About the Author:
Betsy Byars has written many popular and awardwinning books, including The Summer of the Swans (1971 Newbery Medal winner), Keeper of the Doves, the Bingo Brown books, the Ant easy-to-reads, and many other novels. She lives in South Carolina.
From School Library Journal:
Grade 4-6–In this fast-paced, entertaining tale, Herculeah Jones and her friend Meat think that mystery writer and magician Mathias King could be a murderer. They meet him at the secondhand store where he gets the weapons he uses in his stories. To demonstrate one of his many skills, he lassoes Meat around the neck with a silk cord. But in no time this King of Murder is after Herculeah. She discovers that he's described a crime in A Slash of Life with accurate detail, according to Gilda, the elderly friend of the victim. Herculeah is invited to a tea party at King's Den of Iniquity, where she ends up kicking through a false wall to escape after being drugged by scented candles. But the real danger comes later when she revisits King's house with Gilda. With its twisty conclusion and short, exciting chapters, this story will grab even reluctant readers. The plot and the characters are well developed, especially the sweet and mild Meat as he sorts out his feelings about his best friend.–Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
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