This fun, British girl-detective escapade offers eccentric characters, snooping, danger and cookery for the middle-school crowd.

Young Beatrice lives for cooking, holding imaginary conversations with her favorite famous chef when she’s trying to solve a problem. Uprooted to a tiny seaside village when her father loses his job, her family moves in with her colorful, elderly “Aunt” Maud, a nicely drawn character who adds some zip to the narrative—as does a quirky librarian. When Beatrice drops a centuries-old cookbook given to her by Maud, she discovers within it obscure poems that she thinks are clues to an old mystery. Teaming up with three local kids, Beatrice sets off to hunt for evidence. Clues lead them to the powerful family that owns the town, and into contention with some standard-issue bullies. Beatrice then enters the “Fearsome Feast,” a contest to produce a truly inedible dish, and she gains access to the manor house with a hilarious, gag-inducing creation. Maud joins her, and the two end up in a cliffhanger battle against conventional baddies.

Entertaining—this may appeal to fans who like their mysteries unsullied by elements of fantasy. (Fiction. 10-12)

Posted on Wednesday 02 of May, 2007 [16:57:23 UTC]

I really liked "Beatrice Beecham's Fearsome Feast." I had a hard time laying this book down until I was finished with it. I was sad to see the book come to a close but I was happy with its ending. I hope Dave Jeffery writes more books like this.

Brianne Plach (age 9) for Reader Views.

Posted on Monday 09 of April, 2007 [09:34:20 UTC]

What a wondrous beginning. There's an exhilarating account of an ancient ship wreck, then we flash forward as an eccentric father who's lost his job, his wife, a younger brother absorbed in sci-fi technology and the brainy narrator who hears voices of—this is too brilliant for words—popular TV chefs make their way to the house of a strange aunt in the costal village of Dorsal Finn. This combination of traditional bedtime-story elements and contemporary references to cell phones, I-Pods, Star Wars and Harry Potter will make children (7 through early teens), their parents and even grandparents feel comfortably at home.

But there's adventure afoot: treasure with anagram clues, villains (including the notorious Chorley brothers), reenactment of an historic masque (shades of Edgar Allan Poe), a past murder uncovered and, last but not least, the "fearsome feast" in which entrants concoct hideous entrees (the one that can't be eaten by the notorious Vladimir Karlof wins). "A tale's not worth tellin' if it's not told right!" proclaims Aunt Maud. And this one abounds in treasures of its own. For example, the Aunt's little comments "…she's as reliable as a one handed alarm clock" and unobtrusive bits of psychological insight— when Beatrice feels like a stranger in her new bedroom, Aunt Maud tells her about her own experience as a child in a strange bedroom when she was transported into the country during the bombing of London during World War II, "But I think the real reason I didn't want it to be mine. I was scared that if I accepted it then I would never see the world I knew ever again."

There are four very short surreal chapters from a second person point of view that may be confusing to young readers since we don't know who the "you" is and the cinematic ending seems unnecessarily complicated to me. But overall this is a great feast with course after course of satisfying dishes. It is the book as treasure hunt. Or like Aunt Maud would say, a story that "fills the coal scuttle."

Rating: 'Excellent!'

John Lehman, Bookreview.com

Posted on Friday 09 of March, 2007 [22:03:52 UTC]

Welcome members of the press and media. Also a big 'hello' to friends and supporters.

I'm pleased to announce that Beatrice Beecham's Fearsome Feast is now available for purchase from the Lulu site. Just click the book cover icon to your right. It will also be available on other distuibution sites over the coming weeks, including Amazon.Com and Barnes and Noble.

Also I'm happy to talk to anyone genuinely interested in the book, how it came about and what the future holds for Beatrice. Others may be interested in my podcast interview due to be released over the coming week. In the meantime here is a link to an interview on the Page One Literary Website:

http://www.pageonelit.com/interviews/DaveJeffery.html

Just leave me a message and I'll get back to you.

Thank you so much for your interest. It is very much appreciated. Can I also remind you that by purchasing a copy of this book you also make a contirbution to Comic Relief UK. I thank you on their behalf.


Kind Regards

Dave Jeffery