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Jump to navigationJump to searchDetective Nosegoode and the Music Box Mystery (Detective Nosegoode 1) by Marian Orlon, Jerzy Flisak and Eliza Marciniak (translator) (view source)
Revision as of 08:59, 24 August 2020
, 08:59, 24 August 2020no edit summary
|date=August 2017
|isbn=9781782691556
|aznuk=1782691553
|aznus=1782691553
But that aspect of déjà vu is actually one to be relished, in that this does feel at first like a lost classic from your childhood – one you took down from the library shelves more than once. It certainly has a little bit of old-fashioned, timeless spirit – the way the character of Nosegoode counteracts that of his dog while both are doing their own investigating is quite quaint, without being cloying. The story has a simplicity and brevity to marry up with the books that do stick in the mind from those days. And it's actually a strong puzzle – who knew about the music box, who took it, what is the bearded man up to, and what will the box lead to are all pertinent questions and you can't fail to be interested in the answers.
The only thing is that to my mind the book doesn't quite live up to that premise. Certainly , the adult reader of this will see the way the Inspector delays the reveal as a little unkind, both to the reader and to Cody the dog. He almost comes across as smug, when the man we were introduced to was quite charming. And what we do get from the mystery isn't quite as strong as I had been led to believe, meaning this will not be a book the mature reader will turn to for seconds.
As regards the real audience is concerned, however – the eight to twelve -year -olds – I think they will find just enough in proceedings. The necessity of the book in being clever enough to surprise – no dumb criminal has ever made for a great mystery book – is still met, even with such a small cast-list of characters. They will like the fantasy of the talking dog, and if they're on the right wavelength for the nostalgic feel things have they will potentially find this trilogy of adventures to have a nice whimsy and warmth. I found traces of that, but just not quite enough for my liking.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy. We also have a review of [[Detective Nosegoode and the Museum Robbery (Detective Nosegood 3) by Marian Orlon, Jerzy Flisak and Eliza Marciniak (translator)]].
You can also go down the route of having just the dog being the investigator, with something like [[Grk Down Under by Joshua Doder]].
