#409 - In The Woof of Time
by Monika Bhatkande
“In the Woof of Time” by Monika Bhatkande. Published by Reado Junior, an imprint of Readomania. A suspense filled story of what happens when a group of friends who love reading adventure books find themselves caught in the thick of a mystery.
Eleven year old Sam (Samar) lives in an apartment complex. He and his friends are part of a book club run by Miss Priya. Their favourite author is Mashoor Lekhak. A Sunday afternoon outing to the grocery store on his bicycle turns out to be quite eventful for Sam. He bumps into two goons outside the back gate of his apartment and gets into a scuffle with them. Thankfully a dog which seems to be an unkempt Golden Retriever comes to his rescue. After this event, a series of other unusual incidents start happening in the apartment complex. A prize winning dog goes missing. Milk bottles are stolen. Expensive heirloom jewellery goes missing.
Sam and his friends (Zayn, Zara, Sophia) find themselves embroiled in these mysteries. The missing dog named Dasher turns out to be the same dog which had rescued Sam from the goons. The police come to take his statement about what happened with the goons and what he saw. Is there a connection between these incidents? Or are they separate mysteries to be solved? As the friends try to solve the mystery, they find that the evidence seems to be pointing at Sam as the culprit of all people! How could this be? Does he have a doppelgänger?! As they dive deep into solving the riddle, they find an unexpected person helping them out. What happens next? Can they find the culprit(s) and solve the mystery before something else happens? Read this thrilling book to go on a roller coaster ride of mystery and adventure with the book club friends.
My nine year old and I enjoyed reading this book. The story kept us hooked till the end. It was a nice blend of adventure and mystery. The plot was well knit and my son couldn’t wait to unravel the mystery. We liked the way in which the mystery unfolded gradually as the layers were peeled off bit by bit till the end. The short and well segregated chapters was another aspect that we liked. Everything was so relatable be it the settings or what the children did while working towards solving the mysteries. It was hard to believe that this is the debut book of the author. I was amazed to see that she herself had done the illustrations.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 8/9 and above.
Reasons to Read
For a good dose of adventure and mystery.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the author, Monika Bhatkande, for review. Thank you for sending across the book Monika!