Rereading: THE MONSTER OF WIDGEON WEIR by M. E. Atkinson

Illustrated by Stuart Tresilian

The eighth book in the Locketts series by Atkinson takes place on the Thames, and involves boats, but unlike the books of Arthur Ransome, none of them are sailboats.

Oliver, Jane, and Bill, the Lockett children, have been allowed to camp on their own on a small island in the Thames owned by a family friend. They soon run into their nemesis Fenella and her siblings, who are camping not far away, while Fenella acts with a small traveling company. Fenella is her usual infuriating self, and a feud soon begins between the two families, who are both going to compete in various kinds of boat races (punting, rowing, etc.) against each other as part of a local festival. Then things take a strange turn when a local man sees what he describes as a sea serpent in the Thames just below Widgeon Weir, again not far from where Fenella and her sibllings are camping. Could there be a connection? Jane is determined to find out, and she invites her friend Anna to join them for the boating and investigations. They also meet several new friends as they reach out to other children to help make up larger teams for some events.

This book is one I didn’t remember at all, and I enjoyed it. There’s plenty of mystery, thrills, and midnight adventures as well as the final exciting competitions. Stuart Tresilian takes over from Harold Jones as illustrator, I knew his work from Enid Blyton’s “Adventure” series. His human characters are more realistic and his illustrations are excellent, though I kind of miss the almost Art Deco approach of Jones. Recommended.

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