Cora Taylor,
Chaos in China (The Spy Who Wasn’t There Series)
Coteau Books, 2009

Rating: G*

The Arnold twins, Maggie and Jennifer, have had two previous adventures when travelling along with their Grandmother. This trip to China to see the famous terracotta warriors just might turn out to be as exciting as the earlier ones.

The group also includes Sam, a neighbourhood friend whose grandfather happens to be an archaeologist working on excavations near to Xi’an. When there is an attempt to steal Sam’s camera by two other tourists, and Grand decides to move them to a small local hotel for safety it seems that they are becoming involved in an adventure.

The background is well researched and gives a good picture of modern China, which may fit well with Social Study themes, but Jennifer has the ability to become invisible, a really helpful skill when sleuthing, but not so realistic. It also provides plenty of problems explaining the results of her actions to those not aware of an invisible person in the room!

Fans of the earlier books will no doubt welcome another in the series, but readers who are used to action movies may find this rather tame.

Thematic Links: China; Detective Stories; Mysteries

Mavis Holder
Vol. 15, number 3
February 2010

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.