I like the cartoony cover of the third in the Model
Undercover Young Adult series; I had not read any
earlier
instalments. A young lady called Axelle Anderson is our
heroine, who still has school exams. MODEL UNDERCOVER:
LONDON is set in Axelle's home city but she has previously
solved cases in Paris and New York while working at fashion
shows. Axelle grew up reading girl mysteries, but the real
thing is much more exciting.
A fashion blogger named Tallulah Tempest meets Axelle at
home. She's heard the young model is good at solving
crimes and wants help. Tallulah's brother Gavin was
attacked on Westminster Bridge and his work camera stolen;
he's a fashion photographer. The police consider it a
random mugging, but they are taking it seriously because
Gavin is still in a coma. Tallulah thinks there's more to
the crime than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Their flat in Camden has just been ransacked, and Gavin was
working on a shoot with upcoming designer Johnny Vane.
I like that Axelle is a normal girl at home, with glasses,
casual clothes and a cute dog. She has a highly organised
and supportive mom. For an assignment from her magazine
Teen Chic, Axelle dresses up, but not in over the top
designer goods. She describes a casting session: girls have
to show up looking super, chat to and be friendly with the
clients, who decide if they will photograph well, suit the
look of their product, and will be nice to hang out with
all day. A model may have ten sessions a day and not get
work. Sadly the client in this case has worse manners than
would be expected. I think this is a good lesson in the
realities.
Axelle spends a lot of time travelling on the Tube and
researching on her tablet, so we get detail dumps
occasionally. She's lucky the owner of her model
agency is willing to open some doors for her,
simultaneously warning that egos are big in the industry
and accusations won't go down well. Gavin is liked in the
business and his condition garners sympathy. The tale can
become pretty complex with more names than some teens will
want to keep track of, but there are fun rock star shoots
too. I'm delighted that Axelle gets a model friend, Ellie,
and boyfriend Sebastian to help her as a few are much safer
than one. We learn a lot of jargon and insider knowledge,
like a zed card is a model's business card with photo, but
it's great that Axelle wants to go to college and study
criminal justice and languages. Personally I'm pleased
that our heroine enjoys her normal meals and the finger
food buffets provided at shoots; we hear such a lot about
unhealthy, ultra thin models. I also love the marvellously
scenic location described for us in MODEL UNDERCOVER:
LONDON. Carina Axelsson is a former fashion model, and her
mystery series is a winner as far as I'm concerned. All
intelligent, super-cool girls should get their hands on a
copy. With this adventure as your guide you could go a long
way.
From designer to detective
Posing as a model gets Axelle the kinds of connections that make
her the fashion elite's go-to detective. Her newest case? The
attack on famous fashion photographer Gavin Tempest that's left
him in the hospital. The police may have ruled it a mugging, but
Gavin's sister has special intel for Axelle that points to
something more sinister...and when clues start pointing to
people in high places, things get dicey for Axelle. Because
fashion isn't the only thing that's killer in this case...
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