I feel like a cheater

Usborne, I love you. But sometimes I buy books from Barnes and Noble. (I'm so sorry. I feel so dirty.)

I've been eyeing this middle-grade series for awhile, if only for the cute cover illustrations and the author's name: Pseudonymous Bosch. I wish I was that clever. I started the first a few days ago and I am pleasantly, delightfully surprised.

Anyway, details:

Title: The Name of This Book is Secret. [I'm not trying to be flip. That's really the name of the book. As you see.]
Author: Pseudonymous Bosch
Illustrator: Gilbert Ford

Synopsis taken from the Barnes And Noble website:

This is the story about a secret. but it also contains a secret story.

When adventurous detectives, Cass, an ever-vigilant survivalist, and Max-Ernest, a boy driven by logic, discover the Symphony of Smells, a box filled with smelly vials of colorful ingredients, they accidentally stumble upon a mystery surrounding a dead magician's diary and the hunt for immortality.




Well. How could I not read that?

I'm half way through and enjoying it immensely. The author takes it just to the closest edge of being flippant and whimsical - but does not tip over the edge into absurdity. And there's just enough levity so that I can actually take it seriously as a novel.

Anyway, a more comprehensive review to come. Soonish.