Children holidaying at Abersoch North Wales pursue smugglers targeting the remote coast. Their quest leads them to an island, tiny cove and abandoned mine.
Smugglers at Whistling Sands is a 45,000-word children's adventure story for age eight and above.
Children on holiday at Abersoch on the North Wales coast stumble across the activities of smugglers. Their quest to find out what's going on leads them to a woodland den, an uninhabited island, a deserted cove on a remote stretch of coast, and a long-forgotten manganese mine.
Jack is 12 and a little dull; his childish, studious brother David is 11; and meek, timid sister Emily is 10. They are unadventurous types from a comfortable home in Nantwich, Cheshire. We join them as Jack storms off to the beach following a silly row. He bumps into Lou - a girl the same age who is far more self-confident, poised and worldly-wise. After an awkward start, she becomes friends with Jack and the others, who feel safe with a strong, tough character like her. Yet she has a softer, sadder side, and her family life is far from ideal. She has her own battles to fight as well as tackling smugglers.
My book owes something to the spirit and sense of adventure of Enid Blyton's novels, which I enjoyed as a child.