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Original poster

PLEASE HELP!!! me find this book. Someone must know what it is.

182 replies

NotTheDuchessOfCambridge · 26/10/2017 20:37

Hi all, hoping to find a book I read back in the 90s, though the book could be 80s.
It was a condensed book in a readers digest hardback book (4 different books in 1).
It was about a man (investigator??) who had to get all his clues to a treasure from an old painting.
The painting was obscure (think Salvador Dali), it had a chess board on the floor and all the people facing left had tears on their cheek because they were lying (the clues they gave were false).
There was a tree on a hill. A ladder maybe.
I cannot remember the name of the book or the author and it’s driving me crazy as I really want to read it again!
It has the feel of a Dan Brown book, following ancient clues.

OP posts:
Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 29/10/2017 15:29

The crown in 'The Silver Crown' was made of a kind of mesh - the central character could fold it up and place it in her 'purse' (which confused me when I first read the book, as I didn't realise Americans called their handbags purses).

The dresses with sashes made me think of Masha by Mara Kay - set in a Russian Boarding school in the early half of the nineteenth century - although the dresses were a particular colour, rather than having sashes.

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 29/10/2017 15:31

DancingLedge, could your book be 'The Kingdom by the Sea' by Robert Westall?

DancingLedge · 29/10/2017 17:47

Matilda It is, thank you.

WhiskyChick · 29/10/2017 18:10

I keep thinking about a book I read at school when I was about 8-9. In the 80’s. I don’t remember much which I suspect is why I’ve never managed to find it! It’s about a girl who’s dad is a long distance lorry driver, near or at the end of the book he takes her to see windmills and one has her name on it.

pollyhemlock · 29/10/2017 18:48

Whisky Chick- I think it may be Trouble Half Way by Jan Mark

HarrietSchulenberg · 29/10/2017 19:21

I've got two mystery books. First one is from early 1970s about an adopted baby called George. I'm pretty sure it was called Baby George but I have no idea who the author is.

Second one was for teenagers from late 70s/early 80s. About a girl who was terrified of being "normal". She dyed her hair pink, ran away to London and became a fashion designer, or something.

LaContessaDiPlump · 29/10/2017 19:30

Love these threads Grin

I have one which I've tried and failed to track down; it's about 2 kids visiting a remote place in Scotland with their parents, plus a bookish friend (William?) in tow. There are two ghosts - one gentle, one evil; they are sisters called Agnes and Mary and were killed for being witches. There is a horrible description of bread that tastes like blood. At the end they banish the evil witch by shooting a hare that she's taken the form of. The final section has a description of real-life martyrs in Scottish witch trials.

It was absolutely haunting (boom boom), I read it in the early nineties and have never found it again Sad help!

WildImaginings · 29/10/2017 19:35

I have one that's driven me mad for YEARS. Children's book with lots of pictures- there was a girl (I think she may have been a princess) and there were I think 12 doors? And something different behind each door.
She'd possibly been told not to look behind the doors.
I used to be able to remember more of it, but I still couldn't find it

WildImaginings · 29/10/2017 19:39

(It wasn't the 12 dancing princesses)

MipMipMip · 29/10/2017 19:56

Ohh I've got one! I read it in about year five, so roughly twenty years ago. It was one of those short novel books you found in school libraries. It was a group of children/teenagers who ran away from some kind of group home or school. They had special powers and possibly escaped to a traveling community. Not sure about that bit though. They were tracked down somehow. I want to call it The Thunder Child but I don't think that's right.

I can't imagine what the book with three men and a boat could be. Wink

ouchthathurtsabit · 29/10/2017 20:01

Can someone please tell me what all these fascinating books are so I can read them 😂

pollyhemlock · 29/10/2017 20:08

La Contessa: the sinister book with the bread tasting of blood is I think The Witch of Lagg by Ann Pilling, originally published under her pen name Ann Cheetham

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 29/10/2017 20:08

Being told not to look behind doors sounds like Blue Beard - could it have been a version of that?

SorrelForbes · 29/10/2017 20:22

TellMeDinosaurFacts Your book is The Silver Crown

WildImaginings · 29/10/2017 20:22

Unfortunately not Remus, thanks though!
I can definitely remember that behind one door was lots of autumn leaves etc (like I say, there were lots of detailed pictures) I was thinking maybe it was all of the seasons, but I think there were more than four doors.
I remember reading it in the children's section of the library when I was younger and then I could never find it again.
I've searched for it so many times online!

WildImaginings · 29/10/2017 20:25

There were definitely similarities with Bluebeard though; I think she had a key/keys? But no dead wives!

SorrelForbes · 29/10/2017 20:25

MipMipMip That sounds a bit like Thursday's Child by Noel Streatfeild.

SatsukiKusakabe · 29/10/2017 20:37

I just had the weirdest thing happen - I turned my Kindle on after not having used it for a few weeks and there was a new book downloaded that I must have bought about a month ago and forgotten about. It was recommended on here, I had a quick glance at the time and thought it was up my alley and got it on impulse. The book is called Sealskin and is about the myth of the selkie - just like Seaward, which I only found out about again yesterday, and I didn't even remember the selkie element! It's crazy to think all this stuff is stored away in our brains without being us being aware of it - did I ask about this in the first place because the memory was unknowingly triggered by buying the other book, or did I choose the book because it triggered the memory of the old book? Such a strange coincidence. Anyway, looking forward to reading both!

Medianoche · 29/10/2017 20:52

Chipinthesugar, I'm pretty sure the book you're looking for is The Sign on Rosie's Door by Maurice Sendak.
Rosie dresses as 'Alinda, the lovely lady singer' and sings On the Sunny Side of the Street.

LaContessaDiPlump · 29/10/2017 20:54

Shock pollyhemlock I bloody love you!!! Thank you for my soon-to-be nightmares

MipMipMip · 29/10/2017 20:58

Good call Sorrel but I'm afraid not. This one was modern day (or was when it was written!) and there were definitely powers. Just the travellers I'm not sure about and the title.

I read the synopsis of Thursdays Child to double check and I have read that. I always liked the crowns on her belongings when she was boasting. Grin

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 29/10/2017 21:01

Whoever was looking for the book about the girl that moved to Salem and became a witch I’m pretty sure that’s the Secret Circle series by LJ Smith.

She also had a series where some kids with special powers escaped from a group home MipMipMip. It was more YA than kids book though so might be a bit old for y5. Google suggests it was called Dark Visions. Set in America?

TimbuktuTimbuktu · 29/10/2017 21:06

@Ahardmanisgoodtofind sorry I couldn’t remember your name.

PhilODox · 29/10/2017 21:11

I love these threads! I don't have a mystery one to contribute, sadly.
Am wracking my brains about the chaps and the boat though, sure I'm familiar with that one..

noodlezoodle · 29/10/2017 22:56

Oh, Harriet, your teenager book - this definitely rings a bell for me. Did the girl also have a boyfriend who rides a motorbike? (Possibly not, I may be conflating two books here).