Violet and the Mummy Mystery

Harriet Whitehorn's Violet and the Mummy Mystery is a cosy London detective story for 7 year olds, with a missing mummy and a VERY naughty cousin.

What happens

Violet Remy-Robinson loves a mystery. She also loves Ancient Egypt, so this one is right up her street. Her Aunt Matilde is an Egyptologist, over from Cairo to study a mummy at the British Museum. She thinks it might point the way to Queen Nefertiti's long-lost tomb.

Along comes Agnes. Violet's cousin speaks three languages, says she's a black belt in kung fu and loves a practical joke. She also carries a pet rat called Mr Ratty in a bag wherever she goes. (He has a thing for noses.)

Agnes's first day at Violet's school is told hour by hour, as one teacher after another loses patience. It's very funny. Violet's best friend Rose is not impressed at all!

Then the mummy disappears from a locked room overnight. Only a handful of people have keys. There's rude Professor Petit, who has spent twenty years hunting for that tomb himself. There's the charming new head of the museum. There's the woman in charge of the back rooms, and a pair of twin security guards.

Violet, Rose, Art and Agnes get to work with notebooks, a crime-solving matrix and a fair bit of sneaking about. Their friend PC Green has just written a bestselling book about solving crime, which is funny if you've ever seen him at work.

What makes it such a treat is the voice. The narrator chats to you directly, a bit like an old-fashioned storyteller, and the grown-ups are wonderfully silly. It's far more funny than frightening, which makes it a lovely pick for a child who wants a puzzle without the scares.

There's plenty of real Egypt tucked in too. Canopic jars, shabtis, hieroglyphs painted on a coffin. A child who's done Ancient Egypt at school will feel very clever indeed.

What to read next

This isn't Violet's first case, and the friends mention an earlier one involving smugglers in Italy. If your reader wants to go back for it, Violet and the Smugglers is in the library too, with Violet and Art setting off on a sailing trip with her godfather Johnny.