Product reviews for Outside Chance (Don't Doubt the Rainbow 2)

Set after the events of The Five Clues, Edie is trying to keep a lot of plates spinning. Her detective business is ever growing with many people asking her to follow up various mysteries: first there is the case of the missing dogs, then there is the bizarre behaviour of one of her school friends’ dad, and then there is her neighbour who also needs a helping hand and her best friend also seems to throw a spanner in the works. Edie is also preparing for her Bar Mitzvah as well as balancing her schoolwork and judo... How much can one girl cope with?

Edie is a strong and complicated character who has very real teen struggles, but she has an old head on young shoulders which make her mature and thoughtful (but also prone to the many pitfalls of trying to do too much all at once). She has grown up a little since the last book and we, the readers, are treated to her changes and development as a detective, a student and also as a daughter.

Kessel seamlessly weaves in some quite complex themes into this book: the environment and climate change, the Principles of Mind, Jewish theology and the ideas of fatalism and determinism. Kessel makes these themes accessible to all and will want to make readers explore these issues and thoughts more deeply (just as Edie does).

I really loved this second instalment in the Don't Doubt the Rainbow series as I can guarantee that, 1. you won't put it down until you finish it and 2. that you get sucked straight into a world of mysteries (that are believable and so well thought-out). This brings a mystery story to the next level ­– and, with the promise of two more books to follow in the near future, you can bet anything that I will be recommending this book to everyone!

Compassionate, compulsive and complex – a cracking read for those aged 11+.