Thank you so much to Pushkin Children’s and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Fayson is going back to the island with plans on bringing Tia back into the group but no one else wants her. Then she’s receiving threatening notes with her deepest secrets. Mrs. Hammond gives them a fun case to solve of the haunted wardrobe in her cellar.

What a really fun second mystery in the series, I really enjoyed following along with Di Island Crew for their second case. I really enjoyed the way that the whole mystery was set up, all of them thinking it was a ghost that was haunting the wardrobe and it was really fun seeing trying to figure it all out. I loved Mrs. Hammond. She was so strange and suspicions from the start and I loved the addition of her she was so much fun.

The threatening notes was an interesting side story, with the kids all getting secret notes about their biggest secrets, that was a good extra mystery to solve. I personally solved it from the start but it was still really fun seeing it unravelling.

I found Omar was pretty rude through most of this story which I didn’t really like, the first rule of the crew was no bullying but that seemed to not apply to him. I liked that we eventually see a different side of Tia and that due to Fayson’s mama sharing a nice lesson with her she was able to understand a different side of her and include her.

I really enjoyed reading another really fun mystery with Di island crew, such wonderful stories and I love that each book the kids get closer and closer and find another really fun mystery to do together. I do recommend this book series they are such fun easy and enjoyable mysteries to read.

Young readers are being spoiled currently with not just some great books being written for them, but some great series. Some adults might not recognise this as important, but it really is – once a child is hooked on a particular author, they will often go on to read a complete sequence of books, other titles by the same writer or similar reads once their appetite has been whetted and this new read by Kereen Getten is one that I couldn’t resist requesting from Net Galley having loved Book 1 when it was released earlier this year.

Gentle and great fun, these are mysteries that are ideal for younger readers – short, beautifully illustrated and absolutely relatable with their realistic characters, including protagonist Fayson who children will really take to as she tries her best to settle into the first friendship group she has ever been part of and faces all of the fears that that brings while remaining true to herself.

Since her first visit to Lighthouse Island, and her acceptance into Di Island Crew, Fayson has been longing to return and her opportunity comes when her cousin Aaron invites her to stay with his family again during the winter break. Collected by him together with her uncle and aunt and Aaron’s brother Omar, it is not long before Fayson finds herself back in their luxurious apartment and itching to get the gang back together to share with them some ideas she has had.

When the chance presents itself, the group assemble in their den and discuss Fayson’s ideas, including alerting the island’s residents to their mystery-solving skills, and fellow club member Ace produces some flyers which are soon distributed to the locals to broadcast their availability. It is not long before they have their first case to solve when elderly widow Mrs Hammond asks them to investigate the spooky noises coming from a wardrobe in her basement, which she believes is haunted.

Excited at the prospect of their first case, Fayson’s joy is squashed when she receives an anonymous note threatening to reveal her biggest secret to her new friends and very soon she discovers that the other members of the crew have been sent them too. Now unsure if she can trust the rest of the group, can they all work together to solve both mysteries? And can Fayson once again prove she deserves to be part of Di Island Crew?

Having struggled to make and keep friends for most of her short life, being accepted by the others is constantly at the back of Fayson’s mind. Where some children would try to shape themselves to fit in with the rest of the group, Fayson tries her hardest to present her ideas to the others in a thoughtful, considerate manner and is prepared to compromise along the way – something that many children struggle with. Although her home life is less flashy in comparison with her much better-off cousins’, her mother has brought her up to be respectful and kind and there is a very clear message here to young readers that it is not what you have but how you treat others that is important in life.

A wonderful story for lower KS2, this is a book that will also be very popular with those readers in Years 5 and 6 who are less confident than their peers, or lack the stamina for longer middle grade reads, and is perfect for those who enjoy Jo Clarke’s Travelling School Mysteries or Sarah Todd-Taylor’s Alice Eclair series. I very much enjoyed it and am looking forward to Book 3, The Case of the Abandoned Boat, which publishes 1st February next year.

Before then, my enormous thanks must go to Pushkin Press and to Net Galley for my advance virtual read of this title. The Case of the Haunted Wardrobe publishes 5th October.

This one has a rather slow beginning and as I have not read "The Case of the Lighthouse Intruder", I found it hard to understand parts of the story. It is very well-written but I think I will need to read the first book in the series before I read this one.

I haven't read any of Kereen Getten's books before but I really enjoyed this! Especially seeing the friendships develop throughout the mystery.