Secrets and Scallywags - A Review

 Review

SECRETS AND SCALLYWAGS by Elizabeth Pantley
The Fifth Magical Mystery Book Club Mystery

After choosing a new member to join them, the Magical Mystery Book Club is ready for their next adventure. A ship has just washed up on the shore of a quaint island community-the same ship, islanders believe, that was sunk by pirates the year prior. When the gang visit the ship they discover the crew still on board. A ghostly crew that is. The book club needs to find out what really happened so that they can free the ghosts thereby solving the mystery and returning home.

Readers are once again plunged into the delightful world of the Magical Mystery Book Club series with its fifth book SECRETS AND SCALLYWAGS. This time the gang lands in an island community and discover their mission is to help a band of ghostly pirates. I appreciate how the mystery doesn’t start with a murder, although there are dead bodies soon enough. I also appreciate the realism within the fantasy, such as Valeria’s reaction to a dead body and the reassurance of the gang to remember it’s just a book. Amid the laughs, and there were plenty, there was also more danger, and a darker danger, along with some moral ambiguity.

We meet a few new characters in SECRETS AND SCALLYWAGS, not only the people in their new book adventure, but the new club member. It was an interesting choice and I'm not sure how I feel about it. That being said, Valeria seems to be fitting in quite well. As for the island characters, I particularly enjoyed the pirates and the fact they were able to help Mollie. I also got very negative vibes from some of the island folk. As for our regulars, I'm even more intrigued given the veiled hints about Frank! I can't wait to learn more, especially about...whoops, no spoilers!

Family remains the heart of the Magical Mystery Book Club series. Not just family by blood, but the family you make; people banded together who not only care for each other, foibles and all, but work together for a common cause. That’s what makes this book, indeed the whole series, so heartwarming. There’s a mystery to solve, but the camaraderie and character growth make it special.

Pirates, ghosts, and magic combine making SECRETS AND SCALLYWAGS a fun and exciting escape.