Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Bonnie and her grandfather go on a well-deserved holiday, but instead of relaxing, they discover a murder. Bonnie Montgomery and Grampa Banks, whom readers met in the first series entry, have solved many cases together. Now on vacation on Odde Island, they’re eager to enjoy “a week without murder” and to visit Leerie Lighthouse. But they find it closed because Maude Cragge, the lighthouse keeper and Grand Maven of the Order of the Golden Fleece, died in a fall the night before. Discerning Bonnie spots that it wasn’t an accident, but since 10-year-olds don’t usually solve murder mysteries, she dons her false mustache and adopts “the foreign accent most mystérieux,” becoming the unusually short detective Montgomery Bonbon. When a second death occurs, Bonbon and Grampa Banks must determine who among the resident Oddities is the culprit. This case finds the white-presenting duo, plus Bonnie’s friend Dana Hornville, who presents Black, running around the craggy island while together they uncover an Order in disorder, an onion (smuggling) ring, and a peculiar pageant. Powell’s bold and humorous illustrations capture the dizzying terrain and eccentric cast of characters. Despite the red herrings she confronts, readers will never doubt that Bonnie will reveal the murderer tout de suite. A jolly good cozy mystery with a cliffhanger reveal. (map, cast of characters, author’s note)(Mystery. 8-12) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Bonnie Montgomery, the protagonist of this romp, is an ordinary ten-year-old English girl with best-friend problems, a fear of heights, and a kindly grandfather. However, in her alter ego as a (rather short) detective, she is Montgomery Bonbon, complete with false moustache, trench coat, and a French-adjacent accent. In this, her second case (following Murder at the Museum), she travels to Odde Island, where she tackles the recent murder of a lighthouse keeper. Another suspicious death complicates matters. More cerebral detective than action hero, Bonbon uses logic and clever fact-gathering to sort out who is keeping a secret, who is lying, who has a motive, and who's smuggling onions onto the island (they are banned). But it's not all little gray cells either, as a final scene has Bonbon confronting the murderer at the top of the lighthouse during a thunderstorm. Silly in the best British sense, this adventure provides the reader with many treats, chief among them an unrelenting series of epic similes. "'Whaddya want?' rumbled a voice like a sackful of gravel in a tumble dryer." The book design -- with its caricature-rich illustrations, page decorations, and a variety of dapper typefaces -- suits the wacky, parodic, genially satirical tone to a T. (c) Copyright 2025. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.