Saturday, February 23, 2013

Dahl, Michael. Out the Rear Window. (Hotel Hocus Pocus series)


Dahl, Michael.    Out the Rear Window. (Hotel Hocus Pocus series)  Capstone/Stone Arch    112p  $23.99  978-1-4342-4038-5      2013  elm/ms  VG  Mystery/Detective

Tyler Yu and Charlie Hitchcock form an unlikely friendship in order to solve a magical mystery at the Abracadabra Hotel.       The great magician Abracadabra has named his mysterious hotel after himself.  Affectionately called the “Hocus Pocus Hotel, the building houses more than its share of mysteries.   This time, a resident magician has vanished into thin air.  When tough guy Tyler Yu can’t figure it out on his own, he enlists Charlie Hitchcock, with his photographic memory, to help him. 

Dahl combines magic tricks and illusions and incorporates them smoothly into the mystery of the magician’s disappearance.  The explanations of the mirror tricks are further clarified by helpful illustrations, and a simple magic trick is included at the end of the book for readers to try.

Aspiring magicians and mystery fans alike will enjoy this mysterious tale, the first in a new series.

Magicians–Fiction, Magic tricks–Fiction, Hotels-Fiction.                                                                                  --Hilary Welliver

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