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Jump to navigationJump to searchSaxby Smart: Private Detective: The Secrets of the Skull by Simon Cheshire (view source)
Revision as of 08:49, 18 September 2020
, 08:49, 18 September 2020no edit summary
This way of writing a detective story is in some ways counter-intuitive: Simon Cheshire allows the reader to solve the clues before the end, rather than following the traditional approach of diverting attention from the truth with red herrings. But this style of writing really does succeed: there are enough twists and turns in the plot to retain the reader's interest right up to the very last page, and the clues, while accessible, are never too obvious. Furthermore, the story is told at a cracking pace which encourages the reader to keep going and find out what happens next, and the strong element of participation means the reader feels as satisfied as the hero when, at the end of each story, Saxby writes the words ''case closed''.
The three stories in ''Secret of the Skull'' are all pleasurably challenging. In the title story, Saxby is faced with a difficult moral issue as well as a case. His friend Peter Skulyevic asks him to find out why Great Aunt Mirna appears to be stealing credit cards. She had been arrested many years before by soldiers of the military dictatorship in her country, and must have suffered years of imprisonment for her beliefs. Peter wants to solve the mystery but because of the terrible suffering she has already been through, asks Saxby not to tell the police if Mirna is guilty. This, of course, puts the boy detective in a very difficult position, and he has to use all of his considerable talents to reach a satisfactory conclusion to the case.
The second story, ''Diamonds are for Heather'' finds him commissioned by an anonymous client to stop a jewel thief from handing over the goods to another criminal. And to do this, poor Saxby has to endure the horror of participating in a girlie sleep-over party at a hotel, with predictably hilarious consequences. The third story is a result of Saxby's office being in a shed: he catches a serious cold and cannot leave his room, so he has to solve the mystery of a stolen book by using various friends and allies, and his own considerable brain powerbrainpower.
One further point: Saxby Smart has his own excellent [http://www.saxbysmart.co.uk/ website] which provides further cases to solve. It is not yet complete, but promises advice on sleuthing and writing for budding young detectives.
I'd like to thank the author for sending a copy to The Bookbag. We also have a review of [[Operation Sting (SWARM) by Simon Cheshire]].
Further reading suggestion: Another great young detective will be found in [[Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer]].
