The Swallowtail Legacy – Wreck at Ada’s Reef

Michael D. Beil's Wreck at Ada's Reef is a Swallowtail Legacy mystery for 9 year olds about an old speedboat crash that might not have been an accident.

What happens

Lark has just turned twelve. She and her little sister Pip are spending the summer holidays on Swallowtail Island in Lake Erie, in the house where their mum spent her summers as a girl. The house now belongs to the two of them.

It's a lovely place. No cars, just bikes, golf carts and horses and buggies (Pip is beside herself about the horses). But their mum died three months ago, and coming back without her is hard. Lark nearly expects to find her sitting up in bed with a book.

On the first morning, Lark spots a newspaper story in the drugstore window. Seventy-five years ago, a man was killed when his speedboat hit the rocks at Ada's Reef. The writer thinks it was no accident. She's Nadine, their mum's oldest friend, and the dead man was her grandfather. Before long Nadine has hired Lark to help with her research.

Then there's the odd little silver swallow Lark finds hidden on a mobile in her bedroom...

Lark tells the story herself, and she's brilliant. She's sharp, observant and very dry. She's promised to be honest, but that doesn't mean she'll tell you everything! You get her eye-rolls at her stepdad's Aristotle quotes, and the moments she has to sit down because the house is too full of memories.

There's a lot of warmth too. Pip is sweet and horse mad. Lark's budgie Bedlam shouts OUTRAGEOUS. And her stepdad Thomas really is trying (she'll admit it, eventually).

It's good to know that grief runs right through this one. Lark's dad died when she was five, and her stepbrothers have lost their mum too. All of this happened before the book starts, but the sadness is right there on the page. For a child who's lost someone recently, it could be a lot. For a reader who likes a mystery with real feelings in it, it's lovely.

What to read next

If they'd like another nearly twelve-year-old with a family puzzle and an ache she can't shake, try The Key to Extraordinary. Emma lives above her family's bakery, right on the edge of an old graveyard.