Dead Man's Cove...You must stay away from Dead Man's Cove

Title: Dead Man's Cove
Author: Lauren St John
ISBN: 978-1-4440-0148-8
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Fiction, Children, Thriller, Teen


"If she had any sense, she'd toss the bottle into the nearest litter bin, hurry along to school and forget she ever saw it. But what if? That's what the voice in her head was saying. What if the writer was someone in real danger? Someone who needed her help? What if she was their only lifeline and she ignored them and walked away?
Laura opened her school bag and took out a pen. Beneath the questions, 'CAN I TRUST YOU?', she wrote in bright red capitals:
YES."

**SPOILER ALERT**

Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St John is the first in a series of four Laura Marlin Mysteries. I needed to read this book due to it being our choice of text for English at school. I had not heard of the author or the book series before working on the text in lessons. A colleague found the book while investigating our topic of Changing Coasts.

I was unsure what to expect from this story, The synopsis states Laura is an orphaned young girl who goes to live with her mysterious uncle, Calvin Redfern, in Cornwall with her three legged dog. I was surprised to find Laura doesn't have a dog when she first arrives in St Ives. So where does the three legged dog come into the story?

Laura's mother died in child birth and she doesn't know her father. She believes him to be an American Soldier who she has never had a relationship with. She moves from a Northern town in England to go and live with her estranged uncle, her mother's brother. Laura is thrilled with the trust her uncle gives her and the responsibility he permits her to have, something Laura has never experienced before. Calvin Redfern only has one rule. Do not go to Dead Man's Cove. Why? What happened there? Why is it called Dead Man's Cove? All is revealed later in the story.

Laura begins to explore St Ives and visits the local grocery store, The North Star. She begins a friendship with the shop owners son, Tariq. However, Tariq can't speak or write a lot of English. Mr Mukhtar, Tariq's father, informs Laura that Tariq can understand English but due to "being lazy" he cannot write or speak and English. Laura continues her friendship with the silent Tariq until one day his father decides that Tariq no longer wants to be Laura's friend. Tariq seems certain of this also. Laura becomes upset and can't understand why Tariq no longer wants to be her friend. Laura does not believe this, considering Tariq had bruises up his arms, recoils at physical contact and refuses to make eye contact with his "parents".

Until one day Laura finds a message in a bottle whilst walking to school. The message simply reads "CAN I TRUST YOU?" Laura simply replies "YES". Who is the message from? Why is the message mysteriously left in a bottle on the beach? What will happen to the person who has left the message?

Not only is their the mystery of Tariq and the message in the bottle, why does Calvin keep going on midnight walks on his own? Does he really work for the fisheries? If he does why has no one at the docks ever heard of him? Laura finally informs her uncle about her concerns for Tariq and tells him what she has found out about the Mukhtar's, how they claim to own a tapestry company but it's actually Tariq being forced to create such beautiful pieces of work. How they are also using Tariq as free, child labour in their grocery shop. Finally Mr and Mrs Mukhtar disappear all of a sudden and Laura is adamant she has seen Tariq in danger whilst in St Ives. She believes something has happened to Tariq, has he gone missing? Has he come to danger? Has he been hurt?

Laura and Calvin start to discuss what could have happened to Tariq, the Mukhtar's and why they have suddenly disappeared. Calvin makes a revelation to Laura about why he has been leaving the house late at night. He is a police detective. He has been investigating a group of criminals who have recently started operating in St Ives. Whilst Calvin goes out to look for the Mukhtar's and Tariq the organised crime gang come to his house and kidnap Laura. She later finds herself in a boat out of the coast of Dead Man's Cove. However, she's not alone. She has found Tariq! He is not alone, there are a variety of other children also in the boat. All from Bangladesh. Laura discovers the gang have been kidnapping children with the promise of a better life in England to only bring them to a life of slavery and disappointment. The kidnappers are using Dead Man's Cove to bring the children to Mr and Mrs Mukhtar who are in the town waiting for the children to arrive. However, the rising tide and the coldness of the water prevents the kidnappers going down Dead Man's Cove and they make Tariq and Laura take the children to the surface. Laura and Tariq try with all their might to help and safe the children, they arrive at the exit of the Cove and it is through the help of Skye, the three legged dog Laura saved. Syke sniffs Tariq and Laura out and alerts Calvin to their presence.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it. It is a great book for children to read, however it would be advisable to go with your best guestimate about whether to allow a child of a certain age to read this story as it can be interpreted as scary for young children with the topic of child labour and slavery.

Rating: 8/10
10-word-review: Thrilling, a great read, not all that meets the eye.

I will now be going back to The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I have started to get interested in this book and I look forward to what the rest of the book contains.

On a final note, tomorrow I will be undertaking a 22 mile charity walk in aid of Cancer Research UK. I will be walking from Saltburn-by-the-Sea in Teesside along the Cleveland Way to Whitby in North Yorkshire. I would really appreciate any donations anyone could give. No matter how big or small, everything matters and we all know someone who has been affected by the horrendous disease which is cancer. Please give anything you can.

Thank you again...Steph!