The Boy Detectives

In 1950s Norfolk, teenage cousins Francis and Gordon Jones earn their reputation as The Boy Detectives in the first of a series of their extraordinary adventures. With the sometimes dubious assistance of Mrs Jones, Francis's corset-making mother, the Reverend Challis (always keenly interested in the boys' progress), the domineering village grandee Lady Darting, and a host of splendid characters, Francis and Gordon are faced with four perplexing mysteries. What is happening at St Mildred's School for the Advancement of Discerning Girls? Why are Francis and Gordon embroiled in a striptease show where the girls mustn't move, and how will they solve the affair of the priceless Pearl of Thalia? And surely the unlucky woman seeking the boys' assistance cannot be the Mrs Hudson of Sherlock Holmes fame? Lastly, we meet an older Francis, revisiting his childhood following the death of a remarkable woman whose passing reveals a long held secret. The local constabulary may be scratching their heads, but Francis and Gordon (providing they are not out bird-watching, brass-rubbing, reading the Eagle, or tinkering with their Meccano) are on the case! Adrian Wright has inherited the gloriously entertaining Boy Detective stories by M E Pargeter, many of them originally published in the 1950s, and now retold for a new generation.

Adrian Wright is the author of several acclaimed books, including biographies of L P Hartley, William Alwyn and John Lehmann, two standard works on musical theatre, A Tanner's Worth of Tune, and West End Broadway, and the novel Maroon. The second collection of THE BOY DETECTIVE stories will be published Autumn 2015.

Praise for THE BOY DETECTIVES:

Brilliantly funny ... Deliciously wicked and thoroughly enjoyable. Within two pages I was chortling, followed by a continuous stream of laugh out loud ones. Every bit as good as a large gin, and should be available on prescription

THE BOOK HOUND

Wizard! I loved The Boy Detectives

MICHAEL RICHARDS

A lovely parody! I greatly enjoyed it, especially the numerous 1950s references, which made me laugh out loud. It reminded me of Channel 4's Famous Five Go Mad on Mescalin

ROGER MELLOR