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BookBrowse Reviews Down The Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams

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Down The Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams

Down The Rabbit Hole

An Echo Falls Mystery

by Peter Abrahams
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  • First Published:
  • Apr 1, 2005, 384 pages
  • Paperback:
  • May 2006, 448 pages
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BookBrowse:


One walloping good suspense yarn. Children Aged 10+

From the book jacket: Ingrid is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or at least her shoes are. Getting them back means getting involved in a murder investigation rivaling those solved by her idol, Sherlock Holmes, and Ingrid has enough on her plate with club soccer, school, and the plum role of Alice in the Echo Falls production of Alice in Wonderland. But much as in Alice's adventures down the rabbit hole, things in Ingrid's small town keep getting curiouser and curiouser.... Echo Falls has turned into a nightmare, and Ingrid is determined to wake up. Edgar Award–nominated novelist Peter Abrahams builds suspense as a smart young girl finds that her small town isn't nearly as safe as it seems.

Comment: This is a great choice for children and young teens who enjoy good mysteries, and especially by those who are sufficiently well-read to pick up on the literary allusions.

The second in the Echo Falls series, Behind The Curtain, was published a couple of weeks ago.  Ingrid and her friends are involved in a production of The Wizard of Oz, but things seem to be a bit off kilter in Echo Falls - her dad's job is in jeopardy and her brother is getting really buff but Ingrid wonders if there's more to his physical fitness than lifting weights. Meanwhile, Ingrid's beloved soccer coach is replaced by an icy newcomer and one morning she's kidnapped on her way to school, but even if she escapes, will anyone believe her story?

"Deft use of literary allusions and ironic humor add further touches of class to a topnotch mystery. Grades 6-9." - School Library Journal.

'Readers who stick with this intelligent, if overstuffed novel will be clamoring for answers - and more of Ingrid. Ages 10+". - Publishers Weekly.

Stephen King claims Abrahams as his "favorite suspense novelist" and describes Down The Rabbit Hole as "one walloping good suspense yarn".

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in May 2005, and has been updated for the May 2006 edition. Click here to go to this issue.

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Read-Alikes

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