Mary Prescott, a dreamy young bookworm with a decided taste for exciting adventure fiction, is sent to Hill Top School by her mother and stepfather in this British children's novel from 1936. Her reading habits soon become an issue, and headmistress Miss Hood herself must step in when Mary smuggles a romance novel into chapel, forbidding her from reading "rubbishy literature." Now allowed one historical tale per week, Mary soon finds herself more involved in school matters, making both friends and enemies amongst her fellow students. She also finds herself involved in her own exciting adventure, as she is drawn in to the mystery of nearby Lowland Hall, deserted since its owner, suspected of murder, absconded to foreign parts. All is not as it seems at Lowland however, and Mary and her friends are soon caught up in a most unexpected series of events...

The first school story I read from Rita Coatts - subsequently, I have read her Facing It Out!: A Story for Girls - Book Worm: The Mystery Solver was a title I selected largely because of its title! As a bookworm myself, one who also occasionally indulges in some "rubbishy literature," I was instantly sympathetic toward Mary, and rooting for her to triumph in her new school experience. There's plenty of unlikely incident here, of the sort that school story aficionados will instantly recognize, but there is also plenty of more realistic social conflict amongst the girls. I don't know if it was the intention of the author to communicate such an idea, but I also appreciated the theme of a bookworm discovering that reality too can provide exciting experiences. This can be a difficult novel to track down - I read it in the rare book room of the university I attended, some years ago - but is one I would recommend to fans, provided they can obtain it, as being quite a fun, lighthearted example of the genre. ( )