Madness at Moonshiner's Bay

Accidental Detectives #9

by Sigmund Brouwer

Beloved children’s author Elspeth Campbell Murphy portrays the miracles and mystery of Christmas in captivating rhymes that little minds and hearts can understand and enjoy. The delightful prayers and poems celebrate all the simple things a child loves about Christmas- the Christmas tree, beautifully lit houses, and the Nativity -while rejoicing in the miracle of our Savior’s birth.

Genres: Mystery, Christian, Fiction, Action, Contemporary, Childrens, Middle Grade

Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Sigmund loves going to schools to get kids excited about reading, reaching roughly 80,000 students a year through his Rock&Roll Literacy Show.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madness at Moonshiner’s Bay is a surprise in every sense of the word — Sigmund Brouwer takes everything we know and love about The Accidental Detectives series (complex clues-based mysteries, Ricky’s friend group working together, etc.) and subverts it entirely. However, instead of losing the magic, Brouwer turns out one of the very best books in the entire series, achieving a sense of suspense and intrigue that’s hard to find even in adult-aimed mystery novels.

Resuming their plans to travel on Easter break, Ricky Kidd and his friends are on their way to Orlando, Florida, to see DisneyWorld when they encounter a suspicious ex-convict named Clem Pickett, who befriends Ricky’s brother Joel and is immediately arrested in the airport. Once they have arrived in Orlando and gotten separated from the rest of their group, Ricky, Joel, and Lisa Higgins are kidnapped by mysterious thugs in Halloween masks and hidden on an isolated island deep in the Florida Everglades, where they are guarded by a man-eating alligator until they disclose the location of a special coin given to them by Clem Pickett. As Ricky and his friends come to terms with the hopelessness of their situation, Ricky schemes of a way to escape the death-trap and get help, unknowingly landing himself in the middle of a generational family feud and a quest for a long-lost treasure hidden somewhere in the Everglades.

Madness at Moonshiner’s Bay works on every level, which is surprising given the lackluster quality of the previous book. Here, Brouwer pulls away from his usual formula — Ricky and the gang observing strange occurrences, eventually having some scary encounters, then putting all the pieces together in a climactic sequence — and replaces his usual intricately-plotted mystery for a story that relies on good old-fashioned suspense. From the moment Ricky, Joel, and Lisa are kidnapped from the bustle of DisneyWorld, the pace moves at a frantic speed, and not a single dull moment passes for the rest of the novel. Brouwer doesn’t hold back from putting Ricky in his most harrowing, life-threatening situations yet — being thrown into a trunk and driven for hours by kidnappers, creating a makeshift raft to paddle across gator-infested swamps, running from a corrupt lawforce, being tied to a tree and used for gator bait — and Madness at Moonshiner’s Bay greatly benefits from his bolder choices.

Brouwer makes the most of his atmospheric setting in the Everglades, creating a suffocating heat and uncomfortableness in his prose that makes Ricky’s predicament seem even more dire. Even before the kidnapping, Brouwer takes full advantage of the chaotic setting of DisneyWorld and the confusion of not knowing who to trust. What truly stands out about Madness at Moonshiner’s Bay is Brouwer’s choice to make Ricky carry the majority of the story on his own. Typically, Ricky has the help of Mike, Ralphy, Lisa, and various side characters as he tries to think through his mysteries; here, Ricky is on his own once he rafts away and is too busy trying to survive the vicious landscape to even think about any clues. After eight books in the series, Madness at Moonshiner’s Bay is a welcome change of pace, and seeing Ricky’s interactions with Lisa and Joel is a definite highlight that makes his isolation even more powerful. We get a host of other memorable characters as well — Clem and Leroy Pickett, Blake Hotridge, Elmer Johnson, and several others — who feel straight out of Outsiders or The Andy Griffith Show with their realistic Southern dialects and complicated motivations. There’s something to be said for making a backwoods alligator poacher your saving grace, though Brouwer makes up for it by preserving the life of man-eating gator Big Ben in the end.

On another positive note, Madness at Moonshiner’s Bay vastly tones down the comedic elements, relying on Ricky’s witty narration and some funny dialogues to balance out the nail-biting suspense of the rest of the novel. We get several interesting lessons about how our perception of people changes when we learn something about them, which ties in with the overall idea that it’s hard to know who to trust when you’re in a strange place surrounded by strangers. Brouwer cranks up the emotion in a couple of scenes, especially the one where Ricky genuinely believes he’s about to die while getting across the swamps on his raft. He experiences terror at the possibility of dying, then a deep sadness for all the people and things he will be leaving behind, then a resolve to press on for Lisa and Joel’s sakes, then a deep peacefulness knowing that God has him in His hands and won’t allow harm to come to Ricky until it’s the right time. I can’t think of a more powerful moment in any of The Accidental Detectives books, and the fact that Ricky faces his most dangerous situations yet speaks a lot for the level of depth Brouwer shoots for in this book.

The mystery itself is intriguing as well, though the plot mostly focuses on Ricky’s quest for survival. The story ultimately hinges on the generational feud between the Picketts and the Johnsons over two coins that form a treasure map, but we don’t learn of that feud until about ¾ of the way into the book. Brouwer does his usual superb job of dropping subtle clues for us to find, and the reveal of Blake Hotridge as the main villain is honestly less surprising than the reveal that Sheriff Leroy is not the main villain. Eunice Pickett has a small but powerful role, and even the deputies Clovis and Ernie get a bit of characterization beyond generic goons (and you have to laugh at Ricky’s innate politeness even when talking to his kidnappers). We don’t see much of Mike or Ralphy, but Lisa gets a chance to shine alongside Ricky and prove how good a team they are when they work together. Each character has a level of complexity that sometimes is lacking in the other books, and Brouwer demonstrates just how well he can write when he picks up the pace.

Madness at Moonshiner’s Bay is yet another example of Brouwer’s writing expertise, as he continues to draw new depth and excitement after eight books of the same characters. Ricky does an admirable job of carrying this novel on his back, and the suspense Brouwer creates around Ricky’s adventure is nothing short of spine-tingling. You won’t want to miss this one, and you won’t forget it in a hurry, either.

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another 6th grade book report:

I think this book was very thrilling and exciting. I think that the other should have done more in the story. I think that it should have been a little bit longer because it ended a little bit abruptly.

[Mark Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Accidental Detectives are off to Disney World, only their trip is interrupted when Ricky, Joel, and Lisa are kidnapped and trapped on an island guarded by an alligator. Can they figure out what their captor's want? Definitely one of the more suspenseful books in the series, but still so very good. My feet get clammy just thinking about some of the scenes.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Chazzie Eatman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok

This was confusing but I quickly understood it this book is really exciting but I felt like it was dragged on and boring but other than that its was a really exciting book with some twist and moments of excitement