About the author
Belinda Rapley is a relatively new entrant on the British pony book scene. She started riding when she was eleven, and is now a British Horse Society Instructor, as well as having a National Diploma in Horse Studies. The Pony Detectives is her debut series for children. It’s a solid and well-written start, which takes the traditional format of girls plus ponies and keeps it tightly within those lines: the girls have adventures with their ponies and there’s none of the extraneous fantastic or romantic elements that have been added to the genre over the years. Four girls keep their ponies on a yard (they’re the only inhabitants – yard heaven) and besides doing the standard pony stuff, solve mysteries.
The series now numbers six books, and you can read my review of the first here
Finding the books
Still in print.
Sources and links
Belinda Rapley at Templar Publishing
An interview with Belinda Rapley on my blog
Series
Pony Detectives
Moonlight
Scout
Puzzle
Phantom
Foxy
Stormchaser
Bibliography
Moonlight, Star of the Show
Templar Publishing, Dorking, 2012
A pony belonging to a local riding star goes missing. The girl is distraught, and the four friends vow to help her and find the pony. They do find a pony, but there are several wires to be uncrossed before they work out what really happened to Midnight.
Scout and the Mystery of the Marsh Ponies
Templar Publishing, Dorking, 2012
Alice and her loan pony, Scout, are doing very well. Alas, Scout’s mysterious owner decides to put the pony up for sale. The Pony Detectives try and save Scout for their friend, but find there is much more to the case than meets the eye.
Puzzle, the Runaway Pony
Templar Publishing, Dorking, August, 2012
The wonderful, and expensive, Phantom vanishes, and the girls investigate his disappearance. However, they find a runaway pony who’s injured, and get distracted from the mystery of Phantom while they try and find the runaway’s owner.
Phantom, One Last Chance
Templar Publishing, Dorking, August, 2012
Charlie’s horse is being tricky: so much so that one day he bolts, and leaves Charlie injured. Not only that, odd things are happening at the yard. Things are not where they were left, and animals are being let out of their fields on the farm.
Foxy: Rivalry at Summer Camp
Templar Publishing, Dorking, 2013
The Pony Detectives are going to their first pony camp: and they’ve found out that top eventer Lily Simpson lives nearby. When her competition pony Foxy disappears, the Pony Detectives swing into action.
Stormchaser and the Silver Mist
Templar Publishing, Dorking, 2013
The latest in the Pony Detectives series sees the girls experiencing a packed Christmas holiday which includes their first ever visit to a polo match.
