The Menlove Treasure: The end is in sight…

The grass turned silver, the stone doorway shone red. The long, skinny shadows of the children twitched across the shovelled earth.

“Old tradition says they are the gates to hell,” he says, “also they are haunted by Lady Menlove who forgot to come back for her treasure. Sometimes you can hear her whistling the tune.”

Rylan realised that they were now back in the twenty first century. That if Charlotte was still inside the safe, then she had been there for a hundred cold, dark years…

The snippets above are all thrilling excerpts from the previous chapters of The Menlove Treasure, the latest serial from award winning author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce. Have you unearthed it yet?

Written exclusively by Frank for City of Readers and their Give Us 5 campaign, The Menlove Treasure is a wonderful tale for the whole family to discover and enjoy, set in the mysterious old Mansion House in the middle of a Liverpool park, and following Frank's script for an episode of the latest series of Doctor Who, is another journey through time. Over five chapters, we've joined schoolboy Rylan on his journey to find the truth about the strange torn painting and match up the past with the present. What other thrills will be in store?

Chapter 6, the final chapter in the serial, will be unveiled exclusively at the Ha'Penny Readings this Sunday 21st December at Liverpool St George's Hall via video link, read by Frank himself, and will be available on the City of Readers website soon after. If you haven't already discovered the story, or if you want to refresh yourself, you can read all five previous chapters on both the City of Readers and The Reader Organisation websites to get right up to date.

You can still be amongst those who get to hear the final chapter of The Menlove Treasure live and exclusive - there are a few tickets left for the Ha'Penny Readings, our festive, family-friendly extravaganza. The show starts at 2.30pm, and will be full of reading, entertainment and fun - the perfect way to start off the Christmas celebrations. You can purchase your tickets online by visiting: https://pennyreadings2014.eventbrite.co.uk (maximum of 4 per order)

City of Readers and Liverpool City Council are also organising a book donation scheme so that the city of Liverpool can share the gift of reading this Christmas. Donations of either new or second hand books, especially those aimed at children and young people, can be dropped off at the special book bins, which can be found at the following locations around the city:

• Toxteth Annexe
• Liverpool Central Library
• Norris Green Library
• Childwall Library
• Calderstones Mansion House
• Goodison Park

You can find out more about the scheme and a special City of Readers supporter on the Liverpool Echo website: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/everton-star-samuel-etoo-launches-8260409