Book Review - Murder in the Corn Maze

Murder in the Corn Maze (2019) AMZN

from Kensington Cozies, 290 Pages (Granny Reid Mystery Book 2)

by G. A. McKevett (Author)

You may know author G. A. McKevett from their book series SAVANNAH REID MYSTERIES. This particular book is book 2 of the GRANNY REID MYSTERIES series, that tells about the popular grandmother figure from Savannah’s books.

In the small town of McGill, Georgia, Stella Reid and her seven grandchildren are enjoying a Halloween corn maze when Savannah stumbles upon a human skull. The skull is later identified as that of Rebecca Dingle, a woman who went missing decades earlier. Stella and Savannah team up to solve the cold case, and their investigation leads them to uncover long-buried secrets about Stella's family and the town's history.

Along the way, Stella and Savannah learn about the importance of friendship, family, and forgiveness. They also discover that even the most seemingly innocent places can harbor dark secrets.

Murder in the Corn Maze is a heartwarming and suspenseful mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very end. It is a perfect book for fans of cozy mysteries and Southern Gothic fiction.

Here are the main themes of the book:

• The importance of friendship, family, and forgiveness.

• The dangers of secrets and the power of truth.

• The importance of never giving up on a mystery, no matter how old it is.

Book Review - The Curious History of Mazes

The Curious History of Mazes by Julie E Bounford

192 pages, AMZN

Before I delve into my review of the book I want to mention that the Amazon page for this book is excellent if you click on the link above. Specifically, the “From the Publishers” section - each chapter has an illustration and a quick summary.

The book is a great mix of the history, uses, and symbolism of mazes and labyrinths around the world. The illustrations and examples are excellent and I really enjoyed the breaks to solve unique mazes along the way.

What I learned in this book (at least some of it):

• “In some Meso-American cultures, it was believed that the wicked could be “mazed” in the underworld, so their souls would not return” ; Which to me seems like a nice pitch to a new horror movie

• I have never seen a Sidereal maze before, based on the constellations. Very interesting and fun to solve (page 45 in kindle version). Or the Switch Maze (Page 105).

• I learned about the city of Saffron Walden in England, a city with a hedge maze and the largest turf maze in Europe at 132 feet from corner to corner. Seems like a nice place for a maze museum ?

• That Francesco Segala, an Italian architect from Padua in the 15th century may have created the first picture mazes ever (with illustrations in the book !)

• The first 3 dimensional maze was built in the 1830’s by Stuart Landsborough using wodden board to create a second story on a maze.

• The strategy game Nine Men’s Morris that was popular to be played at turf mazes.

• There are 270 labyrinths on the London Underground, created by English artist Mark Wallinger in 2013 to mark the Underground’s 150th Anniversary. You can see some of them here.

• Cloud cities by Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno, which you should just see to understand.

• There is a nice illustration comparing the classical and medieval labyrinth designs (figure 2 page 46) that I found interesting.

What this book does best: The mix of mazes with history and examples makes for a fun reading experience. The mazes are a break from reading - unless you get to a hard one - then the reading is the break!

Kids Book Review - The Labyrinth of Doom by Stuart Gibbs

The Labyrinth of Doom (2022) AMZN

157 Pages, for ages 7-10

by Stuart Gibbs, illustrated by Stacy Curtis

Today I review The Labyrinth of Doom by Stuart Gibbs and Stacy Curtis, which is the second book in the "Once Upon a Tim" series. The story follows Tim, a knight-in-training, and his best friend Belinda, as they embark on a quest to save Princess Grace. The princess needs rescuing again (also in book 1 of the series), and Tim and Belinda must face a series of challenges as they traverse a labyrinth, including menacing beasts like the minotaur and treacherous obstacles like chasms filled with cave sharks. Yes, cave sharks. I enjoyed the writing style a lot (maybe I like kids books ?) and found the story to be engaging. The illustrations are also fun by Stacy Curtis.

This is a great book for kids, that I recommend.

Other blog posts you might like:

The 12 Best Maze and Labyrinth Movies Of All Time

Watchmojo's Best Maze Movie Scenes

How to make over 40 types of mazes

A Review of 5 Maze-themed Books for 7-10 year olds

I wanted to pull together a collection of maze books that are perfect for kids aged 7-10 years old. None of these are traditional maze books but have mazes as part of the plot. We get Batman and Robin, Scooby-Doo, the boxcar Children and 2 Christian books. 2 corn mazes, 2 hedge mazes and a colorful labyrinth.

Scarecrow's Nightmare Maze (2016) 88 Pages AMZN

by J. E. Bright, Luciano Vecchio

Ages 7-12 years old

If I’m being honest when I saw this book I thought it was a comic. But it is not a comic, it is a young adult book of 88 easy to read pages. I found digitally from my local library. Our antagonist is Scarecrow and his very effective fear gas. In this story we have Scarecrow using a maze to confuse and scare his victims when it is effectively combined with his fear gas. Batman and Robin are on his trail and are trying to catch him and return him to Arkham Asylum. There are only a few illustrations in the book, but I think the few that there are are very good (Check out Batman and Robin walking in the corn maze below!). The story is good and reads like a Batman comic although the vocabulary is targeted at a younger audience. Overall, If you are fan of Batman and mazes, you will like this book.

Batman and Robin in a corn maze !

If you are a fan of Batman, check out my review of a maze centric episode from Batman the Animated Series called If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? from way back in 1992.

The Mystery of the Maze Monster (2014) 112 Pages AMZN

by John Sazaklis

Ages 7-11 years

First I need to mention that this is different from “choose” books I have read in the past. To me this this has longer passages between decisions, so you get more story before making that decision. As you can tell from the cover there are 10 different endings ! Personally I did the book 4 different times and I never caught the villain ! This is a Scooby-Doo book. I thought I would catch them each time like on the cartoon ! It is not a bad thing, just surprising.

This book is fun and does take you in many different directions after the initial set-up. That set-up is what made me read and do a review of the book. A minotaur appears to have stolen some valuable items and has escape into a hedge maze. Can the gang catch it ? (As I said before I went 0 for 4).

There are some nice illustrations in the book that made me nostalgic for the tv show. I also found myself hearing the different characters voices in my head as I read. I enjoyed the book and think you would too !

One other thing of note - If you enjoy this book, there appear to be a total of 14 Scooby-Doo ‘You Choose’ books available !

The Clue in the Corn Maze: The Boxcar Children Mysteries, Book 101 144 Pages AMZN

by Gertrude Chandler Warner

from Albert Whitman & Company, for Ages 7-10 years

I am really glad that I decided to read this book. Of course I picked it up because I knew the story included a corn maze, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story. Yes, this book is meant for children 7-10 years old and I am an adult. I still appreciated the simple way the story was told. I am currently learning how to speak a second language and would love this kind of book in that language.

The story takes place on a farm that has a festival for the town which features a corn maze. Someone is vandalizing the maze each night and leaving notes to not hold the festival. Along the way a variety of people are shown to have motivations that may mean they are the perpetrators. The feel of the story reminded me of a Scooby-Doo episode. The short chapters pace in story just right and this is a good read. I also noticed some words that were meant to expand the vocabulary of the young reader which I liked. I don’t give a score for books, but this book is recommended.

Molly's Maze Discovery (2021) Own Image 57 Print Pages AMZN

by Carmen Allen Ages 6-10

Part 2 of the Molly Greenwood Adventures series

I came across this book, Molly's Maze Discovery, while browsing for something to read from the library. You know I can’t pass up a maze book no matter what age it is intended for. This book is about Molly (Greenwood) and her friends as they are tempted to enter a hedge maze despite being told they are not old enough by the King. I should mention that Molly is a princess (see book 1, this is book 2 in the series), thus the King.

After finding a map of the maze with an X hidden inside the children give in to their temptations and enter the maze. What follows is an adventure that includes 2 men chasing the children to try to get them into an orphanage. We have secret trap doors and secret rooms and a nice adventure for the kids. Without giving away too much of the story, we get a nice message (and a hidden message). This is a Christian book and suitable for ages 7-12.

You can find information on the complete series at the author’s website.

Baby's Labyrinth (2022) 44 Pages AMZN

by Bobby Holley

from Christian Faith Publishing, For ages 3 months to 10 years

The book is a bedtime story for kids about a book of bedtime stories that is lost. It is a quick read of 44 pages ( although that may depend on just how sleepy your children are!). The story is composed of 8 chapters and follows a group of five babies and their mother.

After the initial set-up we get into the main part of the story, and the part we are most interested in in Chapter 2, titled Into the Labyrinth. The kids have found their way into a colorful labyrinth (details are saved for the book). This starts our quest to find the book, and we meet a variety of characters along the way. It is in Chapter 4, titled Magic of the Maze where we learn that the children won’t be able to fall asleep without their book (oh no !). The quest continues and we eventually reach our conclusion (spoiler….any guess?). The book has a few illustrations, but is really a story to be read ( versus a bedtime story book that uses pictures and reading together). I would have liked more illustrations, but overall, a nice story.