The cover of Dead Man's Cove, the first of the Laura Marlin Mysteries, has a snippet from a review, proclaiming that the book will delight Enid Blyton fans. And so, even though I read the second book, Kidnap in the Caribbean, some time ago, I began this one with different expectations. The most wonderful part was that those expectations were met.As a child, I was convinced that smugglers were exciting. Anyone who has read Five Go to Smuggler's Top and The Secret of Spiggy Holes will, I think, have similar responses. Ooh! Smugglers! What fun! Smugglers, for me, were equated with adventure. Even when people spoke to me of binoculars and cameras being smuggled into India, I had the same kind of starry-eyed reaction.As a child who lived vicariously through books, Enid Blyton's stories came with a sense of security. … [Read more...]