The Secret of Rangar's Gold

When Joe's dad gets the chance to spend half-term in a castle, Joe is absolutely thrilled; however his mum has other ideas.  Determined not to spend the week at home with his nan, Joe calls the rest of the After-School Detective Club and invites them to join him (forgetting to tell them the small detail that there will be no grown-ups).  Soon Joe, Charlie, Max, Lucy and Sherlock the dog are living out their childhood fantasies in the castle, with swords and four-poster beds to keep them entertained.  It isn't long before they uncover a box containing a gold coin which leads them to investigate the origins of the coin and the legend of the treasure of Rangar the Viking. But danger lurks around the corner and there's a demon hound on their trail - can the team get to the bottom of the mystery?

This is the second book in the After-School Detective Club series and, after the first book, I was very excited to dive into this.  It was great to be back with the team and I was thrilled to see the relationship between them developing further as the book progressed; they are a team that you find yourself routing for very quickly and become invested in their journey.  It is Joe who leads the team to the castle, lying to everyone to make sure they have their half-term adventure (lying sounds harsh when I write it here; when you read it, it definitely feels more like bending the truth or simply eliminating some of the facts).  The team are an independent crew and, between them, they are self-sufficient in the castle - I can imagine many children who read the book will imagine themselves in a similar scenario.  

As the mystery unfolds, the adventure picks up and I found myself unable to put the book down.  The nearby forest and the local church, as well as the castle, help to create an eeriness to the plot that I enjoyed and would make a perfect read as the nights draw in.  With twists that will keep you guessing and illustrations to add to the excitement, this is a brilliant second book in the series and I can't wait to see what they get up to in They Mystery of the Marshes - I'm just not certain I can wait until January to read it!