Dead Man's Cove: A Laura Marlin Mystery by Lauren St. John

Dead Man's Cove: A Laura Marlin Mystery by Lauren St. John

By Lauren St. John (author) Part of the The Laura Marlin Mysteries series

Paperback In Stock £7.99 £7.19

View All Editions (2)

Overall winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2011 and winner of the Favourite Story Category. - A Lovereading4kids 'Great Read' you may have missed 2011 selection - Shortlisted for the Galaxy Children's Book of the Year Award 2011.

From the author of the much-loved White Giraffe series comes an exciting four-part adventure series featuring Laura Marlin, an 11 year old ace detective. As with Lauren’s earlier animal series, this is brilliantly written with its terrific prose and atmospheric descriptions of the Cornish coast and is a real page-turner too. Laura longs to be adopted and eventually her wish seems to come true and she moves to Cornwall – to Dead Man’s Cove - to live with her uncle. Her new life however, seems to be full of secrets and as the mysteries pile up she finds she must put her keen detective mind to full use. Accompanied by Skye, a three-legged husky she sets out on an adventure to uncover the mysteries – including a message in a bottle - of Dead Man’s Cove.

*Here is a list of all the Blue Peter Book Award 2011 shortlisted books:

Best Book with Facts:

Do Igloos Have Loos? - Mitchell Symons

How the World Works - Christiane Dorion

What You Need To Know Now: The World in Facts, Stats, and Graphics - Joe Fullman, Ian Graham, Sally Regan and Isabel Thomas

Most Fun Story with Pictures:

Alienography - Chris Riddell

Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree - Andy Stanton

Lunatics and Luck (The Raven Mysteries) - Marcus Sedgwick

Dead Man's Cove (A Laura Marlin Mystery) - Lauren St John

A Web of Air (Mortal Engines) - Philip Reeve

Tall Story - Candy Gourlay

When orphaned Laura Marlin moves from a children's home to live with her uncle in Cornwall, she longs for a life of excitement just like the characters in her favourite detective novels. A real life adventure is on hand as she is deposited at her uncle's spooky house ...Why does her uncle, Calvin Redfern, forbid her to go to Dead Man's Cove? What's the truth about Tariq, the silent Indian boy who lives with the flamboyant Mukthars?

Read the full description

Who is J? Who has left the message in a bottle for Laura to discover? Mysteries abound and who better to solve them than Laura Marlin, ace detective?

Accompanied by her trusty companion, Skye, a three-legged husky, the dog she's always wanted, Laura's adventures begin.

Lauren St John grew up surrounded by horses and wild animals on a farm and game reserve in Zimbabwe, the inspiration for her memoir, Rainbow’s End . After studying journalism, she relocated to the UK, where she spent nearly a decade on the European and PGA Tours as golf correspondent to the Sunday Times. She also wrote the acclaimed music biography Hardcore Troubadour: The Life & Near Death of Steve Earle . She is the author of the multi-award- winning The White Giraffe series for children, as well as the Laura Marlin mysteries, the first of which, Dead Man’s Cove , won the 2011 Blue Peter Book of the Year Award. Her bestselling One Dollar Horse series was followed by YA horse romance, The Glory , now optioned for film.

My Favourite Children’s Books by Lauren St John

For Love of a Horse by Patricia Leitch. Without doubt this is the book that inspired me most as a child. At the time I was living on a farm in Zimbabwe in Southern Africa and had a black horse called Morning Star and it seemed to me that the way I felt about him and Jinny Manders felt about the chestnut Arab mare she rescued from a circus in For Love of a Horse was identical. This series is just brilliant in every way. I’ve read each book at least five times and would happily do so again.

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotsen. To me, Eva Ibbotsen is a genius. You can pick up any of her books – The Dragonfly Pool and One Boy and His Dog are also fantastic – and be guaranteed a good read. A warm, joyous book to be enjoyed by any generation.

Five Run Away Together by Enid Blyton. I think I read my first Famous Five novel when I was six and I was hooked from that moment on. Sure there are bits of that have dated and Enid Blyton is not the world’s greatest prose stylist. But decades on, the appeal of the Famous Five is as strong as ever. Impossible to resist.

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. The ultimate wish fulfillment fantasy, later made into an award-winning film. I’ve read this book more times than I can count and it never loses it’s magic. The film is great too.

Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell. I read this book as a set book at school in Zimbabwe and it had a big impact on me. Gavin Maxwell’s beautifully written book about his life with otters on Scotland’s remote west coast has been called a ‘masterpiece’ and ‘one of the outstanding wildlife books of all time.’ Anyone who loves animals and nature would enjoy this special book. Ring of Bright Water was later made into an outstanding film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.

The Tiger who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr. I fell in love with the smiley, chubby tiger in Judith Kerr’s classic picturebook during one hot Zimbabwe summer when I had to read it four or five times a day to my niece. If it had been up to her I’d have read it even more frequently. Each time I got to the end, she pleaded for us to begin again. Pure genius.

Blue Peter Book Awards 2021

Blue Peter Book Awards 2022

the best books for 7-9 year olds

The Great Theatre Rescue

First Term at Fernside

Tamarind & the Star of Ishta

When orphaned Laura Marlin moves from a children's home to live with her uncle in Cornwall, she longs for a life of excitement just like the characters in her favourite detective novels. A real life adventure is on hand as she is deposited at her uncle's spooky house ...Why does her uncle, Calvin Redfern, forbid her to go to Dead Man's Cove?

The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Dead Man's Cove: A Laura Marlin Mystery and determined it is suitable for children aged 7-10 years old

Dead Man's Cove: A Laura Marlin Mystery features in the following genres: Featured Books for 9+ readers, Recommendations, Featured Books for 7+ readers, Crime & Mystery, Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Recommended Children's eBooks

Paperback, Hardback. £7.19, down from the £7.99 cover price. In Stock.

Dead Man's Cove: A Laura Marlin Mystery was written by Lauren St. John and published by Orion Children's Books (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) an imprint of Orion Publishing Co

Dead Man's Cove: A Laura Marlin Mystery has 201 pages

Yes it is part of The Laura Marlin Mysteries series

£7.19, reduced from £7.99. In Stock.

©PTC International Ltd T/A LoveReading is registered in England. Company number: 10193437. VAT number: 270 4538 09. Registered address: 157 Shooters Hill, London, SE18 3HP. Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

The National Year of Reading starts here. Join thousands of families and schools supporting reading for pleasure across the UK.