Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Falcon's Malteser

Title: The Falcon's Malteser

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Published: 1986, then republished in 1995

Pages: 191

Here in the US we enjoy the malted milk balls called Whoppers, and in the UK they have a similar candy called Maltesers.  How a simple box of candy could cause so much trouble for the Diamond brothers is shaping up to be quite the mystery!  

Tim Diamond, also called Herbert, is now a private detective (and quite possibly the world's worst) who used to work for the police department.  "He'd finally gotten fired for giving someone directions to a bank.  I suppose it wasn't his fault that someone robbed it, but he really shouldn't have held the door for the guy as he came out." pg. 9

Thankfully Herbert's thirteen year old brother (and more level headed)  Nick is around to help them get out of trouble when a mysterious package worth $5 million is left with them.  This small box of candy is worth a lot to a lot of people.  Once in their possession, things start getting way out of control.  Chased, bribed, kidnapped, and jailed the Diamond brothers will eventually come out on top but hopefully not on top of their own graves!

Here are some of my favorite lines...

"The strong arm of the law could do with a strong underarm deodorant."  pg. 52

"Nick, I've been thinking...Maybe I'm not cut out to be a private detective after all."  "Whatever makes you think that, Herbert?"  "Well...I'm wanted for two murders, kidnapping, and disturbing the peace.  The Fat Man wants to kill me.  My apartment has been torn apart.  And I haven't actually been able to detect anything." pg. 84

"I was about to feed my pet," she explained.  "Dog?" I asked.  She glanced at the plate.  "No.  I think it's beef."  pg. 89

"Himmell laughed at that.  I didn't.  I've found funnier lines in a Latin dictionary."  pg. 118

This tongue and cheek, hard boiled detective novel is worth checking out, but make sure you have a box of Maltesers or Whoppers to join you!

xoxo,
Kelly 

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