If you're after a mystery series that has an hilarious main character, complete with endearing sidekick, then the Montgomery BonBon series is a must-read. A spoof of the famous Agatha Christie series, Poirot (I think it's even funnier for adults who are familiar with David Suchet's depiction of this astute detective), it follows a young girl with a mystery-solving alter-ego...

Bonnie Montgomery is a brilliant detective. But no one has a clue who she is because children can't be detectives...can they? Maybe not! But Montgomery BonBon can.

Disguised as a gentleman, complete with moutasche and hat, Bonnie looks nothing like a ten-year-old girl. Only her Grampa Banks knows her secret and, with his help, BonBon is on a mission to solve as many cases as possible...cases that have absolutely nothing to do with priceless artefacts and...onions.

This is a brilliantly written, laugh-out-loud series which combines murder with mayhem...bonkers mayhem. Bonnie's alter-ego, BonBon, will keep you giggling while the plots in both books will keep you guessing. Grampa is the perfect pairing for Bonnie and it is their relationship which gives both books real warmth and heart. We particularly enjoyed the setting of book two and the fact that it was even more bonkers than the first.

It's hard to talk too much about the stories without leaking spoilers. However, everything about the series oozes personality; from the larger than life characters to BonBon and Grampa's unusual set of wheels to the scenarios they find themselves in. We particularly loved the chapters where Bonnie was as stumped as we were and yet we knew the small details would lead her to the correct conclusion. Bonnie - or BonBon - should I say is endearing, charming, smart and one step ahead of the constabulary. You really don't want to miss her - er, him - in action.

The great undercover detective, Montgomery Bonbon, is back with another delightful mystery! Following on from the incredibly engaging Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum, we join Bonnie and her Grandpa Banks on holiday on Odde Island. But can a great detective ever really be on holiday?

Wherever Bonnie goes, mysteries aren’t far behind. News of a tragic accident at the lighthouse and the death of the lighthouse keeper means just one thing – her alter ego, Montogomery Bonbon is on the case.

There is much more going on than meets the eye in the unusual community of Odde Island (where onions are banned). An eccentric cast of characters, each with their own ambitions, lead Montgomery Bonbon and Banks on dangerous path. Bonbon is an expert at being nosey, pulling at loose ends, uncovering clues and identfying suspects. Readers will love solving the mystery right along with this charming pair.

Claire Powell’s illustrations bring so much personality to the characters and elevate Montgomery Bonbon from a brilliant mystery to an iconic character.

Find your beret, trench coat and false moustache and join Montogomery Bonbon on the next case!

Another fun and exciting mystery in the Montgomery Bonbon series. I feel like the series has bedded in with this addition. The characterisation is brilliant, Alasdair has created an original and intriguing cast of characters who you can't help but love. For me his voice is really compelling and it makes me want to read more in the series. Claire Powell's exquisite illustrations are wonderfully detailed and full of humour and mischief. It's always a thumbs up from me to see illustrations in middle grade books.

I really loved this as it was the perfect follow on from Alasdair Beckett-King's first Montgomery Bonbon novel. I loved the crime element and how its portrayed, it feels suspenseful without feeling silly or too dry. I thought the new characters that were introduced were really interesting and i love how Beckett-King writes them. I can't wait for more in this series.

My daughter and I loved the first adventure of Bonnie/Montgomery Bonbon, I thought it was a clever little locked room mystery for kids, as well as being the right level of witty and daft, and my daughter thought that it was great and that Alasdair Beckett-King was ACTUALLY HILARIOUS. We were therefore very excited to find out a sequel was due out - and it didn't disappoint.

This was more of the same - it's very silly (onion smuggling, crisp stamping, vegetables shaped like bums), but
very fun and yet clever enough to work as a mystery. It had us laughing but also had us guessing, a great combination.

We can't wait for the further adventures of Montgomery Bonbon!

The plot
Our story opens with Bonnie and Grampa Banks travelling from their hometown of Widdlington to Odde Island for a short half-term holiday and escape from detecting. Famed for its pageant (and banning of all things onion-based, including Cheese & Onion Crisps) and its windup lighthouse, it seems a perfect getaway. Nothing is likely to happen in the week they're away, right?

Oh, how wrong they were. Crossing the island's tidal causeway, they get stopped by the local exciseman and 'jobsworth', who insists they have to declare all things onion, by order of the Order of the Golden Fleece! Bonnie's cheese and onion puffs get flattened with a mallet, and Grandpa Banks is let off with a warning. It was, they thought, rather strange, but then this was Odde Island. They arrive at the famous Leerie Lighthouse only to find it closed after the keeper, Maude Cragge, was found dead, having been blown off the top of the lighthouse during the previous night's storm. Maude was also the 'Grand Maven' of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Not a lady that was liked by many, it seems. The 'Especial Constable' on the island thinks it was just a tragic accident, but something about the scene was amiss. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

Now, I don't know about you, but if there was a hint of something not quite right and I was a clued-up detective on holiday, I'd do precisely what Bonnie does and go about checking for clues to quell any suspicions. And then, all being fine, I'd go to the beach, build sandcastles, and eat tons of ice cream.

It's time for Montgomery Bonbon to start investigating! Bonnie enters the lighthouse in disguise and finds a dry, 'golden fleece' jacket. Well, it's more a parker than a fleece. Within a pocket, she finds an IOU to Maude from someone with the initial 'W'. Where there is evidence, there is a crime, and as Bonbon would say, "The game is afoot, mein ami."

The investigation that follows introduces Bonnie and Banks to all manner of locals. There's the smarmy owner of the past-its-best guest house they are staying at, Tobias Waterman. Down on her luck and short of a Manor House, Lady Wallop seems more than suspicious, especially when she was out the night Maude came a cropper and seemingly had no alibi! Then there's second in command to Maude, Reuben Ribble, who seems far too grumpy and keen for nobody to dig into his affairs.

And what about Maanvi Mallick, Odde Island's very own once-great reporter who's not below digging up the dirt and a bit extra for a good story and be noticed. As to Miss Bunch, she seems to have hidden something, or things, hiding in the school cellar. And then there is Dana Hornville, Bonnie's classmate, who just happens to have taken a cottage on the island with her mum. The thing is, Dana has discovered Bonnie's secret persona and might well spill the beans and ruin it all.

The following plot twist is when one of the prominent characters comes to a sudden demise, another tragic accident, that try as Bonbon might, he/she, cant make fit murder . . . . but those little grey cells, they are working.
Which is where we shall leave this review.

So, what did we think?
A superb and highly illustrated adventure that will capture the imagination. Fast-paced, there was never a dull page within the covers. The plot is a delight, simple but addictive.

Adults, who may 'accidentally' happen to pick this up thinking it's their latest John Le' Carrie or the Grisham they had wanted to read on the bus or train that morning, will be suitably amused.

Written by a renowned award-winning stand-up comedian, the text has a definite adult cheeky twist. No rude double-entendre, just skilful appropriate lateral wordplay and humour. Bonnie's misunderstanding of more adult phrases actually brings a genuineness to her alter-ego's persona, much like Poirrot's own, how you English say 'the grasp incomplete of the English, no?'.

Of course, having Bonbon mix German and French phrases is a brilliant ploy and adds to his character. Christie never overplayed Poirrot's quirks; thankfully, this does not happen here, either. Too much of that would be a turn-off, even for kids.

The plot, whilst a typical murder mystery, is skillfully wrapped up with a great setting and a string of dubious and fun/quirky characters who all could have done it. Only by chance did we guess the villain; even then, we weren't 100% right. In my experience, we seldom get the motives why folks do things. That was the same here, though there were clues.

So . . . . Crunch time.

Enquiring, fun-loving kids will love this well-written, easy-going, fast-paced series. This style of humour does it for us every time. Anything that can amuse Mrs H and me for a week or two during the stressful clatter of refurbishment works and even raise a smile and a chortle from Mrs H, having seen the debris and dust she had to clear up, is a winner. As Mrs H always says: "Money spent on an entertaining book is money and time well spent." Fostering good cheer, an inquiring mind, and active reading for later life is always a winner.

Montgomery Bonbon's second case is every bit as delightful as the first (to be honest, I think I even enjoyed it a little bit more). It's a tough call to craft a mystery that is both funny and coherent, but Beckett-King achieves it in charming style – and Claire Powell's illustrations are an equal delight. Part Agatha Christie, part Enid Blyton (now with smugglers) and maybe just a little bit The Wicker Man. Long may M. Bonbon's career continue, distinguished and exotic, and long may his identity remain les groß mysterioux.

The first book in this series was an amusing tale, a bit silly but well written and enjoyable. This book was ok, but I didn't feel it had quite the same charm to it as the first. The story itself was interesting, and I wanted to know what happened, but I didn't find it quite as funny or exciting. It's a decent read, and i think a lot of kids will enjoy it. I did still enjoy it to an extent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Walker Books for allowing me to read an ARC.

Hooray, a second adventure for the world's greatest sleuth, Monsieur Montgomery Bonbon! In this new case, Bonnie and Grandpa Banks head to Odde Island for a much needed holiday, but, of course, there is no time for sandcastle building and eating ice creams when you're a private detective. Not when there's a murder to be solved and not a competent adult to be....well, there are no competent adults in Bonnie's world, although Grandpa Banks does have his hero moment. It's well deserved, old man.

The cheery wit and humour are just as strong here as they were in the first book - plenty of good puns - creating a charming and fun world that just happens to be filled with murder and mystery that will keep readers guessing and wanting more. Building on those strengths, it was great to have Bonnie's friend, Dana, come back as a second assistant and to see their friendship evolve a little more. There was also more melodrama, with the denouement happening at the top of the lighthouse in a thunderstorm with Montgomery facing some danger.

Claire Powell's energetic illustrations brings each character to life and help the reader to make sense of all those vital clues.

I wish we had these books when I was young!

Fantastic to see the return of this fiendishly clever young detective and her alter-ego. What was intended to be a relaxing holiday on a small island, with her grandfather, takes a turn for the worse when the body of the lighthouse keeper is found below the tower. Can Montgomery Bonbon solve the mystery? Hang on to your moustaches as we find out.

I find these mysteries absolutely brilliant. Filled with excellent one liners, jokes that you need to read twice to get the full humour and characters who roll off the page.

Montgomery Bonbon is the foreign detective who often finds himself in the right place at the murderous time. With Grampa Banks along as a trusty camera toting sidekick, the pair embark on a holiday on Odde Island. Actually Bonnie had intended to leave the yellow bag containing Bonbon at home so she could holiday with her grandpa but upon arriving, they discover the news of a murder at the Leerie Lighthouse.

With Dana Hornville also visiting the island, Bonnie must try to navigate friendship, and two parts of herself. Meeting the “odd” characters who call the onion-banned island home is a fascinating glimpse into island life. They are eccentric, odd and well written. This book offers an exceptional opportunity to create some fantastic voices in a read aloud.

With two murders to solve, Bonbon thinks he has it just right only for that thread to disappear and the true culprit to be revealed to the shock of the reader! Plenty of plot twists and turns in this story!

I love that Bonnie and her Grampa have such a unique and loving relationship and I love her determination to be both Bonnie and Bonbon, not to mention pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes!

A superb mystery and the promise of more to come makes me very happy!

There has been a huge increase in murder mysteries for young readers over the past few years, featuring a wide range of child detectives, but none has been quite like Montgomery Bonbon. The alter-ego of 10-year-old Bonnie Montgomery, we were introduced to him earlier this year in Murder at the Museum – an enormously fun and quirky read that delighted many of us – and in this, his second outing, fans will be delighted to see that he and his sidekick (Grampa) Banks are as wonderful and eccentric a pairing as before.

Travelling to their destination in Grampa’s old ice cream van, Bessie, Bonnie reflects on the difficulties of being a detective making it almost impossible to go on holiday but is hopeful that this trip away to Odde Island will be more successful than their previous breaks. Approaching the island along the causeway that is only accessible during low tide, an excited Grampa tells Bonnie about the forthcoming pageant and his expectations of a murder-free week away, while her thoughts drift to the Montgomery Bonbon disguise she has packed just in case.

Forced to stop suddenly by a barrier crashing down in front of them, Bonnie and Grampa are approached by a man from the Odde Island Excise House, who welcomes them before asking them if they are trying to smuggle forbidden items onto the island. Once satisfied that they are visiting on legitimate holidaying business, they are allowed to pass and head to the bed and breakfast where they are to stay. Before they arrive, however, Grampa spots a sign telling its readers that tourist attraction the Leerie Lighthouse is closed. When they bump into local Especial Constable Roz, the volunteer police officer confirms that it is completely closed to the public – something understandable under the circumstances.

Telling them about an accident that has happened the previous night during a storm, Ros reveals that the lighthouse keeper was found dead after accidentally falling from the top of the lighthouse. When Grampa expresses his sympathy, it is clear that the keeper was not well liked and after Bonnie reveals she has brought her detective kit with her, the pair of them decide to investigate. Very soon, they suspect foul play and Montgomery Bonbon finds himself with a case to solve. When a second murder takes place, it is clear that something is going on but what? Can our hero get to the root of the problem and discover exactly what it is before a third murder takes place?

In common with Book 1, the story is full of off-the-wall humour and quite spectacular silliness at times, with possibly the silliest thing being everyone around Montgomery Bonbon being utterly unable to see through his disguise. Not only is he the height of a 10-year-old girl but his moustache is not always reliable and his bizarre tendency to pepper his speech with foreign words – frequently combining French and German with English in a very unusual hybrid – seems always to pass without comment. This is, of course, all part of the fun and for any adult reading this aloud, doing the voices – such a key part of any read aloud – would add enormously to both the reader and to the audience’s enjoyment.

As before, accompanying the author’s thoroughly bonkers text are the brilliant illustrations of Claire Powell, which match the humour of the book wonderfully well. Perfect for confident readers in Year 4 upwards, it’s really lovely to see a book with so many pictures in it aimed at the top end of primary school; this, coupled with the book’s relatively short length of 304 pages, will make this a really tempting read for many young readers. I should also add that if you have not read the first title, this works very well as a standalone but if you do choose to plunge straight in with this one, you will definitely want to go back for Murder at the Museum.

With promises of a Book 3 at the back of the book to look forward to, this is a great series for anyone looking for something funny and silly but that does not talk down to the reader. As always, my enormous thanks go to publisher Walker Books and to Net Galley for my advance, virtual read. Death at the Lighthouse publishes 5th October.

Montgomery Bonbon and ABK have struck again with another hilarious crime-solving mystery. I didnt think Alasdair's writing could get any funnier but somehow he did. The Montgomery Bonbon series is such a brilliantly comical series that I genuinely believe is equally enjoyable for both middle grade readers and adults alike. Also who doesn't love a locked-room mystery that is super satisfying to try and solve. 5-stars easy!

The writing is very accessible to students and the illustration is adorable. Sometimes detective stories for children may come across as being a bit bland, but this one is definitely a fun-filled read.

From the moment I opened the book I couldn’t stop smiling. I fell in love with the writing style straight away – quirky, humorous and light hearted with some tier two vocabulary thrown in here and there that the children may not know but the meanings of which can be easily deduced.
 
The illustrations bring the story to life, I’d pause at each one, carefully inspecting all the details, wondering if I’d find any clues that would give away the answers to murder mysteries. The characters’ names are well thought out and a great discussion can be centred around their name choices.
 
Bonnie, otherwise known as Bonbon, is looking forward to her holiday on Odde Island, hoping to finally get away and have a break from solving murder mystery cases but, of course, as fate has it, it’s not going to happen. Her granpa is hoping to visit the Leerie Lighthouse but, alas, that’s where the murder takes place. Montgomery Bonbon springs into action and with the two loyal assistants by his side (the second one is recruited a little later along the way) and starts working on the case (and a little later cases).  Will he be able to solve both murder mysteries?
 
I did not solve the cases! Well done to the author – the mysteries remained such right until the end and if I had the paper book at hand I’d probably be very much tempted to just flick through the last few pages to peek at the clues. The ending is tense and suspenseful – I was so rooting for Bonbon & Dana deep inside.
 
I am now looking forward to the next book.