Gabrielle Lord, The Medusa Curse (48 Hours #2), Scholastic Australia, April 2018, 240pp., $14.99 (pbk) ISBN 9781743829765
This book looks as much like a book for adults as for children, with its bold, dark cover giving the series an edgy, older feel. Inside it’s well-designed for young readers with fun fingerprint graphics and a sprinkling of black and white illustrations showing evidence, such as fibres under a microscope, photos and text message conversations.
This is the second book in the 48 Hours series, which is based on the premise: “the first 48 hours after a crime are vital for gathering the freshest and most useful evidence to help solve it”. Keeping with the fast-pace of the story, each chapter begins with a clock showing how much time remains until the 48 hours is up.
Friends Phoenix and Jazz are helping curators set up a new exhibition at their friend’s dad’s museum when a car crashes through the glass wall. A revolutionary new supercomputer is stolen, its owner is injured, an ancient Medusa statue is destroyed and their friend’s dad goes missing. Could it be the curse of the Medusa Statue? Phoenix and Jazz are more pragmatic than to believe that and are determined to solve the crime.
Despite being warned not to get involved – by both their parents and the police – Jazz and Phoenix investigate. After solving a kidnapping in book one, the pair are already set up to investigate with an app on Jazz’s tablet to record their findings. They have a few friends they call on for specialist advice and can test evidence in Phoenix’s mum’s professional home forensic lab, which is pretty awesome.
There’s a few dicey moments and hints of violence when the pair get too close to the bad guys, but it’s not too graphic and shouldn’t cause nightmares for the recommended reader, aged 10+.
Reviewed by Carissa Mason
