she can handle, and this reflected my own feelings at times. I was very captured by this story and found myself drawn in, but after about three-quarters the way through, I simply had to take a break as everything began to feel a little mumble-jumbled. When I picked the book back up, I was completely drawn in again.

There's never a boring moment as Amanda is pulled from one situation into the next. Her relationship with Holmes was sweet and complicated. His personality isn't any simpler than her own, and I'm looking forward to seeing much more of him in the books to come.


Although this series is deemed for young adults, the writing and content feels more like an upper middle grade/tween mystery to me. The characters are on the younger side, and even their behavior and reactions hits this slightly younger group nicely. The logic behind a large point, the crystals, leans heavily toward fantasy, which would be more appreciated by younger audience. However, even as an adult, I was caught up and enjoyed the story completely.

At over 400 pages, this isn't a novel for lazy readers, but the plot definitely needs the length. As said, there is a lot going on and even with the larger word amount, the last big scene as well as the ending seemed to be wrapped up a little too rushed and neatly to me. Still, the ending was surprising, and I can't wait to dive into the next book to see what happens with Amanda and her friends next.

Summed up, this is a mystery packed full of so many good things. The characters are a sheer delight and there are unexpected surprised at every turn. I highly recommend this to readers ages 10 and up who love mystery, adventure and a lot of fun mixed in.