Julia Nobel

For fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Blackthorn Key series comes an award-winning boarding school mystery about twelve year old Emmy, who's shipped off to a prestigious British school. But her new home is hiding a secret society ... and it may be the answer to Emmy's questions about her missing father. With a dad who disappeared years ago and a mother who's a bit too busy to parent, Emmy is shipped off to Wellsworth, a prestigious boarding school in England, where she's sure she won't fit in. But then she finds a box of mysterious medallions in the attic of her home with a note reading: These belonged to your father. When she arrives at school, she finds the strange symbols from the medallions etched into walls and books, which leads Emmy and her new friends, Jack and Lola, to Wellsworth's secret society: The Order of Black Hollow Lane. Emmy can't help but think that the society had something to do with her dad's disappearance, and that there may be more than just dark secrets in the halls of Wellsworth... Pick up the Black Hollow Lane series for your 5th grade and middle school students, kids 9-12, and young readers who love twisty mysteries with: Boarding schools Secret societies Cryptic letters Secret relics A fantastic group of friends

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

buny

Twelve-year-old Emmy investigates the connection between her father's disappearance and a secret society at her prestigious English boarding school.

riven

What a delightful read! 

Very fast paced, well written, kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I finished in one sitting and I absolutely do not regret it at all. A perfect cozy mystery.

I always like to pick up a middle grade, or something that I know I'll fly through, whenever I'm feeling a bit slumpy, and this was so delightful. I loved the British boarding school-secret society vibes, and the friendship between Emmy, Lola and Jack. It was fun following along with them as they tried to unravel the mystery of Emmy's father. I think this would also be a perfect read for fall, and I'll most likely pick up the next book soon.

Heather Harrington

I really like it!
The vibes remind me a lot of HP. 
We have a trio of friends snooping around in a boarding school. Even though it's not a magical setting the mystery vibes are on point. The characters are likable and I'm excited about the sequel.
I think the favourite part of mine might be the found family trope. I highly recommend.

Giulia Pianta

I was anticipating reading this book as it had all that I usually love in a middle-grade book, such as a mystery, a girl that wants to solve it, a boarding school in an isolated area of England.

The beginning was meh, I was annoyed at how Emmy’s mother would behave. It was really idiotic and sort of unrealistic. I thought things would get better when Emmy would get to school, but sadly I didn’t feel the vibe.

Listen, I read a few of the Murder Most Unladylike series and those set in the boarding school are stellar (tbh, all of them are). You can imagine the school, you meet so many teachers and pupils but you never confuse them, and the whole picture is complete.

Here, there was so little. I could not imagine the school, there are approximately 5 students described and the whole thing was meh.
Not only that, but the story was very rushed. I get that you don’t necessarily give a child a 900-page book, but maybe a few more would have been useful. It feels that the character is running here and there and things happen one after the other within a few days, so I was really not intrigued or hooked.

That was partly due to the mystery being not that mysterious. I mean, it is not a classical mystery where we get a certain number of clues, and then bam we can combine them in the right way and then find the solution. In this book, she knows about this (view spoiler)[secret society, gets messages about her father and thinks about her medallions (hide spoiler)] and that’s all. At some point, Emmy (view spoiler)[is given the task to clean a wall (???) and so she finds that one of the medallions fit in as a key. Ok, first of all what a stupid chore. And secondly, the guy that gave her the task knew about the key thing and didn’t want her to find out to protect her, so she told to clean the walls nearby but not the one with the key hole. But why did you make her clean the wall at all??? If you don’t want her to find out, keep her away from the hall??? (hide spoiler)] God so stupid.

And at the end, (view spoiler)[Emmy and her friends go through the secret door and find some guy. He could have been any other of the adults we met at the school as nothing really pointed to him. Replace him with someone else, give it a slightly different motive and you can make up a way they could be responsible. This is not a good mystery. (hide spoiler)]

Another thing I didn’t really like is how Emmy is an idiot. I get that she is 12 so I can’t expect her to act like an adult, but sometimes I was so annoyed at how stupid she, and her friends, was. I also loathed the chapters with Victoria. I get the author wanted to create some tension, but Victoria is mean for the sake of being mean, while Emmy is so spineless it’s frustrating. There is also no reason why Victoria should hate Emmy so much and reading her jabs at her felt uncomfortable, as they were put against each other just because you need a mean girl in the story. But to be honest, you really don’t need that.

The last thing to mention maybe is that this book included quite a lot of football, which I am really not a fan of and I wasn’t very interested after all.
I was also not really interested in the secret society. It was just a bunch of kids chatting in a room, which I wouldn’t call dangerous or suspenseful or thrilling. It was made out to be something huge but we are never told what they do or anything really, so it really made everyone’s actions feel stupid.

I am very disappointed in this book, I thought I was going to love it but there was just too much I really didn’t like.

Candyce Kirk

Got to properly feed my nostalgia with a boarding school book set in Norfolk. I also loved how fast-paced it was. God, now I really want to turn back time to when I lived in Norfolk and went to school there.

Hannah Alexander 

this book was a creepy and mysterious middle grade. the story was great it has some of my favorites troops in it. Boarding schools, kids soliving a mystery, secret societys, found family and much much more. If you are looking for a new seires to read this is soemthing I think you should pick up!

"A fast-paced mystery with lots of adventure and surprising twists! --Jessica Day George, New York Times bestselling author The first in an exciting new mystery series, this suspenseful debut brings readers on a journey filled with secrets, mystery, and unforgettable characters. With a dad who disappeared years ago and a mother who's a bit too busy to parent, Emmy is shipped off to Wellsworth, a prestigious boarding school in England, where she's sure she won't fit in. Before she leaves Emmy finds a box of mysterious medallions in the attic of her home--medallions that belonged to her father. Her father who may have gone to Wellsworth. When she arrives at school, she finds the strange symbols from the medallions etched into walls and books, which leads Emmy and her new friends, Jack and Lola, to Wellsworth's secret society: The Order of Black Hollow Lane. Emmy can't help but think that the society had something to do with her dad's disappearance, and that there may be more than just dark secrets in the halls of Wellsworth... Black Hollow Lane Mystery Series: The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Book 1) The Secret of White Stone Gate (Book 2)

Megan

an enjoyable, atmospheric middle grade but it lost me a little bit towards the end! I loved the dark academia setting and the friendships but i found the plot a bit half-baked!

Anastaciya

That was a great book. So intense, full of mysteries, also sends some good messages (it's okay to ask for help and trust your friends, it's important to stand up for oneself, to be inquisitive, and studying and sports are important).

Rebeca 

4 stars 

This was SO GOOD. I had some expectations for it but it was way beyond my expectations. I cannot wait to read book 2. READ THIS NOW

Megan Leprich

I picked this book up after a recommendation from a friend and I absolutely loved it. I honestly didn’t want to put this book down and picked it back up whenever I could. The characters were amazing and I loved Emmy with my whole heart. I’m a sucker for a group of friends that come together to solve mysteries and I will always read a book that’s based around a boarding school. The mystery was so intriguing and I was pleasantly surprised by the suspense that was thrown in. 

Can March hurry up and get here so I can read the next one?

Melea Mullican

Fun, but did not live up to the potential. I was expecting an appropriately creepy mystery about a boarding school and secret societies. While that was there, it was almost the back story to all the catty girl relationships and weird mother daughter relationships. I liked it, but wanted a lot more.

Lynn Braden

Emmy has always lived with her mother, who is an expert in raising children... at least that is what her books say, but Emmy has been alone more often than not. She doesn't remember her father and her mother will not allow her to talk about him, so she searches their house until she finds a box of medallions hidden in the attic chimney that Emmy just knows belonged to him. When Emmy's mother signs a contract to do a reality show, Emmy is shipped off to Wellsworth boarding school in England. Emmy must learn subjects she has never studied, and her roommate is a bully, making life very tough. After Emmy finally makes friends with Lola and Jack, she begins to get strange messages, which make it clear that her box of medallions contains more than just memories of her father.

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane is a cross between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Iron Trial. The mystery of the medallions is woven into the story of Emmy trying to succeed in an environment that is completely new to her. Her friends are quirky and fun, especially Lola, but their personalities will probably be developed more in future installments of this series. Overall, this is a good middle grade story with enough action and intrigue to interest readers.

Jessica Nottingham

What an absolutely stellar middle grade read! I enjoyed every minute spent with Emmy at Wellsworth, and I loved the fact that The Order of Black Hollow Lane was such a dark society. It's always a good read for me when an MG author doesn't shy away from darker, mysterious and sometimes even dangerous events. Emmy was well up for the challenge too, which made my heart sing. Following along with her, watching her uncover clues, it all was just too much fun. I can't wait for the next book.

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

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