Solve your own mystery: The monster maker by Gareth P. Jones. Illus. by Louise Forshaw

Funny, magical and quirky! Yeti Private Eye, Klaas Solstaag, works with his human partner to solve mysteries. In this mystery they have been employed by Dr Franklefink to find a missing ‘Monster Maker’ that disappeared at the time of Monty Franklefink’s 9th birthday party. Attendees and employed entertainers and caterers are all suspects, and all are somewhere on the fantasy spectrum – witches, vampires, werewolves, goblins, ghosts, zombies. At the same time there is a local community election about to take place and it might be possible that this is why the Monster Maker has gone missing, as long-term and bitter rivals vie for election.  And with magic a possibility and silly behaviours a given, this is just a frolic through a strange and bizarre world.

The writing style in this unusual book has a few peculiar features. Written as a Choose-your-own-path story with opportunities to follow different lines of inquiry in the investigation, this also gives personal interactivity in attempting to solve the mystery. The other unusual feature is that it is written as a second person narrative. The human partner to the yeti main investigator is referred to at all times as ‘you’, but this gives the opportunity for the young humans who read this book to connect to the story as if they too were partners in solving the crime. This technique is unusual in its approach for young readers, but worth highlighting for educators who might be looking for examples of second person narratives. Sometimes I am reticent to promote books with ghouls and monsters when they might frighten young readers, but this is so cheeky in its approach that there is no ‘fear-factor’ in this story, it is just mischievous and filled with humour. As an example, the Private Investigator’s dog has been magically ‘transformed’ into a car and now transports the detective while still displaying some dog-like behaviours – watch out lamp posts! This unique book will be enjoyed by readers aged 8-12, but slightly older readers will also find some entertaining irony and enjoyment in the pages.

Themes: Monsters, Fantasy, detective mystery, choose-your-own ending.

Carolyn Hull