Alfie and his gang of chums are charged with the local police inspector to winkle out a spy – sorry, Blackadder flashback – one of three Members of Parliament is a Russian agent, and it’s Alfie’s job to find out which one. Soon, he spots the traitor’s contact and follows him through the Victorian fog to a public school near Westminster. But after alienating his own gang and, more importantly, being found with the murder weapon in his hand standing next to a body with their head smashed in, things are looking pretty dicey for Alfie…

Oh, did I mention this is a children’s book? I was asked to have a look at it by Tony from Formby Books. It’s the sixth in a series called, a little unimaginatively, “The London Murder Mysteries”. Cora Harrison has an impressive back catalogue, including mysteries for adults – it seems from a fleeting visit to her website that her main crime series is the Burren mysteries set in medieval Ireland. Must have a look at those sometime…

So, come with me as I try and pretend I’m a ten-year-old and see if I enjoyed this one.I wish I could remember how old I was when I read certain series. I can remember that my reading roughly went – The Famous Five; The Hardy Boys; The Three Investigators (which is the series that I think most fondly of, as it had proper mysteries); Agatha Christie – but I have no idea at what age I went from one series to another (I tended to exhaust one series before moving on to the next). My memory is also too fuzzy to say which of those series this book most closely resembles in style. Probably a mish-mash of the Famous Five – lots of escapes/chases – and the Three Investigators – an attempt at a proper mystery.

It’s a fast moving read and I was impressed at how much Cora Harrison has tried to cram into 175 largish print pages. There’s a distinct shift in the plot halfway through when the murder happens – and if you’re going to leave the murder that late, you might want to not say on the blurb who gets murdered – and I didn’t give the author enough credit in the mystery stakes as I read it, as I was genuinely surprised by the identity of the murderer. Although, to be fair, anyone who thinks that a SOMETHING that has SOMETHINGED from a SOMETHING looks like SOMETHING that has had their SOMETHING SOMETHINGED is a bit dim, detective-wise. A bit of a cheat for the adult reader, but I imagine the average ten year old (I’m guessing at the intended age here) won’t mind.

The only genuine gripe here is that there’s no room for real introductions or set-up. As this is the sixth book in the series, the writer seems to assume that you’ve read the other five. For example, it takes an age to establish that the book is set in Victorian London – there are virtually no references to the date or even the century. Alfie’s gang gets a bit of short shrift as well – as do any female characters – I think there’s only one in the whole book.

But it’s a fun read (for kids) and I was quite surprised to see a kid’s detective book with an actual murder in it. But that’s probably how times have changed – I must be getting on a bit. Anyway, recommended if you have kids.

Come back soon though, as this has inspired me to take a trip down memory lane – The Three Investigators in The Secret of the Haunted Mirror. I do hope the memory doesn’t cheat…