Rendezvous in Russia by Lauren St John Review

Reviewed by Cathy & Scarlett Porteus

Rendezvous in Russia is the fourth in the Laura Marlin mystery series. Laura, an 11 year old ace detective, and her friend Tariq live in the seaside town of St Ives. Laura’s dog Skye is roped in to appear in a film being filmed nearby. Skye manages to save the life of one of the actors, which leads to the trio being invited to continue filming in St Petersburg.

The story then unfolds around the action in St Petersburg, with a series of strange accidents leading Laura to suspect a human hand at work. I’ll not ruin the story for future readers but suffice to say that Laura finds herself in danger and there is plenty of drama along the way.

I think Scarlet found the book a bit too scary to read at bedtime, which is her usual reading time, so would bear this in mind if buying for a child who tends to be spooked quite easily. The style of the language is suitable for older children and would help them to add new words to their vocabulary.

My daughter is 11 and she wrote the following review:

I like mystery drama books so this book looked good. I have read another book from the same series, which was similar but I thought this one was better. The main characters – Laura and Tariq, are easy to understand and very convincing. I felt that Rendezvous in Russia was a good read.

The book is very engaging, although I think it is for readers over ten, because it is frightening. The story has a sense of mystery as well as excitement. The plot is not too complicated but also not too basic either. I would recommend Rendezvous in Russia to people who like mystery and excitement because it is full of it.

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £6.99 (paperback), £9.99 (hardback)

Available to buy from Amazon here.