A Raven Mystery-teaser

Tonight I picked up one of the books I got when I was in London. This one is a book for younger readers aging 8 to 12 or thereabouts, but the hilarious characters and the quirkiness of it got me really enjoying it.

The storyteller is an old, curious and intelligent raven - who for obvious reasons is having troubles communicating the dangers that lurk around the castle to everyone living there (and who are not quite normal people, mind you). As you well can imagine this leads to funny situations...and a lot of flapping and stalking about.

The raven refers to himself as "my feathery self" and flicks his beak to convey self-composure and elegance when he is rather in fact a bit unsteady at times due to either clumsiness or his old age. I really cannot be sure. He notoriously breaks out of his cage. He has a weekness for the girl of the house - perhaps due to her black hair which reminds him of his late mrs. At one point he applauds himself when he lands on the back of a chair "at only [his] second attempt" after swooping across a hall! The bird even has a sassy tongue (or sassy thoughts, rather) with opinions and contemplations to complete the picture you just have to love.

Now, over to my teaser:

" Castle Otherhand is home to all sorts of oddballs, lunatics and fruitcakes. It's just as well for all of them that they have a secret weapon: he's called Edgar. " 

Flood and Fang by Marcus Sedgwick

I have not yet finished the book, but it is an easy read. It even contains little illustrations of the raven and the things he gets up to. All in all, this book is well worth your time - and if you happen to have a child I am sure he or she would love sharing it with you. Perhaps this is a perfect read-aloud?


More teasers:
Flukten fra virkeligheten
Should Be Reading