SPECIAL OFFER - THE SECRET OF INSTANT DELIGHT! Be the first to read Johnny Swanson!

The book that's got the nation talking - yours by return of post.

All is revealed:
The truth about the Stambleton murder
The facts behind the TB scare
The real identity of Ada Ardour
And one boy's fight to save his mother's life!

All this, and the answer to the burning question of 1929:
What on earth is a CLONG?

(To find out, send a P.O. for 2/6 to Box 90)



Updale writes with such obvious relish that fun exudes from the ink on every page. This is real entertainment. Johnny Swanson is just the kind of book for which the term 'joyous romp' was invented
Philip ArdaghGuardian

Eleanor Updale's very funny Johnny Swanson introduces a great character . . . The story swings along, providing dastardly villains, inept policemen and a satisfying denouement
Marilyn BrocklehurstBookseller

This is a lovely story, full of fascinating and accurate period detail, social injustice and moral quandaries, that revels in a child's determination to play the unfair system to his advantage. Young fans of Updale's Montmorency series will find this equally entertaining
Sally MorrisDaily Mail

Eleanor Updale is an excellent storyteller, building up character, plot and excitement until the reader is compelled to stop everything else until the book is finished
Jane SandellScotsman

This book is distinguished among other features by the immensely convincing background detail of the period setting . . . The characterisation is exemplary, Johnny and his mother being convincing and winning protagonists. This is a remarkable book and a worthy successor to the work for which Updale won the Blue Peter Award
Armadillo Magazine

Johnny Swanson is a charmingly old fashioned - in the very best way - adventure novel. This is a great read, it zips along and illuminates a period of history that is usually forgotten
Write Away!

magnificent newspaper style front cover...I had never heard of Eleanor Updale before and was pleasantly surprised by how good the book was. I was shocked by some of the events that occurred in the book and it really did open my eyes as to how unjust things can be...If you have read and enjoyed Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, then this book will definitely be for you.
The BookboySavidge Reads

This is an enjoyably escapist, rather old-fashioned story, mixing realism in its portraying of the hardships of inter-War life with the ever-green delights of children solving a mystery and bringing the right person to justice
Books for Keeps

Johnny Swanson is sheer entertainment and does not try to be anything else. It begins as a funny distraction, but then moves in an exciting direction as Johnny plays sleuth. Updale brings the three main strands of her novel cleverly together in the second half, and it's not giving any spoilers to say everything ends happily. Johnny Swanson is a delightful, delicious and original romp
John MillenYoung Post

The Silver Sword, Goodnight Mr Tom, The Butterfly Lion, The Railway Children and Kim all belong to a genre in which there is no magic, but a tremendous sense of what real children in adversity might achieve with courage, cleverness and luck. Eleanor Updale's Johnny Swanson belongs to this category, and it deserves the highest praise
Amanda CraigThe Times

Johnny Swanson is another historical novel from Eleanor Updale, the creator of the wonderful Montmorency books, and this is an ingeniously constructed whodunit set in northern England in 1929, during a TB epidemic. There's lots of blood and gore, and it explores some unusal adult themes - being broke for example
Toby ClementsDaily Telegraph

Like the best children's books, it's about children, not simplified or toned down for them
Michael MorpurgoThe Times

Super old-fashioned adventure story set in 1929, featuring murder, mayhem, scam adverts and medical malpractice. Thank heavens for the dollop of courage and tenacity. A truly fun read
Bookbag

Updale is a superb storyteller and her plot is totally original
Claire LarsonRead Plus

This was the first book I have read by Eleanor Updale and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I must read more books by her as she has a different, yet enjoyable style of writing.

Johnny Swanson is a detective story and nowadays you don't get many detective stories for younger readers - which is why I think she captivates a different audience and writes intriguing books to read. One of my favourite points in this story is about halfway through when the murder occurs. During the following chapters Eleanor Updale leaves clues for many of the characters to suggest that they murdered Doctor Langford.

I liked the fact that she wrote the story based in a slightly older era. The first chapters show the era in which it set because Johnny does some advertising for the paper and it shows that they pay in shillings and pence.

I would recommend this book for ages nine and up because of the era in which it is set and some of the language used. All in all this is a great book and I strongly urge everyone to read it.