Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Children's Fiction Mysteries & Detective Stories

Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders

illustrated by Kevin Sylvester

Publisher
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Initial publish date
Oct 2014
Category
Mysteries & Detective Stories, General, Cooking & Food
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781442446052
    Publish Date
    Oct 2014
    List Price
    $11.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442446069
    Publish Date
    Jan 2012
    List Price
    $8.99 USD
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781442446045
    Publish Date
    Jan 2012
    List Price
    $15.99
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781554702664
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $12.95

Add it to your shelf

Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 8 to 12
  • Grade: 3 to 7
  • Reading age: 8 to 12

Description

A teen chef detective has murder on his plate in this first book in The Neil Flambé Capers, a delicious blend of mystery, history, and top-notch cuisine.

Neil Flambé is a world-renowned chef and restaurant owner. He’s also a kid. And, in his spare time, Neil uses his super-sensitive nose to help the local police solve mysteries. But when some of the best chefs in town turn up dead, the crime scenes turn culinary.

The cops are stumped, and the only real clues are a mysterious smell and some equally mysterious notes that seem to have something to do with Marco Polo. As more chefs fall prey to the killer, Neil can’t imagine how things can get any worse—until he becomes the prime suspect!

About the author

 

KEVIN SYLVESTER est auteur laure´at, illustrateur, journaliste, animateur de radio, re´alisateur et documentariste. Il a e´crit les livres de la se´rie MiNRS et Neil Flambe´, ainsi que les livres documentaires Gold Medal for Weird et Sports Hall of Weird. Kevin est reconnu pour son habilete´ de faire un souper dernie're minute avec ce qui est moindrement consommable dans son frigo. Il peut aussi transformer des cercles en chats et des cornets de cre'me glace´e en dragons. Kevin habite a' Toronto.

 

KEVIN SYLVESTER is an award-winning writer, illustrator, reporter, radio sports host, producer and documentary maker. His books include the MiNRS and Neil Flambé series. Kevin's claims his superpower is that he can take a puck off the head and STILL finish a hockey game. He's also known for his ability to be able to make a last-second dinner from whatever smells reasonably edible in the fridge. And he can instantly turn circles into cats and ice cream cones into dragons. Well, cat and dragon cartoons anyway. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. Visit him online at www.kevinsylvester.online.

 

Kevin Sylvester's profile page

Librarian Reviews

Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders

Writer and broadcaster Kevin Sylvester has written non-fiction books for children and adults. In Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders, he begins a new and entertaining fiction series for young readers.

Neil Flambé is an extraordinarily arrogant 14-year-old master chef who runs his own dazzlingly acclaimed restaurant while attending high school. Neil’s incredibly sensitive nose not only enables him to concoct mouth-watering dishes, but also to help the police solve crimes. When someone seems to be killing off the chefs of Vancouver, Neil can identify a tantalizing smell of cumin and chai on each body. But neither he nor Police Inspector Sean Nakamura can figure out who is doing this, why or how. It takes the knowledge of Neil’s slacker cousin Larry, the wisdom of his mentor Angel Jícama and the input of a few other characters to solve the crime – after a number of twists, turns, blind alleys, rotten puttanesca sauce and tasty recipes.

An avid historian, Sylvester uses the true story of Marco Polo’s journeys to craft the mystery. He writes with lots of humour, more than a few puns and great enthusiasm for food. He fleshes out his main characters with appropriate detail to make them more than stock characters and to make the reader look forward to the next book in the series. By the end of the story, Neil has learned a few lessons about what’s important in life, but retains enough arrogance to see him satisfactorily through a few more adventures. Neil Flambé and the Aztec Abduction will be appearing in the fall of this year.

Source: The Canadian Children's Bookcentre. Spring 2010. Vol.33 No.2.

Other titles by