The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

Volume XXV / Issue 13 - November 30 / 2018
The Secret of White Stone Gate
The Secret of White Stone Gate
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The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

Author: 
Julia Nobel
Series: 
Order of Black Hollow Lane
Book 1
Julia Nobel Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books), March, 2019
305 pp., hardcover, $23.99
ISBN: 
978-1492664642
Grades: 
3-6
Ages: 
8-11
Review by: 
Tara Stieglitz (Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy)
4
Excerpt: 

Jack was standing at a glass display case, staring at all the artifacts. Emmy peered inside. Some of the objects were so old she didn’t even know what they were. She was about to walk away when she saw an old letter at the very end of the case. She looked closely at the smudged writing. Maybe it was sent by a king or some other powerful figure.

Then she saw the signature. An icy chill inched down her spine, freezing her on the stone floor.

“What are you looking at?” Lola asked.

Emmy didn’t say anything. She couldn’t say anything.
“Hey, what’s up with you?” Lola asked.

“Master Barlowe,” Emmy finally said, “why is this letter here?” Her voice sounded strange to her, like someone was grasping at her throat.

“It was found during an early twentieth century restoration,” Barlowe explained. “It’s dated 1808, so the school wanted to preserve it.”

“And the signature,” she said, “does anyone know who that is?”

Barlowe looked at it and waved his hand dismissively. “Just a random student or teacher, I’m sure. Now, have a look at this copper shard. He steered everyone to the other side of the display case. “It’s from an Anglo-Saxon shield….”

Emmy stopped listening. There was nothing random about this signature. She’d seen it before.

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane is the first of a planned series of novels by Julia Nobel, and it get the series off to a strong start. The novel follows Emmy as she is sent to a private boarding school in England so that her child psychologist mother can devote herself full time to the filming of a reality television show. When Emmy arrives at Wellsworth, she finds a school that is steeped in history and housed in 1000-year-old buildings that were formerly part of an abbey. Emmy soon meets her roommate, whom she dislikes, and a pair of other students who quickly become her best friends. Along with the normal challenges of arriving at a new school, Emmy is also trying to puzzle out mysterious letters she has been receiving that provide hints about her father who disappeared when she was three years old. As Emmy begins to get to know the school, she uncovers connections between the school, a sinister secret society, and her father’s disappearance. With the help of her friends, Emmy begins to investigate.

While there is an abundance of young adult novels that feature distant parents and English boarding school settings, The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane is not formulaic or tired. The characters are fresh and appealing, and the mediaeval history of England and its churches is incorporated into the plot in an interesting way that leaves the reader intrigued. The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane is suspenseful and atmospherically creepy full of cryptic notes, secret doors, and suspicious characters. This novel is an excellent choice for fans of suspenseful mysteries and will leave readers waiting impatiently for the sequels.

Highly Recommended
Reviewer: 

Tara Stieglitz is a librarian at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.