Mary Crane: And A Pompey Hollow Book Club Seance With Sherlock! (volume 3) [Paperback]

FOREWORD REVIEWS ~ 5 STARS This wholesomely earnest novel is peppered with a dash of old-school mischief and fun. Jerome Mark Antils Mary Crane and a Pompey Hollow Book Club S?ance with Sherlock, the latest installment in the adventures of the Pompey Hollow kids, continues the groups spirited adventures. The club membersall boys except for the steadying influence of President Mary Cranemake their early-teen way through 1950s upstate New York with the help of guardian angel and former neighbor Charlie Pitts, best known as Ole Charlie. The tone of the novel is wholesomely earnest, peppered with a dash of old-school mischief and fun. Antils love for his subject matter and familiarity with the postwar backdrop of this specific region give Pompey Hollow a color and warmth that only true nostalgia can provide. Surely these were simpler times than our own, though not necessarily better or easier. The shadow of the Great Depression lingered, with not-so-distant memories ofas one character noteshaving to live on very little and somehow manage to make a chocolate layer cake with everything but chocolate. And while the United States had recently triumphed in World War II, no great victory is ever won without casualties or sacrifice. In the autumn of 1953, the Book Club and friends find themselves caught up in a caper involving a former war pilot and a crafty British pickpocket, while Ole Charlie meets fellow angel and revered author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There are barn chores and barn dances, the state fair, a traveling theater group, and a grade school teacher with some pretty impressive skills as a con artist. To add to the narrative, Antil includes historical photos along with Paracoustics sound effects. These sound snippets in the form of QR codes allow smartphone users to scan and hear relevant moments of action. Despite the nod to modern technology, Mary Crane and a Pompey Hollow Book Club S?ance with Sherlock will likely appeal to those who actuallylã—