Floors - Patrick Carman

Imagine living in a hotel where every room holds a secret. Where every floor is not what it seems. Where ducks are not what they seem. A hotel populated by an array of intriguing characters.

That's the Whippett Hotel of Patrick Carmen's Floors.

Leo lives in the hotel's basement with his father, the caretaker. The hotel's creator Margenza Whippett has disappeared, but left Leo a series of mysterious coloured boxes and riddles - which need to be opened and solved.

Fast paced, adventurous, mysterious and humourous. An enjoyable read.

Check out the author's website and podcasts here

Virals - Kathy Reichs

Kathry Reichs unleashes her forensic sleuthing style on a teen audience with the start of a new series, featuring teen sleuth Tory Brennan. Tory has a famous Aunt, the forensic scientist Temperance Brennan - and she models herself on her style. Virals is a mixture of sci-fi adventure and crime fiction. Not 100% sure that this works. A slow start, but action becomes more fast paced in the second half of the book. The characters are likeable, if not overly believable. Good junior readers will cope with the content and the scientific 'jargon'.

Jonty and Choc - Vince Ford

On the surface a simple tale of childhood friends whose paths deviate when they leave the safety of primary school, for the scary world of the local Intermediate.

However underneath this lies the spritiual connection that the boys both have to an ancient piece of ambergris - 'a substance steeped in mystery for centuries' .

The ambergris seems to have a powerful hold over both of the boys - allowing Choc to connnect with past owners and past tragedies. Jonty's desire for the mystery lump drives the friends even further apart.

Not a difficult read - so accessible for most junior readers.

Infernal devices (Clockwork Angel) - Cassandra Clare

Clare is obviously onto another winning series here!

Infernal devices is the prequel series to the very successful trilogy Mortal Instruments.

Set in the Victorian era (1800s), the magical world of 'shadowhunters' and 'downworlders' co-exist, but only just.

The main character, Tessa, has yet to realise that she is not just an ordinary young woman looking for her brother, but that she has magical powers unmatched by any other inhabitants of this 'other world'.

If you enjoyed the Mortal Instruments series you will be equally enthralled by this new one.

Check out the website here - it is fantastic!!

The prince of mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I've read and thoroughly enjoyed both The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game by Zafon. This is his first book, written over 15 years ago for a teen audience. The subject matter is similar to his hugely successful adult titles - mystery, magic and the unexplained.

The prince of mist is set in run down mansion in an isolated coastal town. The lighthouse keeper and his grandson have a secret past and the garden of statues bear an unusual resemblance to a circus troupe that drowned on the beach 25 years ago.

When Max and his family move into the old homestead strange things begin to happen...

Quite a dark tale of broken promises and the inability to escape one's fate. Mature teen readers.