Copycat by Kelli Anne Hawkins

Title: Copycat

Author: Kelli Anne Hawkins

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: 6^th September 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 304

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: A funny and thrilling mystery from the author of The School for Talking Pets and Birdbrain

There are some things about Seagulls Nest that 11-year-old Skye Starling likes …

• Egg sandwiches (tick)
• Admiral Mittens (her cat), who’s always trying to get her attention (tick)
• Writing mystery stories about star detective Red Fox (tick)
• Spying on suspicious townsfolk with her new friend Bailey (tick)
• The Annual Squawk Awards (tick)

and there are some things she doesn’t like at all …

• Winston, the Mayor’s chicken (he pecks!) (cross)
• Her freshly finished novel being stolen (cross)
• The crimes in her novel happening in REAL LIFE! (cross)
• Everyone in the town acting suspiciously (cross)
• Being the only one who can find the real criminal! (cross cross cross!)

Will Skye uncover the culprit in time to save the town?

~*~

Skye Starling lives in Seagulls Nest with her grandmother, Sheila. Her parents have been off on a cruise ship for almost three years after their farm failed. There are some things that she likes – her cat, egg sandwiches, and writing mystery stories about her star detective, Red Fox. But what she doesn’t like is that her novel being stolen – now the crimes in her novel are being replicated all over town! As the Annual Squawk Awards approach, Skye and her new friend, Bailey, are on the case as tulips are beheaded, rumours about the townspeople written in chalk everywhere, and egg thefts. The policeman, Harold, isn’t interested in Skye and Bailey’s stories. But the new sergeant, Penelope Lui is keen to hear about their investigations. And no-one – not even the mayor, her chook Winston, or her family – are off the suspect list. As Skye and Bailey investigate, they start to uncover secrets about Seagulls Nest that nobody ever knew about – and hopefully these clues and red herrings will lead them to the culprit.

The latest book by Kelli Anne Hawkins is a delightful cozy mystery set in a small town (because where else would you set it?), with child detectives looking into crimes of mischief around town that could be perpetrated by anyone. What made things tricky for our intrepid quartet – Skye, Bailey, Admiral Mittens (a cat), and Lolly Wall (a dog) was knowing everyone in town very well. Perhaps too well because suspecting everyone you know is tough. I loved that Skye had researched how to be a detective, playing with the tropes and techniques fictional detectives use like disguises and surveillance to gather information on those they are investigating. This was a fun book that showed the beauty of friendship and illustrated that sometimes listening to the quietest voices or in this case, the observant children can pay off in the end. I liked Skye as a character – a cat lover, a reader, and a writer, and she filled her role extremely well.

I felt like this book used the tropes of detective and mystery novels well and used them in an inventive way that suited the storyline, using Skye’s novel as the basis for the crimes. The crimes are appropriate for readers aged ten and older, and books like this are a good introduction to mystery for this age group, as it shows how the genre works without the gore that adult mystery books can have. And as a crime reader, I do enjoy reading different kinds of crime and mystery novels for a range of readerships to see how different things work and how they are executed in the story. There are some very clever books out there that play with the tropes and usual suspects but give it a twist and make it unique. As Skye investigates these crimes and tries to help her town, she is also trying to find out where her parents really are following their sudden disappearance almost three years ago. This additional storyline fleshed out the characters and I think drove Skye’s interests. I loved this book; it had something that everyone can enjoy, and I think a lot of people will see something they recognise in one or more of the characters.

Kelli gets the right balance of drama and humour in her books to keep them engaging and exciting. I took my time with this book because I was trying to solve the crime along with Skye, and I loved all the red herrings thrown at us throughout – because the first person accused can be innocent, especially when questioned near the start, yet there might be more to the crimes than Skye realises, and it was this revelation and the way everything was portrayed and carried off that made the book what it is. I had a laugh often as I recognised the classic tropes being used – but as I said before, that’s what makes a crime novel work. It’s what the author does with them that matters. Another great Kelli Anne Hawkins book.