Montmorency on the Rocks - Couverture souple

Updale, Eleanor

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0439943027 ISBN 13 : 9780439943024

Editeur : Scholastic, 2007

Synopsis

An explosion in London. Was it an accident? On a remote Scottish island, children are dying in mysterious circumstances. Are dark forces at work? Montmorency is needed to solve both mysteries, but he has demons of his own to confront...

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

VOYA 6/1/05 Following a dangerous year abroad as spies, Montmorency and his mentor, Lord George Fox-Selwyn, arrive in 1885 London to reconnect with Dr. Robert Farcett (the surgeon who earlier repaired Montmorency's broken body in Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? [Scholastic, 2003/VOYA June 2004]), but all is not well. Montmorency is addicted to a Turkish drug, and Farcett has purposely let a patient die. Seeking escape from their individual demons, the three gentlemen journey to Lord George's brother's estate, and soon puzzling events confront the men. A London train station is blown up, and on an isolated Scottish isle, babies have been dying for the past seven years. Intrigued by the infants' deaths, the doctor and Montmorency journey to the island and interview a dedicated midwife and a minister who has buried each child. Farcett becomes consumed with discovering the cause of death, but with his drug addiction controlled, Montmorency returns to London to assist Lord George in hunting terrorists. Although his past remains secret, Montmorency realizes that he must reappear as Scarper the thief to trap the ruthless bombers. Unlike his role in the first book, Montmorency does not dominate center stage, allowing other characters and the involved plot to develop. The layered mysteries, occurring on opposite ends of Great Britain, have a common connection solved (in the British detective-novel tradition) by scientific deduction. Updale's books contain no teen characters and several red herrings. The intricacy of this novel will either attract or repel teen readers. A proper introduction to Montmorency will surely please fans of Sherlock Holmes
Booklist 5/15/505 5 Gr. 6-9. Here's a neat trick: in harking back to a genre (the Victorian crime thriller) most YA writers won't touch, the Montmorency series seems appealingly rebellious--loyal valets, monogrammed hankies, iced champagne, and all. Readers familiar with Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? 0 (2004) will note the broadening of the limelight from Montmorency alone to an ensemble of British aristocrats prone to "dashing about solving other people's problems." These include the former thief Montmorency; his best chum and spy-partner, George Fox-Selwyn; and his surgeon, Doctor Fawcett, who has been called upon to help Montmorency overcome an opium addiction. Updale commandingly escorts readers through the layers of London society as her protagonists investigate not one but two mysteries: a London bomb plot and a remote Scottish island's perplexing epidemic of infant deaths. Some YAs still won't have patience for the prissy Masterpiece Theater-style details and the absence of prominent YA characters. Thanks to the greater emphasis on case-cracking than on its title character's psychological struggles, however, this may prove even more popular than book one. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2005 Booklist
SLJ 4/1/05 Gr 8 Up-The second volume picks up several years after Montmorency (Scholastic, 2004) ended. The young man has joined Lord Fox-Selwyn on missions for the English throne and has proved himself a formidable secret agent. But on their last journey, he became addicted to opium, and his addiction threatens his life and those of many others as he loses discretion and caution. Meanwhile, Dr. Farcett, who treated Montmorency when he was in prison, has lost his self-confidence after killing a healthy patient in a demonstration surgery. Fox-Selwyn engineers a reunion between the two to save them both, and the three men, along with Violet, daughter of Montmorency/Scarper's former landlady and a prostitute, end up involved in two mysteries: bombings of London train stations and the deaths of numerous children on a remote Scottish island. This adventure starts slowly, and the elaborate setup seems somewhat contrived. Still, this is another rousing and meticulously researched adventure, full of details about London and Scotland that bring the past to vivid life. Older

Présentation de l'éditeur

Montmorency -- the man leading a double life, torn between his two identities -- returns in this gripping sequel to MONTMORENCY: THIEF, LIAR, GENTLEMAN?

Five years after giving up his life of crime in the London sewers, Montmorency is back. But his evil alter ego, Scarper, has returned too, pulling him back into a dark world of crime.

Montmorency's old friend and fellow government agent, Lord George Fox-Selwyn, fights to rescue him from disaster. The two men are needed now more than ever, as a rash of bombings threaten to destroy England's rail lines. And only Montmorency's intimate knowledge of the London underworld can save the city...

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Scholastic
• Date d'édition: 2007
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0439943027
• ISBN 13: 9780439943024
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 368
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: WordUnited GmbH; distribution@wordunited.com; ; Theodorstrasse 105; DUSSELDORF; 40472; Allemagne