#bookreview – The House That Wasn’t There by Colin Garrow

The House That Wasn't There

What Goodreads says

On a cold November morning in 1890’s Edinburgh, Christie McKinnon and her pal Donal discover a young boy is missing from home. And he’s not the only one – someone is stealing children and taking them to a mysterious house on Deadman’s Lane. With an eye on a good story, Christie sets out to investigate, but the house is not all it seems to be…

THE HOUSE THAT WASN’T THERE is book #2 in this historical adventure series.

Gregory’s review

This is the second book in the Christie McKinnon Adventures Series. The story is set in Edinburgh in Scotland in the 1890’s. The story starts with Jamie, a young boy of about eight years old, being told by his father that he is to be sent away for a while to stay in a home that looks after needy children. Jamie’s young  father is out of work and he has seen an advertisement for the home in the local paper. Jamie’s father thinks that it will be in the child’s best interests for Jamie to stay in the home until he finds work and is able to care for him properly again. Donal soon notices that Jamie hasn’t been seen in the village and when he enquires from his father where his is, Jamie’s father tells Donal that Jamie is ill in bed. Three days later when Jamie still has not made an appearance and his father is still claiming that he is ill, Donal decides to investigate. He goes into Jamie’s home while his father is out and discovers that Jamie is not in the house. Despite Christie’s father’s saying that they shouldn’t interfere if Jamie’s father wasn’t concerned, Donal and Christie decide to confront Jamie’s father to find out where he is. Jamie’s father eventually shows them the advertisement and tells them that he has sent Jamie away for a period. Donal is a bit suspicious of the advertisement and the circumstances and so the pair decide to investigate the postal box account stated in the advertisement which leads them to a very mysterious house.

The book was a bit slow starting but once it picked up it was really exciting and fast paced. Gregory really enjoyed this book. This book will appeal to readers aged 11 to 15 years old but it should be noted that the direct speech in the book is written in a Scottish dialect.

You can find Gregory’s review of The Hounds of Hellerby Hall, Book 1 in the Christie McKinnon Adventure Series here: https://wordpress.com/post/robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2433

Amazon review

Maria rated this book 5 out of 5 stars and said:

A brilliant follow on to Christie McKinnon’s first adventure in The Hounds of Hellerby Hall. Her friend Donal notices a local boy has gone missing and yet his father seems unconcerned. The two friends set off to investigate and find themselves in the centre of a whole heap of trouble.

Written for children, with dialogue in a Scottish brogue the story is fast paced and exciting. With close attention to details there is an authentic feel of Edinburgh in 1890 without detracting from the sense of adventure and suspense. Characters are clearly defined as heroes or villains. Arthur Conan Doyle makes a lovely cameo appearance as a friend of Christie’s father reinforcing the author’s distinctive style of writing and the time period.

Another great read. I’m looking forward to the release of the third book in the series.

About Colin Garrow

Colin Garrow grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland. He has worked in a plethora of professions including: taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor, and has occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. All Colin’s books are available as eBooks and most are also out in paperback, too.

His short stories have appeared in several literary mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, Word Bohemia, Every Day Fiction, The Grind, A3 Review, 1,000 Words, Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. He currently lives in a humble cottage in North East Scotland where he writes novels, stories, poems and the occasional song.

He also makes rather nice cakes.

Purchase Colin Garrow’s books

You can buy Colin’s books from Amazon. Colin’s Amazon author page is at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Colin-Garrow/e/B014Z5DZD4/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1484709098&sr=1-2-ent.

Follow Colin Garrow at:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14188500.Colin_Garrow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colingarrowthewriter/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/colingarrow?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Website: https://colingarrow.org/.

 

Robbie and Michael Cheadle are the co-authors of the Sir Chocolate Book series and Robbie Cheadle is the author of Silly Willy goes to Cape Town (coming soon)

Purchase Sir Chocolate at:
https://www.amazon.com/author/robbiecheadle
OR
http://tinyurl.com/zdokqjr (currently available at a discounted price)
Pre-order Silly Willy goes to Cape Town at:
http://tslbooks.uk/authors/robbie-and-michael-cheadle/
Follow Robbie Cheadle at:

Published by robbiesinspiration

Robbie and Michael Cheadle are co-authors of the Sir Chocolate series of books. We both like to write and bake.

18 thoughts on “#bookreview – The House That Wasn’t There by Colin Garrow”

  2. A great review. It captures the atmosphere of the story and builds up the anticipation in the plot and pace without any spoilers. Plus a recommendation for the audience it is written for… can’t get a higher recommendation .

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