Do you dare enter Dr. Frankenstein’s
la-BOR-uh-tree?
Upas Street:
Shocking Specter
The
Botanic Hill
Detectives Mysteries Book 6
by
Sherrill Joseph
Genre: Middle Grade Paranormal Mystery
Do you dare enter Dr. Frankenstein’s
la-BOR-uh-tree?
A fearless quartet of teen sleuths, the Botanic Hill detectives, travel to Llanfair, a fictitious Welsh village in present-day California, to solve the mystery of the Shocking Specter.
The green-glowing apparition reportedly roams the
countryside, setting
fire to buildings and meadows during the new moon. The occurrences began
shortly after a motion picture stagehand Scotty Roberts’s accidental death by
electrocution in this case inspired by the filming of Universal Pictures 1931
classic horror movie Frankenstein.
Supernatural?
Coincidence?
Or is criminal activity at work?
And why,
nearly a century later, has the Shocking Specter returned?
Readers will enjoy learning about real-life horror film star Boris
Karloff, Frankenstein author Mary Shelley, other key players
in the movie’s production, and some early Hollywood cinematic history. Our fabulous four might need to kick some monsters to
the curb to solve
this challenging mystery!
What
readers are saying:
--KIMBERLEY KRAMER, Literacy Specialist, Saint
Katharine Drexel Academy, San Diego, CA
“I loved this book and could not put it
down! I
loved learning about the Hollywood monsters from the old-time days and meeting
the people of Llanfair. You will not be sad that you chose this book to read.”
--SOPHIA O., age 10, San Diego, CA
“As a professor of
History of Film and Monster
and Character Makeup Design, I was intrigued from the first page of this book!
The Golden Age of Hollywood is brought to life in the eyes of the young
protagonists through their exploration of Universal Studios’ Frankenstein
franchise. Joseph not only captured my attention with the charm and
intelligence of her four detectives but had me searching for clues and secret
messages (Easter eggs) to unravel this horror-movie-inspired mystery. Joseph
includes facts about Boris Karloff that I did not know, which delighted me to
no end. Jack Pierce may have never received an Oscar for his iconic makeup
designs, but he gets a wonderful tribute through this exciting story. A
must-read for mystery lovers and film buffs of all ages.”
--SHARON LYNN, award-winning author of A
Cotswold Crimes Mystery series; aka SHARON BOLMAN, Senior Professor of Digital
Video and General Education, University of Advancing Technology, Tempe, AZ
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**Don’t miss
the rest of the series!**
Find them on Amazon!
Sherrill Joseph was a shy kid whose BFF was
Nancy Drew. From her, the author learned to seek adventures, be kind and fair,
help others everywhere, and become a mystery author someday.
Convinced early on that she was an architect in
a former life, Sherrill was receptive to the magic of her Southern California
neighborhood’s historic houses. To this day, she dramatizes those old
“castles,” filling them with mysteries, staircases, a ghost or two, and
exaggerated occurrences.
The author
graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa
cum laude from San Diego State University. Once retired in 2013 after
teaching kids for thirty-five years in the San Diego public schools, the inner
child in Sherrill created the multi award-winning Botanic Hill Detectives
Mysteries series so her grandkids and all kids can gallop with her and her four
forever-thirteen-year-old sleuths in their standalone cases after clues to nab
the bad guys.
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Goodreads
GUEST POST
Q: You and your detective character, Rani Kumar, have synesthesia. What is synesthesia?
A: Synesthesia is my superpower! Synesthesia is a mental ability, or condition, that two to four percent of the world’s population is born with. Synesthetes have extra connections in their brains between senses that aren’t normally joined. This allows a crossover of the senses to occur, and one sense comes through as another. For example, Rani Kumar and I have lexical-gustatory synesthesia, the rarest form (0.2% of the world’s population). We taste or smell something when we hear a word or name. For example, Rani says her name makes her taste raw green beans. My name Sherrill makes me taste cherry jelly. My last name Joseph makes me taste a Mounds candy bar (coconut and dark chocolate). Not all tastes are pleasant, however, and we can’t control the taste and aroma sensations that occur. Basically, we experience the world in a different way from most people. Research reveals that synesthetes are often creatives, e.g., Billie Eilish, Lorde, Beyonce, Pharrell Williams, Duke Ellington, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Geoffrey Rush, Leonard Bernstein, Franz Liszt, Richard Feynman, Marilyn Monroe, Vladimir Nabokov, Arthur Rimbaud, Vincent Van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, and Aristotle. Synesthesia has enhanced my ability to write more descriptively. It is often hereditary, but I know of no one in my family who had or has it. Sometimes, that makes me feel lonely. Perhaps that’s why I created a character with synesthesia.
Q: Which of your four detectives is the most like you? How do these personal connections enhance the authenticity of your characters and stories?
A: All four detectives are like me to some extent: I have Lanny’s love of reading, words, old movies, and detective stories. Lexi and I are both emotional, “hands-on,” love literature, and try to be positive. I am a twin as are Lanny and Lexi. I have Moki’s dry sense of humor, love of pineapple, and fear of snakes. And Rani and I are both lexical-gustatory synesthetes. But all my detectives have much more courage and poise than I had at their age. I hope my young readers will take after them! I believe that many authors put something of themselves into their characters and stories, which can help create a more authentic experience for the reader since the writing comes from experience and knowledge.
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