The Curse in the Candlelight by Sophie Cleverly

Scarlet and Ivy book 5. HarperCollins, 2018. ISBN 9780008218300
(Age: 9-12) Recommended. Themes: Mystery, Boarding Schools, Twins, Bullying. Fourteen year old identical twins Scarlet and Ivy return for a new year at Rookwood School leaving their distant father and evil stepmother behind. Eager to catch up with their friend Ariadne and take Miss Finch's ballet classes, the twins are happy to be back. As the school assembles for the first day's instructions, a dark-haired new student Ebony McCloud makes a grand entrance into the school hall. She has a mysterious presence about her, defiantly flouting the school rules and soon draws younger students into her group.
Sophie Cleverley layers this mystery plot with curious clues along the way; characters have hidden agendas and a presence of evil directs the actions. She balances this junior novel with familiar lessons, favourite teachers and every day activities. When Ariadne's archenemy Muriel Witherspoon joins Rookwood Academy she appears to have changed her bullying ways however Scarlet and Ivy are not convinced about her motives. When the celebrations on All Hallows Eve go terribly wrong, the twins work together to save Ariadne and expose the real prankster. Told from the sisters' alternate points of view, Scarlet and Ivy's new term proves to be filled with mystery, magic, secret escapades and growing friendships.
The Curse in the Candlelight is the fifth novel in this exciting series. Each novel reveals more about the main characters and their friends' home lives. The mysteries and different ways the twins work together to solve them make these novels just right for readers from 9-12 years.
Rhyllis Bignell