The Lad in the Lane

Supernaturally gifted sisters team up to prevent injustice in the mystery novel The Lad in the Lane, a story about fighting unfairness with the truth.

Sisters partner with their neighbors to fight an unfair housing redevelopment in Warren Cabral’s inventive mystery novel The Lad in the Lane.

While camping during a storm, Mae and Isla have a supernatural vision of a boy dressed in historical clothing. Meanwhile, their grandmother’s street is repossessed for a planned business park, and one of her acquaintances seeks the girls’ help to prove his ownership of the land. Soon, they realize that the boy they saw is crucial to their search.

The land rights at the center of the story, all related to manor properties, are a somewhat esoteric topic. However, explanations about them are proffered in brisk conversations among the story’s adults; the fact that the girls’ grandmother and her neighbors’ homes are at risk is thus established in clear terms. Mae and Isla take a practical approach to the problem, spearheading a campaign to save the land with their classmates. Mae’s habit of turning information into rhyming verse so as to better remember it and Isla’s talent for drawing fold into their social media and community protest.

The girls are precocious heroines, developed in terms of their concern for others, their curiosity, and their sisterly closeness. The latter is deepened by their telepathic abilities. Their parents are somewhat bewildered by them but also indulge their gifts. Heightened descriptions intensify the sense of who each person is: Mae is a “fiery little girl” with “flame-coloured hair to match her scorching words”; a man’s aftershave is “stratospherically expensive but ghastly smelling.”

The Lake District setting is developed through mentions of Radio Cumbria, sites including Wray Castle, a lakeside beach, and a rainy atmosphere. Indeed, the worldbuilding is quite picturesque. A man’s ancestral roots are a key factor in solving the mystery, and searches for grave markers flesh out the area further. In this small town, community life is inseparable from its rich history.

The illustrations depict the main characters with varying degrees of success: A drawing of Isla reading on a rug is sharp; in group settings, people are rendered in rougher terms, as when the girls and their father crowd inside a tent. Some discrepancies arise too: The text describes a black Mercedes, but the illustrations feature a red one.

With a greedy, comical villain as their main obstacle, there’s little doubt that the girls will triumph in time. While their happenstance discovery of proof shortchanges their ingenuity, their hunt for a land deed is exciting. That they rally to help their elders is also heartwarming, ensuring interest in the girls’ continuing story.

The Lad in the Lane is an engaging mystery novel in which bright siblings with deep local ties are driven to solve a mystery by their sense of fair play.

Reviewed for Foreword Clarion by Karen Rigby
October 25, 2025

"With ghosts, castles, churches and graveyards in the Lake District setting, The Lad in the Lane makes for a good autumnal read. Corryn Webb's bright illustrations once again help to bring Mae and Isla's investigations to life." LoveReading4Kids