Poppy Fields Series

Mondays are for Murder

Dead Funny

by Tanya Landman

Walker Books. Crime, Mystery, Junior, Young Adult. Paperback rrp $12.95 each

Guest Reviewer - Jo Burnell

I'm a sucker for a short easy read, but I made a huge mistake with the Poppy Fields Series. The brightly coloured covers made me think ‘light’ and ‘humorous’, but the first page of each quickly shattered any misconceptions. The contents of both are dead serious, no pun intended. Anyone who likes a bit of blood pumping suspense will enjoy these, but you need to be able to stomach a bit of the gruesome.

Poppy Fields is an ordinary girl whose hobby is slightly unusual. She loves piecing together clues from people’s clothing and behaviour to develop theories about their character. She never imagined how useful (or dangerous) this past time would be.

Mondays are Murder sees Poppy heading for a free holiday on a remote Scottish Island. The new resort there wants to test its activities and services on a group of teenagers before opening its doors to paying customers. After the series of sudden deaths that this small bunch witness, it’s anyone’s guess whether there will be anyone left alive to run the resort. Will the kids be targets too? What is the link between these weird homicides? Is it possible that a ghost could wreak such havoc? Poppy doesn’t think so.

Dead Funny - After surviving the terrors of being cut off from the world in Scotland, Poppy heads for America with her Mum. The excitement of being commissioned to create an authentic English garden on a famous star’s estate is short-lived. So is Baby Sugarcandy – short-lived, that is.

Only Poppy and her faithful sidekick Graham see anything suspicious in the star’s fatal fall. Is it the wet hair on an otherwise immaculately dressed victim or the smell of bleach? The deaths that follow get weirder, as must be the mind behind them.

If you like murder mysteries, then you’ll love the Poppy Fields short reads. Although offered for 9 to 12 year olds, the fatal themes tend to suggest a slightly older readership (13+) or those with stronger stomachs. I’m glad I was lured by the bright covers.