The Case of the Visiting Vampire

Grade 3-6 Three children suspect that a famous Romanian actor visiting Barkley, a small town in Pennsylvania, is really a vampire, and set out to prove their theory. The Case of the Visiting Vampire is the second in what one hopes will be a long-lasting series about narrator Raymond Almond and his two buddies. Raymond is an average schoolboy, all the better to let his two eccentric friends stand out. His classmate Verna is the class bully who ultimately proves herself to be a brave and resourceful friend-in-need. The most eccentric of the three is Hunt, short for J. Huntley English, M. H. ("Monster Hunter"), an intrepid juvenile scholar of vampire lore. Together, the three children become involved in an exciting and fast-moving, no more than moderately implausible or predictable plot involving a communist defector and a member of the secret police. The interaction between characters is remniscent of the interaction in such durable mystery series as the Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown. An entertaining sequel to The Case of the Horrible Swamp Monster (Dodd, 1984) that should find a well-deserved readership. Ruth Reutter, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Ohio
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.