Book Name
Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders (book 1 of 6)
Author
Kevin Sylvester
Book Description
Neil Flambé is a fourteen-year-old child who has the culinary skills of a cooking legend. He has his own restaurant and though sometimes he may have a bad attitude, it all pays off when he serves up amazing dishes and earns big money for each one. However, that’s not all Neil is. He’s also a top-notch detective and has helped the police in solving a lot of cases. However, when some of the best chefs in town start turning up dead, the police and Neil are baffled as to who the culprit could be. As more and more chefs die, Neil doesn’t understand what to do. But when the clues all make the suspect turn out to be Neil, he must quickly find the real criminal and save himself from a wrongful accusation.
Age Rating
10+
I think kids aged 10 and above can read this book because even though there is talk of murder, it is not described graphically. The book also uses a lot of history in it, and that actually taught me a lot of things that I didn’t know about. There is also a lot of mystery in it, and also a couple of funny parts that I think kids will enjoy. Although at the end of the book there is some violence with guns, I think kids aged 10 and above have the mental capacity to understand and not be scared of the scenes of violence.
Good Messages
4/10
Neil has a restaurant even though he’s just a kid, so that shows kids if they put their minds to it then they can do anything, but other than that, there really aren’t that many good messages.
Violence
8/10
There is a lot of violence in this book. It all about the murders of multiple chefs, and at the end, there is usage of guns, and some description of a gunshot wound.
Language
2/10
There aren’t that many bad words, just some like ‘crap’, and ‘shoot’ but nothing worse.
Romance
3/10
That’s because Neil does encounter a girl and he does begin to feel nervous around her and think that she is pretty, but nothing else really happens.
Tvix's Book Reviews 