The King's Puzzle, Book 4 — Ian Wilson

Are you ready for something fresh and different in a young adult novel? Counter-cultural, even?

The new six-part serial entitled The King's Puzzle turns established conventions inside out. For one thing, it's mostly told from a boy's perspective. And, be warned -- if you are looking for simplistic language and a predictable plot with the usual suspects for heroes and villains, The King's Puzzle is not for you. However, if you enjoy beautiful writing that combines strong character relationships with a riveting storyline, then you have found your next book to read.

A pair of 16-year-old homeschoolers, Angus and Amanda, attempt to solve a mystery within a mystery. The duo may even remind you on your own teenaged years, albeit with a lot more excitement.

A treasure hunt, a love triangle, a cold case going back to 1939. A coming-of-age saga. One or more villains, in the shadows. And not the usual suspects.

In The King's Puzzle, Angus and Amanda come up against the modern-day liberal state in all its intrusiveness. The police, fire authorities, the public broadcaster, a feminist organization, green energy interests, a female sexual predator in the school system. They, and more, align themselves against the teenagers to prevent them from solving the mystery that presents itself in the opening scene:

A letter from Buckingham Palace states that Angus's grandfather, at the age of ten in 1939, fashioned a treasure hunt for King George VI to solve while touring Canada by train that year. To obtain the treasure, The King needed to solve a number of homemade puzzles. The mystery, which Her Majesty The Queen would like solved on behalf of her late father, is why Angus's grandfather failed to keep a rendezvous with The King at a Royal Train stop in Ontario.

The setting for The King's Puzzle is a rural estate in Ontario, amid maple trees, a trout stream, and a Canadian Pacific Railway line that meanders through the hills. Secluded, quiet -- and threatened by a wind turbine development.

Incidentally, the owner of the property is a 38-year-old blonde, considered the sexiest female politician in North America. She's in trouble at the hands of the same cast plaguing Angus and Amanda. In fact, she seeks their help in solving her own 1939 family mystery, linked to The King's Puzzle, which is the moment the teens' problems magnify.

Throughout the story, the lingering question that penetrates Angus's and Amanda's imaginations is -- why did his ten-year-old grandfather fail to meet The King in 1939?

To find out why attempting to solve a family mystery at the behest of the head of the Royal Family -- and Canada's head of state -- unleashes the fury of the entrenched liberal establishment onto a pair of homeschooled 16-year-olds, begin by downloading your free copy of The King's Puzzle, Book 1. Then, continue through the next five!