REVIEW: Tarot Says Beware

Tarot Says Beware
Author: Betsy Byars

Tarot Says Beware is the second book in the middle-grade Herculeah Jones Mystery series. Herculeah, named after Hercules, lives next door to her friend, Meat. Meat is overweight and a bit of a coward, but he is a loyal friend and always helps Herculeah in her investigations. The daughter of a cop and a private detective, Herculeah has sleuthing in her blood, much to the chagrin of her parents. She always knows when there is a mystery about because her hair frizzles. When her hair starts to go all wild, she knows it's time to do some sleuthing!

In Tarot Says Beware, Herculeah knows something is wrong when she sees her neighbor's parrot outside. Madame Rosa, a palmist, loves her bird and would never allow Tarot outside. Herculeah goes over to Madame Rosa's house to put Tarot back inside and to see what might be wrong. Her hair is frizzling like mad, and her hair is never wrong! In fact, things couldn't get much more wrong...and Herculeah finds herself in the middle of a major police investigation. As usual, Meat is scared out of his wits but stands by his friend, accompanying her to investigate the case.

I love this series! Herculeah's frizzling hair is just too cute. And Meat is hilarious. He's always scared, but he stands by his friend through everything. He jokes about writing letters to Dear Abby to find out what to do about a neighbor girl that is constantly getting him into trouble. :) Just too cute. This story is middle-grade appropriate. There is a bit of implied violence, but nothing graphic.

I like the characters. Herculeah is intelligent, curious and strong. Meat is afraid of a lot of things, but shows real courage when he faces his fears in order to protect his friend. The story has realism as well, as Herculeah's parents are divorced and often show some bitterness towards each other. Herculeah deals with the situation the best she can, as do most children of divorced parents. But that isn't a main part of the plot. The majority of the story is Herculeah and Meat investigating mysteries. This time, it was a major case....and dangerous. Great suspenseful story!

There are seven books in the Herculeah Jones Mysteries series. I'm going to read them all. It's a very enjoyable kid sleuth series! I'm reading a couple heavy thrillers right now and when the plots get really intense, I like to take a break and read something short and lighter. Middle-grade books are perfect for this! Betsy Byars has written many middle-grade level books, including Tornado, The Midnight Fox and Trouble River.