I first became aware of M G Leonard through her Adventures on Trains series of books, each of which is set on a different famous train and features the young hero and his uncle solving crimes which have taken place on the train. (Clearly, train travel is much more dangerous than I'd realised...) One of my grandsons is a huge fan of trains, so this series was ideal for him - and it's great fun, so I enjoyed it too.
So I was interested to hear of M G's new series, which features time travel. Sim discovers that his mother, Callidora, can travel through time - and place - by opening special doors, which Callidora does by means of playing a tune. Sim and Callidora live next to Sir John Soane's house, and the first time that Sim becomes aware of these doors and his mother's ability to open them, they go into the past to meet Sir John - and to hide from dangerous hunters sent by a body called the Council.
In their flight from the hunters, Sim and his mum go to seek shelter with Sim's uncle, Emmet, and Sim meets his cousin, Jeopardy, for the first time. The hunters are searching for a magical amulet, the Golden Scarab, which is said to be able to prolong youth, and Callidora is determined to stop them from finding it. It belongs to an ancient Egyptian queen - so the action moves to Egypt and the pyramids.
It's an exciting story, full of colour and interest. The characters are vivid, energetic and resourceful: M G has created a likeable 'gang', which I'm convinced is one of the main things you need if you're going to write a series which will collect a band of loyal readers: and the set-up enables her in future books to take her characters wherever, and whenever, she likes. It's very enjoyable, and I'm sure it will find lots of enthusiastic readers.
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