Paula Berinstein's Blog - Posts Tagged "detectives"
Some Famous Detectives You Might Be Interested In Knowing About
Some Famous Detectives
Roderick Alleyn. A gentleman police detective who appears in thirty-two novels by New Zealand author and theater director Ngaio Marsh (a woman) starting in 1934. He attended Oxford University and served in the army during World War I. He also worked briefly for the British Foreign Service. His older brother is a baronet. In his younger days he was attracted to actresses, but eventually he married a painter, Agatha Troy.
Sir John Appleby. Originally a detective inspector at Scotland Yard, then a police commissioner, Sir John Appleby appears in the works of Michael Innes beginning in 1936. Even after retiring, Sir John continued to solve crimes. He had one of the longest careers of any of the great detectives.
Martin Beck. A Swedish police detective who appears in ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö starting in 1965. He tends to get sick a lot, perhaps because he smokes so much.
Father Brown. A Catholic priest who appears in fifty-one short stories by G.K. Chesterton beginning in 1910. His methods for solving crime are intuitive rather than deductive. Because of his position as a priest and confessor, he is acutely aware of human evil and its possibilities and is able to use that knowledge and experience in his cases.
Albert Campion. A gentleman detective featured in the works of Margery Allingham beginning in 1929. He was originally created as a parody of Lord Peter Wimsey but became a complex character in his own right.
Nancy Drew. An amateur teenage detective featured in works created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer, who hired a series of writers to work collectively under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Nancy Drew first appeared in 1930.
C. Auguste Dupin. An amateur detective created by Edgar Allan Poe. He made his first appearance in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” which is widely considered the first detective story, even before the word “detective” was coined. In Dupin, Poe laid the foundation for the detective fiction genre.
Dr. Gideon Fell. An amateur sleuth created by John Dickson Carr, making his first appearance in 1933. He is a portly man with a mustache, who wears a cape and walks with two canes. He began as a lexicographer but was later described as working on a monumental history of the beer-drinking habits of the English people.
Sherlock Holmes. A private consulting detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes first appeared in “A Study in Scarlet,” which was published in 1887. He is the seminal detective who solves cases by using his exceptional powers of observation and deduction, not to mention disguise. He was an early practitioner of forensic science. He is popularly recognized by his cape, deerstalker hat, magnifying glass, pipe, and violin. Holmes’s archenemy, the criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty, originally appeared in only two short stories so that Doyle could kill off Holmes. However, Moriarty features prominently in derivative works. Moriarty is a mathematical genius and heads a crime ring, though he often functions alone.
Monsieur Lecoq. A detective with the French Sûreté created by 19th century writer and journalist Émile Gaboriau. Lecoq preceded the creation of Sherlock Holmes and influenced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his characterization. Still, Holmes dismissed Lecoq in “A Study in Scarlet” as a “miserable bungler.” Lecoq was the first fictional detective to assiduously analyze crime scenes and evidence by inspecting them visually. He was also a master of disguise. “Lecoq” means “the rooster.”
G. Lestrade. A Scotland Yard detective who appears in many of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, starting in 1887. Nowhere does Doyle mention his first name, only the initial G. Although Lestrade ascended to the upper ranks of the Yard, he did so by being unimaginative and conventional rather than brilliant, and to a certain extent by taking credit for cases that Holmes actually solved, with Holmes’s approval and complicity. He sometimes clashes with Holmes and his sidekick Dr. John Watson, although as the stories progress, Lestrade seems to appreciate Holmes’s unconventional methods more.
Jane Marple. Usually referred to as “Miss Marple,” amateur sleuth Jane Marple appears in many of Agatha Christie’s novels and short stories starting in 1926. She is an intelligent and astute elderly woman who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead.
Pradosh C. Mitter. Pradosh C. Mitter is the anglicized name of Prodosh Chandra Mitra, or Feluda, as he is known in Bengali. He is a private investigator appearing in works by film director and writer Satyajit Ray. He made his first appearance in a Bengali children’s magazine called Sandesh in 1965. Satyajit Ray was a devotee of the Sherlock Holmes stories and his character resembles Holmes.
Allan Pinkerton. A Scottish-American detective and spy who founded the Pinkerton National Detective agency. Pinkerton was a real person who lived from 1819 to 1884.
Hercule Poirot. A Belgian private detective living in England, created by Agatha Christie. He made his first appearance in The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920. Poirot is famous for solving cases by using his “little gray cells” and is known for being fussy, bombastic, and egotistical.
Lucy Pym. A psychologist who solves a crime in a physical training college for girls. Lucy Pym was created by Josephine Tey, whose real name was Elizabeth Mackintosh. She appeared in Lucy Pym Disposes in 1946.
Parker Pyne. A consulting detective in several works by Agatha Christie. He first appeared in 1932. He is a retired government employee turned philanthropist who is more concerned with making his clients happy than investigating crimes. He believes that there are five types of unhappiness, all of which can be cured logically.
Joseph Rouletabille. A teenage journalist created by Gaston Leroux. Joseph Rouletabille is a nickname for Joseph Josephin. The character first appeared in 1907 in The Mystery of the Yellow Room (Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune), in which he solved a locked room puzzle.
The Secret Seven. A group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton, first appearing in 1949. They are Peter—the leader—Peter’s sister Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, and Colin.
Gerard Van Helden. A detective superintendent in the Birmingham City Police Force. He was a real person who was born in the Netherlands in 1848. Rapidly promoted, he found success as a result of his uncanny ability to remember faces and because he spoke three languages: Dutch, German, and English. He was so successful and effective that he became known as “The Famous Detective.”
Harriet Vane. A mystery writer turned sleuth invented by Dorothy L. Sayers. Vane eventually marries Lord Peter Wimsey, despite the fact that she initially finds him to be overbearing and superficial. Early on she is arrested for the murder of her lover, Philip Boyes, but is acquitted with Wimsey’s help. After the trial she remains notorious, a fact that helps her sell a lot of books.
Dr. John Watson. A character in the Sherlock Holmes stories created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Watson makes his first appearance in “A Study in Scarlet,” which was published in 1887. While not all that bright, Watson often helps Holmes reach important conclusions by acting as a sounding board and foil.
Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a gentleman detective who solves murders for his own amusement in works by Dorothy L. Sayers. He is descended from the 12th century knight Gerald de Wimsey, who accompanied King Richard the Lionheart on the Third Crusade. Peter Wimsey eventually marries another of Sayers’s detectives, Harriet Vane. He collects rare books, is an expert on food and wine, and is an accomplished pianist.
Roderick Alleyn. A gentleman police detective who appears in thirty-two novels by New Zealand author and theater director Ngaio Marsh (a woman) starting in 1934. He attended Oxford University and served in the army during World War I. He also worked briefly for the British Foreign Service. His older brother is a baronet. In his younger days he was attracted to actresses, but eventually he married a painter, Agatha Troy.
Sir John Appleby. Originally a detective inspector at Scotland Yard, then a police commissioner, Sir John Appleby appears in the works of Michael Innes beginning in 1936. Even after retiring, Sir John continued to solve crimes. He had one of the longest careers of any of the great detectives.
Martin Beck. A Swedish police detective who appears in ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö starting in 1965. He tends to get sick a lot, perhaps because he smokes so much.
Father Brown. A Catholic priest who appears in fifty-one short stories by G.K. Chesterton beginning in 1910. His methods for solving crime are intuitive rather than deductive. Because of his position as a priest and confessor, he is acutely aware of human evil and its possibilities and is able to use that knowledge and experience in his cases.
Albert Campion. A gentleman detective featured in the works of Margery Allingham beginning in 1929. He was originally created as a parody of Lord Peter Wimsey but became a complex character in his own right.
Nancy Drew. An amateur teenage detective featured in works created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer, who hired a series of writers to work collectively under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Nancy Drew first appeared in 1930.
C. Auguste Dupin. An amateur detective created by Edgar Allan Poe. He made his first appearance in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” which is widely considered the first detective story, even before the word “detective” was coined. In Dupin, Poe laid the foundation for the detective fiction genre.
Dr. Gideon Fell. An amateur sleuth created by John Dickson Carr, making his first appearance in 1933. He is a portly man with a mustache, who wears a cape and walks with two canes. He began as a lexicographer but was later described as working on a monumental history of the beer-drinking habits of the English people.
Sherlock Holmes. A private consulting detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes first appeared in “A Study in Scarlet,” which was published in 1887. He is the seminal detective who solves cases by using his exceptional powers of observation and deduction, not to mention disguise. He was an early practitioner of forensic science. He is popularly recognized by his cape, deerstalker hat, magnifying glass, pipe, and violin. Holmes’s archenemy, the criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty, originally appeared in only two short stories so that Doyle could kill off Holmes. However, Moriarty features prominently in derivative works. Moriarty is a mathematical genius and heads a crime ring, though he often functions alone.
Monsieur Lecoq. A detective with the French Sûreté created by 19th century writer and journalist Émile Gaboriau. Lecoq preceded the creation of Sherlock Holmes and influenced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his characterization. Still, Holmes dismissed Lecoq in “A Study in Scarlet” as a “miserable bungler.” Lecoq was the first fictional detective to assiduously analyze crime scenes and evidence by inspecting them visually. He was also a master of disguise. “Lecoq” means “the rooster.”
G. Lestrade. A Scotland Yard detective who appears in many of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, starting in 1887. Nowhere does Doyle mention his first name, only the initial G. Although Lestrade ascended to the upper ranks of the Yard, he did so by being unimaginative and conventional rather than brilliant, and to a certain extent by taking credit for cases that Holmes actually solved, with Holmes’s approval and complicity. He sometimes clashes with Holmes and his sidekick Dr. John Watson, although as the stories progress, Lestrade seems to appreciate Holmes’s unconventional methods more.
Jane Marple. Usually referred to as “Miss Marple,” amateur sleuth Jane Marple appears in many of Agatha Christie’s novels and short stories starting in 1926. She is an intelligent and astute elderly woman who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead.
Pradosh C. Mitter. Pradosh C. Mitter is the anglicized name of Prodosh Chandra Mitra, or Feluda, as he is known in Bengali. He is a private investigator appearing in works by film director and writer Satyajit Ray. He made his first appearance in a Bengali children’s magazine called Sandesh in 1965. Satyajit Ray was a devotee of the Sherlock Holmes stories and his character resembles Holmes.
Allan Pinkerton. A Scottish-American detective and spy who founded the Pinkerton National Detective agency. Pinkerton was a real person who lived from 1819 to 1884.
Hercule Poirot. A Belgian private detective living in England, created by Agatha Christie. He made his first appearance in The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920. Poirot is famous for solving cases by using his “little gray cells” and is known for being fussy, bombastic, and egotistical.
Lucy Pym. A psychologist who solves a crime in a physical training college for girls. Lucy Pym was created by Josephine Tey, whose real name was Elizabeth Mackintosh. She appeared in Lucy Pym Disposes in 1946.
Parker Pyne. A consulting detective in several works by Agatha Christie. He first appeared in 1932. He is a retired government employee turned philanthropist who is more concerned with making his clients happy than investigating crimes. He believes that there are five types of unhappiness, all of which can be cured logically.
Joseph Rouletabille. A teenage journalist created by Gaston Leroux. Joseph Rouletabille is a nickname for Joseph Josephin. The character first appeared in 1907 in The Mystery of the Yellow Room (Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune), in which he solved a locked room puzzle.
The Secret Seven. A group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton, first appearing in 1949. They are Peter—the leader—Peter’s sister Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, and Colin.
Gerard Van Helden. A detective superintendent in the Birmingham City Police Force. He was a real person who was born in the Netherlands in 1848. Rapidly promoted, he found success as a result of his uncanny ability to remember faces and because he spoke three languages: Dutch, German, and English. He was so successful and effective that he became known as “The Famous Detective.”
Harriet Vane. A mystery writer turned sleuth invented by Dorothy L. Sayers. Vane eventually marries Lord Peter Wimsey, despite the fact that she initially finds him to be overbearing and superficial. Early on she is arrested for the murder of her lover, Philip Boyes, but is acquitted with Wimsey’s help. After the trial she remains notorious, a fact that helps her sell a lot of books.
Dr. John Watson. A character in the Sherlock Holmes stories created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Watson makes his first appearance in “A Study in Scarlet,” which was published in 1887. While not all that bright, Watson often helps Holmes reach important conclusions by acting as a sounding board and foil.
Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a gentleman detective who solves murders for his own amusement in works by Dorothy L. Sayers. He is descended from the 12th century knight Gerald de Wimsey, who accompanied King Richard the Lionheart on the Third Crusade. Peter Wimsey eventually marries another of Sayers’s detectives, Harriet Vane. He collects rare books, is an expert on food and wine, and is an accomplished pianist.
Author Q & A from Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis
SLIGHT SPOILERS CONTAINED IN THE INTERVIEW!!!!
Q AND A WITH AUTHOR PAULA BERINSTEIN
Where did you get the idea for the crystals?
I liked the idea of the kids discovering a new life form, and I wanted it to be so unusual that you normally wouldn’t think of it as a life form. I also wanted something visually interesting, with lots of color. I researched crystals to see if there is such a thing as living ones, and I found articles that discuss “almost living” crystals. (See http://www.wired.com/2013/01/living-c..., for example.) That was good enough for me. Sure, I exaggerated mine, but I often do that. Fiction has to be larger than life.
I’ve been to Windermere, and there’s no Lake Enchanto there. What’s going on?
It is absolutely true that I play with geography. In fact, when you read the next book, Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle, you’ll see that I do so even more when I send the kids to Penrith, a town near Windermere. I try to retain some semblance of truth, but I change what I need to so that it supports the stories. For example, all my trains and stations are real, although they may not look exactly like they do in the books. The highways are also real, and there really is a sugar mile near London City Airport, or there was. There are still factories in that area.
How did you come up with the idea of using an acoustic levitator to get the kids past the tunnel gates?
I had to get them past those gates, and I thought and thought about how to do it. Those locks are tough! I suppose I could have had them break the locks or get through them legitimately, but that wouldn’t have been very interesting. It occurred to me that perhaps I should leave the locks in place but play with the hinge parts of the gates. Then what? Well, there are pins in hinges; what if the kids could remove them. But they’re old and rusty and won’t budge. You see my reasoning. I just go through various ideas step by step. When I found acoustic levitation on the Web, that clinched it. Clive is inventive. Of course he’d make something like that.
Are you really planning to create a game like Explosions!?
I hope so. I’ve been working with my stepson to design some games based on the Amanda stories, and that’s one of the ideas. Once I get the purple book finalized (for publication in November, 2015), I will put together some Kickstarter campaigns to raise the money to get them programmed. I can’t wait!
Have you ever skateboarded?
I have! My friend Barbara and I used to go sidewalk surfing. I had a Makaha board. Wish I’d kept it.
Do you know how to program?
I do! I used to be a COBOL programmer at an aerospace company, and I studied Java for a while. I also took a class in assembly language, and although I never followed that up, it allowed me to understand concepts I’d never got my head around before. I can also write HTML and CSS, although I’m not sure you can consider those programming.
What is it with you and monkeys?
Don’t you like monkeys? I hope you do because you’re going to be seeing a lot more of them.
Do gingersnaps really settle the stomach?
They do. I used to give them to my dog when we’d go in the car. They work wonders!
Q AND A WITH AUTHOR PAULA BERINSTEIN
Where did you get the idea for the crystals?
I liked the idea of the kids discovering a new life form, and I wanted it to be so unusual that you normally wouldn’t think of it as a life form. I also wanted something visually interesting, with lots of color. I researched crystals to see if there is such a thing as living ones, and I found articles that discuss “almost living” crystals. (See http://www.wired.com/2013/01/living-c..., for example.) That was good enough for me. Sure, I exaggerated mine, but I often do that. Fiction has to be larger than life.
I’ve been to Windermere, and there’s no Lake Enchanto there. What’s going on?
It is absolutely true that I play with geography. In fact, when you read the next book, Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle, you’ll see that I do so even more when I send the kids to Penrith, a town near Windermere. I try to retain some semblance of truth, but I change what I need to so that it supports the stories. For example, all my trains and stations are real, although they may not look exactly like they do in the books. The highways are also real, and there really is a sugar mile near London City Airport, or there was. There are still factories in that area.
How did you come up with the idea of using an acoustic levitator to get the kids past the tunnel gates?
I had to get them past those gates, and I thought and thought about how to do it. Those locks are tough! I suppose I could have had them break the locks or get through them legitimately, but that wouldn’t have been very interesting. It occurred to me that perhaps I should leave the locks in place but play with the hinge parts of the gates. Then what? Well, there are pins in hinges; what if the kids could remove them. But they’re old and rusty and won’t budge. You see my reasoning. I just go through various ideas step by step. When I found acoustic levitation on the Web, that clinched it. Clive is inventive. Of course he’d make something like that.
Are you really planning to create a game like Explosions!?
I hope so. I’ve been working with my stepson to design some games based on the Amanda stories, and that’s one of the ideas. Once I get the purple book finalized (for publication in November, 2015), I will put together some Kickstarter campaigns to raise the money to get them programmed. I can’t wait!
Have you ever skateboarded?
I have! My friend Barbara and I used to go sidewalk surfing. I had a Makaha board. Wish I’d kept it.
Do you know how to program?
I do! I used to be a COBOL programmer at an aerospace company, and I studied Java for a while. I also took a class in assembly language, and although I never followed that up, it allowed me to understand concepts I’d never got my head around before. I can also write HTML and CSS, although I’m not sure you can consider those programming.
What is it with you and monkeys?
Don’t you like monkeys? I hope you do because you’re going to be seeing a lot more of them.
Do gingersnaps really settle the stomach?
They do. I used to give them to my dog when we’d go in the car. They work wonders!
Goodreads giveaway book returns from Zimbabwe after 2.5 months
Yes, you read that right. I accidentally sent a copy of Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy to Zimbabwe rather than Australia. (Don't ask. It was a weird thing having to do with the postal service's drop-down country menu.)
Well, yesterday the book showed up on my doorstep, two and a half months after I sent it out. Hurray for the various post offices that managed to get it back to me!
And in case you're wondering, I discovered my mistake a few days after I sent the book and managed to send another copy to the correct address in Queensland.
I do feel a little sad though. It would have been nice to have a reader in Zimbabwe.
Well, yesterday the book showed up on my doorstep, two and a half months after I sent it out. Hurray for the various post offices that managed to get it back to me!
And in case you're wondering, I discovered my mistake a few days after I sent the book and managed to send another copy to the correct address in Queensland.
I do feel a little sad though. It would have been nice to have a reader in Zimbabwe.
Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis is here!
The second Amanda Lester, Detective book is here!
Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis
is now available in paperback and as a Kindle ebook!!!
If only Sherlock Holmes’s great-great-grandson weren’t such a dork . . .
Scapulus Holmes is a descendant of the great Sherlock. Unfortunately he’s a dork and Amanda doesn’t want to have anything to do with him. But when she finds a dead body encrusted with strange orange crystals under the secret detective school, she must turn to Holmes for help. Only if they work together can they keep the bad guys from learning the crystals’ secrets, and it isn’t looking good.
Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis
is now available in paperback and as a Kindle ebook!!!If only Sherlock Holmes’s great-great-grandson weren’t such a dork . . .
Scapulus Holmes is a descendant of the great Sherlock. Unfortunately he’s a dork and Amanda doesn’t want to have anything to do with him. But when she finds a dead body encrusted with strange orange crystals under the secret detective school, she must turn to Holmes for help. Only if they work together can they keep the bad guys from learning the crystals’ secrets, and it isn’t looking good.
New Mystery Novel Introduces Dorky Sherlock Holmes Descendant
Author Paula Berinstein’s middle-grade series set at secret English detective school shakes it up
No one knows for sure what master sleuth Sherlock Holmes’s great-great-grandson would be like, but author Paula Berinstein has taken a stab at him. She thinks he’d be a real dork. That’s why, in Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis, she torments him so much.
“I do sort of pick on him,” says Berinstein. “I have to, though, don’t I? Otherwise he might be boring, and we couldn’t have that.”
The book is the second title in Berinstein’s Amanda Lester, Detective line. Set in England’s Lake District, the series revolves around a twelve-year-old girl, Amanda Lester (she turns thirteen in the second book), who is forced to attend a super-secret school for the descendants of famous detectives, despite her desire to pursue filmmaking. Adding to her angst is the fact that she is ashamed of her famous ancestor, bumbling Scotland Yard Inspector G. Lestrade.
Synopsis of Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis
Amanda Lester’s first term at the secret English detective school has turned out to be a surprising success. But trouble lies ahead. There’s a new student at Legatum and Amanda is supposed to work with him. She’s the envy of the school. Scapulus Holmes is a descendant of the great Sherlock and he’s crazy about her. Unfortunately she thinks he’s a dork and ducks him every chance she gets.
She can’t avoid him forever though. When the kids discover a dead body encrusted with mysterious living crystals, Amanda realizes she must find out what’s going on, even if it means putting up with Holmes. The only problem is that Blixus Moriarty has just escaped from prison, and he wants those crystals.
Can the detectives save the crystals from certain death before the bad guys learn their secrets? Only if Amanda and Holmes can find a way to work together, and it isn’t looking good.
About the series
The Amanda Lester, Detective series offers fans an updated heroine: an independent, smart, and sassy young protagonist who finds herself embracing her destiny as a detective despite herself. In addition to Holmes, the supporting characters include a blind girl, a geek, and a priggish boy who is a thorn in Amanda’s side, not to mention a descendant of Holmes’s nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Their interactions reflect many struggles and realities young readers will relate to.
Book details
Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis is available in paperback and as a Kindle download.
Berinstein’s third novel in the Amanda Lester, Detective series, Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle, will be available in November, 2015.
About Paula Berinstein
Berinstein is the former producer and host of the popular podcast The Writing Show. She lives in Southern California. Unlike her protagonist, she is crazy about Sherlock Holmes.
No one knows for sure what master sleuth Sherlock Holmes’s great-great-grandson would be like, but author Paula Berinstein has taken a stab at him. She thinks he’d be a real dork. That’s why, in Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis, she torments him so much.
“I do sort of pick on him,” says Berinstein. “I have to, though, don’t I? Otherwise he might be boring, and we couldn’t have that.”
The book is the second title in Berinstein’s Amanda Lester, Detective line. Set in England’s Lake District, the series revolves around a twelve-year-old girl, Amanda Lester (she turns thirteen in the second book), who is forced to attend a super-secret school for the descendants of famous detectives, despite her desire to pursue filmmaking. Adding to her angst is the fact that she is ashamed of her famous ancestor, bumbling Scotland Yard Inspector G. Lestrade.
Synopsis of Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis
Amanda Lester’s first term at the secret English detective school has turned out to be a surprising success. But trouble lies ahead. There’s a new student at Legatum and Amanda is supposed to work with him. She’s the envy of the school. Scapulus Holmes is a descendant of the great Sherlock and he’s crazy about her. Unfortunately she thinks he’s a dork and ducks him every chance she gets.
She can’t avoid him forever though. When the kids discover a dead body encrusted with mysterious living crystals, Amanda realizes she must find out what’s going on, even if it means putting up with Holmes. The only problem is that Blixus Moriarty has just escaped from prison, and he wants those crystals.
Can the detectives save the crystals from certain death before the bad guys learn their secrets? Only if Amanda and Holmes can find a way to work together, and it isn’t looking good.
About the series
The Amanda Lester, Detective series offers fans an updated heroine: an independent, smart, and sassy young protagonist who finds herself embracing her destiny as a detective despite herself. In addition to Holmes, the supporting characters include a blind girl, a geek, and a priggish boy who is a thorn in Amanda’s side, not to mention a descendant of Holmes’s nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Their interactions reflect many struggles and realities young readers will relate to.
Book details
Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis is available in paperback and as a Kindle download.
Berinstein’s third novel in the Amanda Lester, Detective series, Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle, will be available in November, 2015.
About Paula Berinstein
Berinstein is the former producer and host of the popular podcast The Writing Show. She lives in Southern California. Unlike her protagonist, she is crazy about Sherlock Holmes.
Meet Scapulus Holmes
Scapulus Holmes is Sherlock Holmes's great-great-grandson. His father is Olimus Holmes, a private detective, and his mother is Pastiche Holmes, a botanist.
Scapulus specializes in cyberforensics and is the foremost expert on the subject at Legatum Continuatum, where he is a student in Amanda Lester's class. He is a pleasant, easy-going guy except when it comes to Amanda, who can really push his buttons.
Scapulus first appears in the second Amanda Lester, Detective book, Amanda Lester and the Orange Crystal Crisis.
Fun interview and Amanda Lester book giveaway!
The wonderful Aeicha Matteson has posted a fun interview we did about the Amanda Lester, Detective books at her Word Spelunking blog. Please check it out. The giveaway is open until November 13th!
Meet Amphora Kapoor
Amphora is one of Amanda's roommates at the Legatum Continuatum School for the Descendants of Famous Detectives. She is of Indian descent and was born in London. She is a bit testy and is afraid of many things. She is also boy-crazy, except when it comes to Simon Binkle, with whom she argues constantly. Sometimes she and Amanda have a strained relationship, but at other times they’re good friends.
Amphora has a highly developed sense of design and is planning a career fighting espionage in the fashion industry. She first appears in Book 1 of the Amanda Lester series, Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy.
Amanda Lester comes to Publishers Weekly
I am thrilled to announce that the November 16th issue of Publishers Weekly has a four-cover spread featuring Amanda Lester. I also have an interview on page 42.
It's kind of hard to know what else to say. I hope you enjoy it!
Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle is here!
The third volume in the Amanda Lester, Detective series is here!
Purple rainbows, a mysterious crypt, and pots of gold . . .
Things are not going well for Amanda and the secret detective school. A priceless artifact has disappeared, a dangerous hacker is manipulating matter, and zombies are being seen all over the Lake District. Then the real trouble starts.
When her cousins go missing and her friend Clive is kidnapped, Amanda is forced to turn to someone she’d rather not deal with: her old boyfriend Scapulus Holmes. But then he vanishes too. Now’s she’s sure that arch-villain Blixus Moriarty is involved . . . or is he?
