Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head
By: Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester
Rating: 5 of 5
“Curiosity House – The Shrunken Head” is the beginning of a new series by Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester. In the story, four children with unusual talents try to solve an ever increasing number of murders and other crimes. The kids, who live at The Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders, use their abilities in solving the the crimes. There are many red-herrings which add even more to the solution as you, as the reader, are pulled this way and that.
There were certainly parts of the story I was able to solve but there were other parts that I did not. As this is a story meant for middle-school age children rather than an adult who readers mysteries all the time, I would think that it would be a fun and difficult book to solve early on.
The children are introduced to us through chapters where each one is featured. This continues throughout the story and is an excellent way to give us an in-depth history on the individuals in the first of the series. I enjoyed reading the book and will certainly look for follow-on stories.
As there are murders and other violent crimes in the story, I would suggest using discretion in deciding what age child would be appropriate for reading this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the publisher.
