Clem Fatale Has Been Upstaged
Eve Wersocki-Morris, illustrated by Honie Beam
Little Tiger

This story is set in London in the summer of 1951. Twelve year old Clem Fatale, the city’s youngest crook, and her best friend, Gilbert, eleven, now at an upmarket boarding school, are excited as they’re going to see their favourite singers Betty and Judy Wade in their first UK performance at the London Palladium. But then suddenly the two friends are ‘picked up’ and told that Betty, one of the sisters has gone missing. Clem and Gilbert are hired to find Betty.

This proves to be much more problematic than Clem first thought. It’s almost impossible to know who can be trusted as their investigation sees them encountering the dark side of the theatre scene, crossing paths with some very dodgy actors, visiting all manner of establishments from The Ritz with its ‘cream of London society’ clientele to the decrepit abandoned warehouse building bearing the sign Rumple’s Red Tomato Sauce. Add to that a motorbike chase courtesy of Konrad who is like an older brother to Clem and drives them there.

I don’t know about Clem and Gilbert but my head was spinning by the time I got to that point; however with less than twenty four hours to go before the curtain goes up on the sisters’ show, the two friends are absolutely determined to get to the bottom of what is going on. Can they do so and perform an astonishing rescue before a terrible accident takes place?

With humour aplenty, and a fair sprinkling of dramatic black and white illustrations by Honie Beam, this is a cracking, fast paced tale crammed with action and heart, wherein the bond of friendship between Clem and Gilbert grows even stronger. I can’t wait to see what they get involved in next.