5stars

TILL DEATH DO US BARK: 43 OLD CEMETERY ROAD, BOOK 3 by  Kate Klise

Seymour, Iggy and Olive are writing the next three chapters of 43 Old Century Road when a canine named Secret shows up in the yard.  Seymour takes ownership of the dog, even after several in the town of Ghastly, has told him where the dog belongs.  Secret’s master, Noah Breth, has died and Seymour does not think Secret has anyone to love him (and feed or play).  Olive sees this as a problem since she already has a pet cat, Shadow.  Everyone knows cats and dogs do not get along.   Soon Shadow disappears, then Seymour and Secret.  Worried, Olive leaves to find her Shadow.  Only Iggy is at home, and feeling quite alone.

In town, the big news is not the arrival of Noah Breth’s children, Kitty and Kanine, who have arrived to claim their deceased father’s money.  No, the news is the appearance of valuable coins being found in the strangest places.  One is worth 5 million dollars.  The bickering bad Breth children find out, through the limericks Noah wrote for them, where their inheritance is located, they just need to decipher the poems to find the money. The two do not work together, just as Noah expected.  Will they find their inheritance?  Will Iggy and his family be reunited?  What are those coins?  Noah would want you to read and find out for yourself.

This is book three in the 43 Old Cemetery Road series by Kate Klise and her illustrator sister M. Sarah.  It is a thoroughly delightful chapter book for middle graders.  Lots of humor, word play and limericks fill the pages which are written mostly as letters.  This unique format works amazingly well.  The daily newspaper, The Ghastly Times, fills in the story these letters do not tell.  The illustrations are delightfully detailed gems.  Kids, of all ages, will love this book.  This is the first book in the 43 Old Cemetery Road series I have read.  Now I want to read the first two and any that follow.  Simply genius!

I think this book is genius,
So let me say, between us,
The letters are neat,
The humor’s  a treat,
Reading this book is a must.

(The impulse was too strong.  Go check it out of your library and try to resist.)

Note: received from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher