posted on 10 Nov 2017

Carnival of Monsters by Andrew Beasley

If you like a rollicking monster story set in the past with a dash of Lemony Snicket, Doctor Who, Scooby Doo and Ghostbusters thrown in, you will really love the second book in this series by Andrew Beasley. Charley and Billy are the two top secret investigators of Supernatural Crimes, Rescues, Emergencies And Mysteries (S.C.R.E.A.M.) who enjoy their demanding and rather unorthodox job because it involves 'solving crimes, rescuing children, defeating supernatural villains', as Billy says 'What's not to love?' And as he wearily explains to the inept Constable Dunstable when he challenges their professional competence: ‘When the criminal turns out to be a zombie or a witch or a spectre, then, in my experience, the regular police are about as effective as a fish on a bicycle …’

This intriguing adventure begins when they are urgently contacted by Bunny who is an old school friend of Charley. She pleads for their help in solving the mystery of her missing younger brother Arthur who has been stolen away in the night by a monster. The two children live with their fierce widowed father, Major Smallbone in a place called Hobb’s End, which has a terrifying local legend about a demon dog that steals children:

“It searches far, it searches near, it sniffs you out and smells your fear.

So when the sun comes out to play, all the boys have gone away,

Taken swiftly in the night, when the Hobb-Hound takes to flight!”

It seems that the two children had returned from a secret visit to the very scary but thrilling ‘Doctor Vindicta's Carnival’ which was in the village and as Arthur had been taken that very same night, this might be a good place to start the investigation. It is easy to see why the children wanted to go along because the carnival has an enticing promise of ghosts, monsters magic and danger which are so well described that even I would be fascinated to go along. The S.C.R.E.A.M. detectives also soon uncover some disturbing information which links back to the childhood of Bunny and Arthur’s own father. In the meantime two more local boys go missing and Charley and Billy realise that these boys’ fathers also went to the same school as Major Smallbone.  Could this be a vital clue and who exactly is the mysterious Doctor Vindicta?

This is a captivating story and the breath-taking episodes towards the end of the book held me engrossed, as at several points I worried about how any kind of happy ending could be on the horizon. The writing is descriptive, well- paced and at times very amusing with the two very likeable central characters determined to solve the mystery at all costs. I especially like the fact that Charley, the senior detective, is a wheelchair user as a result of childhood polio and that this is clear from the illustration on the cover of the book. Although access to various places is sometimes a bit tricky, this is acknowledged and practically dealt with and certainly does not prevent her from being fully involved in the adventure. I strongly recommend that you read this book for yourselves and I can imagine reading a chapter aloud each day to a class of open mouthed nine year olds (although I am sure that it would be enjoyed by a wide age range). On the other hand, it’s the kind of book that an able young reader would gobble up in a few happy hours, and be hooked for the presumably forthcoming books in the series.

 

Karen Argent

November 2017