Lindsay Littleson is knocking it out of the park at the moment with her adventure stories for children, and her latest book, Euro Spies, continues that trend. She writes here of why she wanted to write a story that celebrates Europe.

Euro Spies
By Lindsay Littleson
Published by Cranachan Books

My latest children’s novel, Euro Spies, comes out on April 20th and publication day is both an exciting and scary prospect, as this book is a bit of a departure for me. Euro Spies is a spy caper, packed with clues to solve and puzzles to crack. The story’s set in Paris, Bern, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Brussels and Amsterdam, and the first draft was written when we were all stuck at home during the second lockdown. Tired of gardening and struggling to focus on reading, I starting leafing through some old holiday photo albums. Memories of enjoying glorious sunshine, fabulous sights and delicious food in various European locations flooded back, making me feel simultaneously happy and sad. Although I completely appreciated the importance of staying safely at home, I missed travelling hugely and wondered if there was a way to fill the gap.

When I heard from a friend that some European tour guides had begun doing virtual guided walks around various cities and landmarks, I decided to give those a try.

After I’d been on several virtual tours to some gorgeous European cities , I flicked through the notebook I’d filled with fascinating facts about famous landmarks, and wondered if I could make use of them in a story for children.

An idea began to emerge for a spy novel set in several European cities. A spy has vanished, leaving behind a trail of cryptic clues on various landmarks. His colleague, Emmeline Watson, tricks three children into accompanying her to Europe. She is using the kids as cover for her dangerous mission, but the children soon get involved in attempting to solve the fiendish clues hidden by the missing spy.

Once I had a rough plot-sketch, I started to plan the route around Europe my characters would take on their quest. I wanted the route to be practical, time-and-distance-wise, and ended up borrowing the frankly exhausting itinerary that a young backpacker had blogged about online. But I REALLY didn’t want my characters spending hours waiting for buses  or having to stand in enormous border control and security queues at airports, so I came up with an alternative means of travel: the Euro Metro, which leaves Glasgow from a halt hidden under St Enoch’s Subway station and whisks my characters around Europe.

Although the inspiration for the clue-solving aspect of Euro Spies came from novels like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, I was keen for the emphasis in Euro Spies to be on characters and their relationships. Hopefully, the three children come across as relatable, rounded characters. Samia is friendly and chatty, but suffers from fear of failure and has to learn to relax and accept that mistakes are not the end of the world.  Frankie is smart and cheeky, but he’s also a young carer and is enjoying the break from his challenging home-life. Ava sees herself as a loner, and pretends she doesn’t want or need friends, until she meets Samia and Frankie!

 For my spy story to be truly satisfying, puzzles weren’t enough. I needed readers to care about what’s happened to Ava when she disappears in Rome

When  the waiter pointed down the alley, back the way they’d came, the boy turned to Samia and Miss Watson, his forehead creased with worry. “Apparently she left, just after we did.”

Miss Watson’s hand flew to her mouth. “What on earth was she thinking?”

Anger and fear churned in Samia’s stomach.

What were YOU thinking?? You were meant to be looking after us. You left Ava all by herself!!

And I wanted readers to worry about Samia and Ava when they meet a scary stranger in Venice.

But when Samia whirled round, she saw Ava, face pale and strained, walking along the balcony towards her. A few steps behind, floated an eerie cloaked figure in a glittery carnival mask. For a moment, Samia thought she was seeing a ghost, and blinked desperately, hoping the apparition would dissolve into mist.

But the spooky creature didn’t vanish, just kept moving slowly, its red velvet cloak swishing on the tiles, piercing eyes staring through the eye-slits in the mask.

When I sent the first draft to my publisher, Anne Glennie of Cranachan Books, she was full of enthusiasm, and suggested that I should write A Spy’s Guide to Europe to accompany the novel. A Spy’s Guide is a free to download booklet containing lots of IDL activities exploring European countries and their art, languages, food and landmarks. I’ve made a full set of Reflective Reading Task Maps for Euro Spies too, if classes wish to study the novel in more depth.

My big hope for this book is that Euro Spies will inspire young readers to discover more about all the wonderful things Europe has to offer.  Post-Brexit, it’s more crucial than ever that young people in Scotland are encouraged to learn other languages and to make connections with our neighbours in Europe, despite all the travel and work barriers that have been erected.

Euro Spies was a joy to write and I’m hopeful that it will be an exciting and inspiring read.

Euro Spies by Lindsay Littleson is published by Cranachan Books, priced £7.99.