Publication Date: 4 March 2021

The Blurb

The second title in the middle grade pirate investigator trilogy. A priceless golden chalice has been stolen from Chief Fergus McSwaggers and he wants it back!

Can Flynn and his ship mates solve their most dangerous case yet, battling deadly ice pirates, outsmarting squabbling clans, and facing the scariest beast of all the Seven Seas?

The Review

Clashing clans, family fueds and monsterous myths are woven together to create a fast and funny feast for junior sleuths.

Once again, Mark Elvins’ captivating illustrations add wit and depth to this highly illustrated chapter book as well as bringing the castle visitors and settings to life. With a clear nod to not judging others by their appearance or beliveing just on eside of a story, this is also brilliant for discussion around how we treat others.

Flyntlock Bones is a fabulous series for younger readers stepping out on their own reading adventures. With two adventures under my belt already, I’m looking forward to the final installment of Flynn, adventures aboard The Black Houd.

Great for fans of:

• InvestiGators by John Partick Green
• Steampunk Pirates by Gareth P. Jones
• The Legend Of Frog by Guy Bass

The Guest Post by Derek Keilty

I wouldn’t say it was easier to write Flyntlock the second, but I was definitely able to get started a lot quicker while thinking up some new characters and a new investigation for the crew to solve.

You’ll need to keep yer wellies to hand for this one as Flynn and the crew drop anchor in the squelchy Boglands to help the chief of the Bog Barbarians find his stolen chalice, and encounter a barrel of slapstick and squishy fun, magical witches, squabbling clan chiefs and frosty Ice Pirates.

One of the first new characters I came up with was a monstrous cat-like monster, Mogdrod, who I based on a similar creature from ancient mythology. Cath Palug, literally “Palug’s cat”, was a monstrous cat in Welsh legend, given birth in Gwynedd by the pig Henwen of Cornwall; the cat was later to haunt the Isle of Anglesey, and was said to have killed 180 warriors when Sir Kay went to the island to hunt it down. Mark Elvins my fab illustrator has drawn Mogdrod brilliantly and I must admit he’s pretty scary looking- you wouldn’t want him to jump up on your lap on a dark Bogland night.

You could say Mogdrod is a sort of enormous familiar and as every familiar needs a witch I decided to write one of my favourite characters, Grethel the witch who lives in an old lighthouse on the Bog Island coast. Grethel has an eye for Fishbreath the cook who supplies her with ingredients for her spells, and she knows a few secrets about his brother, Fergus and his missing chalice. I like Grethel so much that I decided to put her in book 3.

I’ve always been fascinated by history and just like I delved into ancient Egypt for book one this time I thought it would be fun to explore the ancient boggy past of old Ireland. I live in Northern Ireland and have always been fascinated by how hundreds of years ago the early Irish clans were always fighting and bickering among themselves when really they would have been so much less vulnerable to attack from the likes of raiding Vikings if they had stuck together. In the book I’ve created my own raiding Vikings in the form of Ice Pirates who, with their frosty scowls and dagger sharp icicle swords, wreak havoc around the shores of Bog Island. I had a wee prod at how families, too can bicker and fall out, as Fishbreath’s and his brother are constantly at each other throats over all the inheritance booty left by their late father.

Hopefully my books will be a spring board to children who want to delve a little further into these exciting periods of history, and if I can point or kindle an interest in history then that would be great.

I hope you enjoy Flynn’s latest story and remember there are more adventures already out there and still to come for young Flynn and the crew of the Black Hound. The first book, Flyntlock Bones: The Sceptre of the Pharaohs was published last year. And the final book Flyntlock Bones: The Ghost of Captain Scarletbeard is out in 2022.

FLYNTLOCK BONES: The Sceptre of the Pharoahs and The Eye of Mogdrod are both available now in paperback (£6.99, Scallywag Press). You can buy the Flyntlock Bones series from Hive here, and watch Derek Keilty read chapter one of the first FLYNTLOCK BONES here https://youtu.be/vEX2i2crAfM

Find out more, including teaching resources and activities at scallywagpress.com

Huge thanks to Derek for that brilliant guest post, and to Scallywag Press for inviting me to take part in the blog tour. Do make sure you check out all of the other stops.