The Boggart and the Monster

Five years after the popular The Boggart, comes this sequel which links the mischievous invisible spirite, almost inevitably, with that better known, intermittently visible, Scottish phenomenon, the Loch Ness Monster. The idea that Nessie could be a disconsolate boggart, who has lost his family and the power to shift shapes, is attractive, and Cooper enjoys the relationship between the original and irrepressible MacDevon sprite and his glum Urquhart cousin. The adventure takes a while to get into its stride, as Cooper reintroduces her characters and adds an obsessed monster hunter and a freelance journalist anxious to make his reputation (the father of one of the child heroes). There is less room, too, for the edgy humour that made the first book fun. However, once the race is on to spirit Nessie away from Loch Ness and restore his powers and personality, the story takes off. Human character and social background take a back seat to helter skelter adventure. This is a Whisky Galore Scotland that belongs to the tourist brochures: and Cooper's writing can slip into the Blyton school of character sketching where dogs have 'large soulful brown eyes'. Not that this will matter too much to her 8-11 year old readers, who will revel in her storytelling skills.