Thirteen-year-old Katie is mad at the world, and she has good reason to be — her beloved composer father John Bean has just died, her mother is in denial, they have moved to a small town in Southern Alberta, and she is being bullied by the local gang of thugs. But Katie is a headstrong girl and is able to make friends at school, and, while they are working on a project about ghosts of the past, they unearth some interesting facts about colourful local history, including the mystery surrounding her own father's death (who speaks to Katie occasionally beyond the grave through the pages of the unfinished opera he was composing at the time of his death).

      Meanwhile, Katie's mother is helping John's friend Constantine revamp the local hotel with a focus on lavender so that the town will become known as "The little Provence of the Prairies" and is introduced to Mordecai W. Nightshade and Estelle Michelle, an odd couple who are in Chanteclaire to set up an authentic French lavender cafe. The couple, actually art thieves who have been pursued for years by Interpol for their theft of famous paintings and musical instruments, are in town to steal the unfinished opera written by John Bean. These French caricatures (who are from Moose Jaw but speak with cheesy French accents to foil the police) would be the most interesting part of the story if they weren't so over the top, but they do add a good dose of comic relief.

      Katie Be Quiet is a gentle mystery that may appeal to young teens; however, at times the plot is farfetched, and loose ends are tied up a little too conveniently for my liking, but I must give Tamayose props for the creativity of the murder weapon used on two accounts – poisoned tea bags that slowly kill the intended victims over the course of a year. The mother and daughter's grieving process might also strike a chord in some young readers who have lost a parent. I wish Tamayose had developed that part of the narrative further as it provides more sympathy for characters that are a little dull.

Recommended.

Jen Waters is the Teen Services Librarian at the Red Deer Public Library in Red Deer, AB.

NEXT REVIEW |TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - August 29, 2008.