The Elemental Detectives: the first book in a cracking adventure series

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I didn't think I'd ever relive the first read experience of series like Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising, atmospheric, creepy, wonderful, and this book took me to a place I didn't think was possible as an adult reader. An investigation into everyday objects and the elements from which they are composed would be an interesting side-line study to accompany this book. p. 3-4) This is what I’d like to see more of – if there are elemental spirits, they probably interacted with human history! Author of the well-loved YA novel Eight Pieces of Silva (2021, Hachette) and Children’s and YA Jhalak Prize winner Patrice Lawrence offers readers a new, middle grade fiction series published by Scholastic UK– The Elemental Detectives.

The mystery of what’s going on and who’s behind the sleeping sickness was a good one, with a satisfying villain. Really good portrayal of 18th century London; a real grasp of the limitations of class, race and gender; brilliant use of the elemental/river stories; and an adventure which took us round the city.Welcome to eighteenth-century London, where there are four Elemental spirits that most humans know nothing about: the fiery Dragons, airy Fumis, earthbound Magogs and the watery Chads. As with her other books, Lawrence has created caring, sensitive and self-aware protagonists of colour in the Elemental Detectives. It beggars belief that there are so many rich people with no one to miss – and this gaping plot hole often took me out of the story when it was mentioned. Instead, it just seems to be the real Georgian London… only with a bunch of spirits lurking around corners. Event when things go wrong for Marisee and Robert, hope springs forward in different forms, driving them forward.

Plus, the 'finish' is wonderful: an illustrated map of London landmarks leads you in; backnotes include: factual sources; a breakdown of those Elements; a note on the real Jonathan Strong; a pickle of a riddle.Mortality was a problem not exclusive to the poor in the 1700s – disease, war, and childbirth were all to perilous even for the moneyed classes. Unfortunately, this book barely examined the idea of how this world is different from our own based on these elemental spirits. Marisee and her Grandma are the only ones who really know about the Elementals, and she acts as a “chosen one” bridge between the two worlds. Instead, Robert's potential was wasted by a cluttered book that never really seemed to know what kind of book it wanted to be.

I think this book could have used some more rounds of edits for clarity and precision — it was confusing where characters were and how they got there sometimes. The Elementals, however, have become increasingly displeased from the years of pollution and lack of care from the ‘Solids’ (humans who live in this world). The themes of race and class also weave through the novel providing stimulating points for discussion as the action unfolds from the perspective of the two young protagonists.This one is a bit baffling: there are two names used in this book that are the names of real historical characters, but they aren't those characters.

The climax of this was super enthralling too, and I’m most definitely going to be continuing in the series. Patrice Lawrence is the multi-award-winning author of Orangeboy, which won the 2017 Waterstone’s Book Prize, the 2017 YA Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2017 Costa Book Awards and the Carnegie Award.I'm disappointed, because a magical story set in historical London should have been right up my street. a genuinely creepy villain in the form of a rusty-round the-edges Bo Peep (steel yourself for her lullaby earworm); Turnbell-of-Turnbill-Brook performed by a woman in breeches and waistcoat. Marisee and Robert are the Elemental Detectives chasing the clues to avoid catastrophe: they must face the ghosts of Hyde Park, the monstrous coiled snake of the Serpentine, and a whole host of other fantastical creatures in their mission to stop the Shepherdess and prevent London slumbering for all eternity… Big, bold, future classic storytelling for a new generation.