The Mystery Club 3: The Forbidden Island by Fiona Kelly - Review

I pulled this book off the shelves just before Christmas. It is a book I've had ever since I was a small child, and I read it again and gain. As you can see, it's pretty battered. It's funny because it still has my homemade library ticket glued into the front, and my name written very carefully just above that. I read this over and over, but I don't think I ever read anything else in the Mystery Club series. Maybe by the time I read this I wasn't visiting libraries any more so couldn't request any? I don't know. But I might have to get some more of these, for nostalgia's sake. 

So the Mystery Club is three girls, aged fifteen. Now, I will say, this book was written thirty years ago and Young Adult as a thing didn't really exist back then, so it skews younger, they skew as younger than fifteen and the audience for this book is definitely younger than that. It's weird, really, but it works. Anyway the girls are Holly, Tracy and Belinda. Reading this now I found these names odd given that these books were published in the mid 90s and those names seem older than that - there are few Tracys and Belindas my age. Never mind! It just struck me. 

As this is Book 3 they have previously solved some mysteries, they're not new to it. They go off to visit Holly's aunt for a week's relaxation. Tracy is sporty and regularly goes running. Belinda is more bookish and quiet. Holly is spunky, irrepressible, and nosy - I remembered why I liked her so much when I was little. I think all three of them skew queer, by the way, there's a lot of queer coding that I picked up on. Holly can't just sit on the beach and relax, no. Instead she becomes obsessed with the little island that lies just off the coast of where her aunt lives. It's known locally as Anthrax Island because it was used during the war to test anthrax or something, and it's forbidden to go there. 

But Holly and the girls have seen lights there, and then returning lights from the mainland. What is going on, and who is involved? The trio start to ask questions and get themselves in danger. Of course they do! 

I actually really loved my reread of this book. It was sweet and nostalgic and I really liked the girls as much as I used to. I'm giving this four out of five.