Museum Mystery Squad and the Case of the Hidden Hieroglyphics

Quick Look

• Brand new series in the popular Young Kelpies list, perfect for amateur sleuths and quiz fanatics
• Scooby Doo meets Doctor Who as the squad solve a series of strange mysteries
• Interactive games and puzzles throughout the text to keep young readers engaged

The Museum Mystery Squad investigates the case of a strange message found hidden on the casket of Pharaoh Raneb. Can the Squad reveal the mummy's secret before it unravels?

Description

Some people think that museums are boring places full of glass cases, dust and stuff no-one cares about: wrong! In a hidden headquarters below the exhibits there's a gang ready to handle dangerous, spooky or just plain weird problems: the Museum Mystery Squad.

Techie-genius Nabster, mile-a-minute Kennedy, and sharp-eyed Laurie (along with Colin the hamster!) tackle the surprising conundrums happening at the museum. From moving prehistoric creatures and secret Egyptian code breaking to missing treasure and strange messages from the past, there's no brain-twisting, totally improbable puzzle the Squad can't solve.

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Hieroglyphics: hard to spell and even harder to decode!

When a strange message is found hidden on the casket of Pharaoh Raneb, the Museum Mystery Squad must crack a code nobody's seen since ancient Egyptian times. But this mummy's keeping mum.

The Squad are not the only ones working on the mystery: they meet Egyptian expert Professor Peter Gyptex, and the very odd Vera Damclot, a fan of mummified cats. Can the Squad reveal the mummy's secret before it unravels?

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Young readers will love the riddles, red herrings and big reveals jam-packed into this fun-filled series of mystery stories by Mike Nicholson. The enjoyable extras like wacky facts and activities, as well as zany illustrations by Mike Phillips, will keep amateur detectives entertained for hours.

Reviews

'... there is a clear desire to celebrate museums as spaces of imagination and learning. There is a very interesting interplay between text and image in the book, as the story is interposed by numerous illustrations, graphs and quizzes that visually make the book very visually stimulating.'
-- Armadillo

'I just finished reading both books -- they are so much fun!'
-- Ms Kirke Kook, Manager and Curator, Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum

'All of the books in this series are fast-moving, filled with interesting facts that should spur readers on to their own explorations, well-written, fun and wonderfully illustrated with black and white drawings by Mike Phillips.'
-- Youth Services Book Review

'There is so much to love about this book. A quick shout out for those with dyslexic children the font and spacing is good as is the creamy pages... A great story and characters, lots of hands on interaction/involvement, fun illustrations, terrible jokes and a great read.'
-- Bookworm (indie bookshop, Selkirk)

'Due to dyslexia ... picking up a book is something that Jonah considers to be hard work. That is until ... he read 'Mammoth'. We had begun to read it together before he went to sleep but he couldn't wait for the story to end and so continued to read on his own!... Within a few nights the book was finished and Jonah asked if we could buy the other book in the series. Completing a book on his own was a real confident boost to Jonah and he genuinely found the whole experience to be great fun.'
-- Parent of Jonah, age 9 years

'My 7yr old loves to read... She loved the museum mysteries... Her imagination has been gripped [...] All in these books have become a loved part of Anna's book shelves. Perfect for her age group. A page turner she can enjoy on her own with some words and phrases she'd not come across before to challenge her.'
-- Parent of Anna, age 7 years

'Grace absolutely loved them and devoured each one [Books 1 and 2] in a day. The characters and the plot really captured her imagination and she really enjoyed the way that facts were interspersed throughout (she loves a good fact!) The games and quizzes at the back were a big hit too.'
-- Parent of Grace, age 8 years

'Nicholson slips in fact boxes and a miniquiz as well as some red herrings to confuse matters. Phillips adds coded messages, screen shots, and diary pages to cartoon views of the squad in action... deduction and slick detective work save the day.'
-- Kirkus (US)

'It's utterly unique and fun and has become an instant favorite in my household. We're looking forward to the next Museum Mystery Squad adventures!'
-- Manhattan Book Review

Author

Mike Nicholson won the Kelpies Prize for new Scottish children's fiction in 2005. He is the author of many humorous children's books including the Museum Mystery Squad series (for young readers) and the Thistle Street picture books. Mike lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Mike Phillips (1961-2024) was the illustrator of many children's books series including the Museum Mystery Squad, Fact-tastic Stories from Scotland's History, Horrible Histories: Gruesome Guides and Horrible Geography.

Links

Discover more of our Scottish children's books on the Discover Kelpies website, where you can search the full Kelpies range, from board books to young teen novels, by age, genre, subject and location.