Looking for Emily came up as an offering on Netgalley. The blurb intrigued me, and I succeeded in getting an advance copy. Not enough in advance for me to read it before publication, but I prioritised it all the same.
Looking for Emily
by Fiona Longmuir
When twelve-year-old Lily moves to the sleepy seaside town of Edge, she’s sure that nothing exciting is ever going to happen to her again. But when she stumbles upon a secret museum hidden in the middle of town, she realises that there might be more to her new home than meets the eye.
The Museum of Emily is filled with the belongings of one seemingly ordinary girl – a girl who, many years ago, disappeared from the town without a trace. With the help of her new friends Sam and Jay, Lily is determined to solve the mystery and find out who Emily was, why she disappeared and who has created the strange, hidden museum.
With a one-of-a-kind mystery, a brilliant trio of protagonists, and an action-filled story, Looking for Emily is the unmissable middle grade debut of 2022. (goodreads)
My Review
When I first started reading Looking For Emily, it reminded me of other books* where a city kid has moved to a small seaside town. I hoped it wasn’t going to be much the same. Nothing is further from the truth. The ‘one-of-a-kind mystery’ lives up to its billing!
Fiona Longmuir brilliantly recreates the hidden depths of an old smuggling community, complete with false fronts and secret passages. It’s the ideal setting for a mystery that takes many twists before it all turns out well. But there are still more secrets that emerge in the end.
It’s beautifully written. I loved the changing attitudes of Lily – and her friends Sam and Jay – who are pretty much the village oddities themselves, until Lily turns up.
With a complex plot skilfully executed. It may well be one of the best middle grade books of 2022 – but it has a lot of competition, even in my lists!
Book Review | Looking for Emily by Fiona Longmuir 'one of the best middle grade books of 2022' #childrens #mystery #smugglers #danger #LookingForEmily #netgalley Click To Tweet
Well it sounds unusual 💜💜
Sound like a perfect gift of a little friend of mine!
Sounds worth a look. Don’t suppose it’s made it to the library yet 🙂
What a beautiful review 😀