The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Black Hearts at Battersea by Joan Aiken

My sister-in-law and niece recommended these books to me about a year ago, and I finally got started on the series. They remind me of Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket--you know, orphans who foil the evil plans of wicked adults--only they are more earnest. And they came first, of course. It's good fun to see how the children will deal with their adventures and discover the schemes of the underhanded adults.

I really enjoyed the first two of the series. The children are good and clever without really being too sickly sweet. The names are kind of entertaining: Slighcarp, Grimshaw, Brisket, Buckle, Midwink, Scrimshaw, and Dark for bad guys and Green, Pattern, Field, Cobb, Furneaux for good guys. Fun.

The characters are as quirky as their names. The Duke of Battersea is fascinated by mold and enjoys a good game of chess. Dr. Furneaux of the Art Academy is three foot, six inches tall, but he'll roar at students who don't perform to his expectations. And Dido Twite -- what can I say about this sassy little urchin? I understand that she is the heroine of other books in the series.