Alice Éclair, Spy Extraordinaire. A Spoonful of Spying
by Sarah Todd Taylor;
An Adventure Book Review & Sunday Selfie by Erin the Cat Princess©
Today we have a rerun for you. Having pride of place is our book review of a FABULOUS new 1930’s Adventure.
So, if you’re all now seated comfortably and have got the popcorn and drinks safely tucked away, I’ll dim the lights and draw back the curtains on today’s main feature:
Author: SARAH TODD TAYLOR
Art by: BEATRIZ CASTRO
Published by: NOSY CROW
Publication date: 12 January 2023
Paperback ISBN: 978–1839940972
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Pages: 272 (approx)
Age range: Middle Grade (9 AND upwards)
Any dogs or cats? Yes, a feline called Casper, who I suspect gets more than he bargains!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to early plot direction and characters.
Thank you to…
We are exceedingly grateful to Sarah Todd Taylor and Hannah Prutton of Nosy Crow Publishers for the awesome proof copy of this highly-anticipated, delectable book before publication.
As ever, our views in this review are our own. We only share reviews of books we have read, like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy as much as we did, which in this case is a lot.
The plot
13-year-old Alice Éclair, cake maker supreme by day, and spy for the French government by night, is off on a mission. And it’s not to buy fresh eggs for her mother’s famed pâtisserie, Vive Comme L’Éclair.
We join her in an action-packed scene aboard Le Mistral, Paris’ most luxurious event boat, as it sails slowly down the Seine. Alice and senior agent, Claude, are hot on the trail of spies and stolen information valuable to the enemies of France.
Disguised as a waiter, Alice serves, while elegantly dressed Claude, never short of admiring company, mingles with the well-healed partygoers. Both are on the lookout for their suspect. Suddenly the chase is on, but it goes sour when Alice is faced with a life-or-death choice. And so the villain escapes, but not before she manages to steal a slip of paper from his pocket. Wet and muddy, Alice blames herself. She feels she failed Claude just when she needs to be proving herself. Worse, Claude dismisses the piece of paper.
The paper, however, soon becomes the first clue that indicates the plans for prototype French aircraft, code-named ‘Daedalus’, are to be stolen and passed to foreign agents. And where better for spies to mingle and plans to be passed than the upcoming World Fair in Paris!
Under guise of showing off her cake-making art, Alice and her mother get an invite to take a stand at the fair. Of course, for Alice, it means between helping her mum and working as a spy, she gets little chance to investigate marvels from across the globe on display.
After a few days with little to go on and even fewer suspects, Alice gets pushed to what she thinks is a lowly position in the Fashion Pavilion. Claude, however, seems to have taken the best, most glamorous assignment for himself!
OK, from here on in, clues and suspects start to mount. In fact, it seems there are spies everywhere interested in all manner of things.
Alice’s decorating skills are unleashed, too, as she gets embroiled in a kidnapping and the adventure quite quickly takes a high speed, high stakes, high-octane race to save friends, families and secrets from dastardly deeds and deadly, double-dealing . . . . . persons!
And if you are wondering about Casper, the cat, well, he gets far more than he bargains for when he steals a ride to the World Fair!
So, what did we think?
After Alice’s first adventure, A Recipe for Trouble (a LINK to our Review is HERE), I wondered if and how Sarah could pull off another spectacular tale.
I am delighted that she has far exceeded my hopes and expectations.
This is an adventure packed with unashamed panache, gusto, bravery, and adventure worthy of famed Belgians, Tintin and Hergé.
But this is by no means a copy. It stands tall and proud like one of Alice Éclair’s own culinary creations, with layers of mystery to unravel and countless textures and flavours. All this amidst a Parisian backdrop of high fashion, aviation, and a world fair. Truly the only thing Sarah hasn’t provided is the smells and tastes of Alice’s cooking. For that, the only solution is to buy your own.
It doesn’t shy away from failure and the lessons and costs it brings.
The cast is engaging and highlights that women of the era in real life were also at the forefront of engineering and flight. I am so pleased that we see this in writing, as it is often assumed quite wrongly that women were nothing but models, cooks and housewives.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
I get a definite sense of an ‘upping of the anti’ in this second adventure. It is bolder, stronger, and growing with Alice.
It certainly hits all the right notes in all the right places to make it a firm favourite for adventure-loving kids (and Mrs H.). It also sets another high bar for Sarah to clear for the next book.
So, for me, this is a MUST-READ. Sit back and enjoy a rollercoaster of a ride that takes the reader from the glam of the catwalk, up into the skies and along the crowded streets and waterways of Paris.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy, please do choose to support your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and some may well serve up cake and coffee!
Sarah Todd Taylor’s WEB page can be found HERE or type this: https://sarahtoddtaylor.com/
Nosy Crow’s web page can be found HERE. or type this: https://nosycrow.com/product/alice-eclair-spy-extraordinaire-a-spoonful-of-spying/
Beatriz Castro’s web page can be found HERE. or type this: https://beatrizcastroilustracion.com/
We hope you enjoyed the review. Before we go, we offer you a selfie.
Till laters!
ERin
