The Tunnels of Tarcoola is an adventurous story about four children who, quite by accident, stumble upon some secret tunnels under a haunted house near their local park. What secrets do these hidden passages hold? The 'famous four' (Martin, Kitty, David and Andrea) are determined to find out the history of the haunted house and its mysterious secret.

Meanwhile, Mr Harold Buckingham, the richest man in Balmain, is trying to cover up the buried treasure and stop the children from finding out its whereabouts by sending out kidnappers... But - and there is a but - I think the parents are too soft and dismissive about what their children are up to. For example, when they are attacked they all go home and their parents ground them for a while but when they ask to go out by themselves again, they allow them. All the children are different in their own way but when they find the tunnels their motive is the same: to find the treasure.

I really like how the writer lets the story unfold slowly: nothing which the main characters find makes sense until the end. When I finished the book, I wished it would go on forever: the ending is a bit like a cliff-hanger but that's because the author is planning a sequel (or so she says in an interview on her website!). If you are an Enid Blyton fan, this adventure will appeal to you especially because it is set in exotic Australia and is based on a real coal mine that exists today.

The book is full of dialogue and suspense which makes you never want to put it down. Also, the style is very simple so I would recommend it to anybody above the age of seven. My rating is 10/10.

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