Fourteenth in the 'Lone Pine' series of adventure stories for teenagers, set in the middle of the 20th century. One of my favourite series as a teen, and also good for light reading as an adult.

This is a particularly exciting adventure for the club, beginning - unusually - with a tense meeting in Germany between an elderly man and his aggressive nephew. I have finally read it in the full (GGBP) edition, and found much more depth and breadth to the story than in the abridged Armada version.

This is the first book in the series where romance starts to blossom between some of the older Lone Piners (in a very low-key way) but the irrepressible twins, Mary and Dickie, are still ten and have not changed much since the first book. I always enjoy the characterisation of these books, all the more so in the full edition - although equally it felt a bit darker than I had recalled.

Definitely recommended for older teens or adults who like a good old-fashioned adventure story.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/02/not-scarlet-but-gold-by-malcolm-sav... ( )