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Saxby Smart, Private Detective #4
The Hangman's Lair
"My name is Saxby Smart and I'm a private detective. I go to St.Egbert's School, my office is in the garden shed, and these are my casefiles. Unlike most detectives, I don't have a sidekick - so that part I'm leaving up to YOU."
In this series of stories, YOU can be the detective - Saxby presents you with the evidence, and poses some tricky questions...! The titles in this series
The Curse Of The Ancient Mask
The Fangs Of The Dragon
The Pirate's Blood
The Hangman's Lair
The Eye Of The Serpent
Five Seconds To Doomsday
The Poisoned Arrow
Secret Of The SkullThey can be read in any order - you don't need to start at book 1!
In this series of stories, YOU can be the detective - Saxby presents you with the evidence, and poses some tricky questions...! The titles in this series
The Curse Of The Ancient Mask
The Fangs Of The Dragon
The Pirate's Blood
The Hangman's Lair
The Eye Of The Serpent
Five Seconds To Doomsday
The Poisoned Arrow
Secret Of The SkullThey can be read in any order - you don't need to start at book 1!
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2008
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 26, 2023
Saxby Smart, the brilliant schoolboy detective, seems to see himself as a cross between Philip Marlowe and Sherlock Holmes but with his pals Isobel “Izzy” Moustique and George “Muddy” Whitehouse the three of them come across as more like the Three Investigators without being face to face with dangerous criminals on each case. Having said that, there is more bubbling schoolkid humour in Saxby Smart than the Three Investigators ever managed to create.
Saxby is something of a ringer for Jupiter Jones. He is not described as being plump but he regularly admits to a chronic lack of fitness and he has a sharp analytical mind. Izzy, the wonderful Izzy – she is my favourite character in the series, fits with Bob Andrews. She is the brains behind the trio; a computer nerd with a touch of Mata Hari about her. She will either grow up to be the next Elon Musk or, if she takes to the dark side, Irene Adler. And then there is Muddy, not quite Pete Crenshaw as he is not really athletic. He is the practical one ready to come up with inventions and ideas that will give Saxby a sense of reality; though, as with Dr. Watson, he is often astounded by his friend's insights.
Saxby's investigations cover crimes big and small – mostly small – which involve children at his school, their friends, their parents or their relatives. In volume four he investigates a theft of money from the school secretary's desk, the theft of a girl's secret diary, and creepy medium and clairvoyant.
The Hangman's Lair involves the theft of a large sum of cash from Mrs McEwan's desk in the school office. Strangely Bob Thompson, St. Egbert's frightening school bully, comes to Saxby and admits he was the one who stole it. Bob now appears to be sorry he did it and wants to return the money. Unfortunately he can't. He wanted to join a gang of young thugs and stole the money to prove he could do it and now the gang have stolen the money from him. Can Saxby help him to recover it? With Izzy and Muddy's help he works out a very well constructed plan to achieve his task, embarrass the gang, and the ultimately not quite so penitent Bob Thompson, and return the money to Mrs. McEwan. The best story of the three in this volume.
Diary of Fear brings Amy Parsons, or Parsnip to her friends, to seek Saxby's help. She has lost her top secret diary, or perhaps it has been stolen? The problem is Amy is a little too honest when writing her diary entries and is fearful that if it falls into the wrong hands most of her friends will become her ex-friends. Needless to say low-down rat Harry Lovecraft is involved. A brief school drama neatly plotted.
In Whispers from the Dead Izzy tells Saxby she is worried about a man called Godfrey Frye. Izzy's uncle and aunt run a small hotel and pub and put on nightly entertainment's for the customers. Frye has a stage act as a medium and clairvoyant. Izzy believes he is a complete fake but her uncle is so gullible that she fears Frye may be fooling him to steal his money. Saxby and Izzy set about unmasking the person they are determined to prove is a crook. It is a good story but spoiled as Saxby's dialogue becomes more and more adult as it progresses.
Saxby is something of a ringer for Jupiter Jones. He is not described as being plump but he regularly admits to a chronic lack of fitness and he has a sharp analytical mind. Izzy, the wonderful Izzy – she is my favourite character in the series, fits with Bob Andrews. She is the brains behind the trio; a computer nerd with a touch of Mata Hari about her. She will either grow up to be the next Elon Musk or, if she takes to the dark side, Irene Adler. And then there is Muddy, not quite Pete Crenshaw as he is not really athletic. He is the practical one ready to come up with inventions and ideas that will give Saxby a sense of reality; though, as with Dr. Watson, he is often astounded by his friend's insights.
Saxby's investigations cover crimes big and small – mostly small – which involve children at his school, their friends, their parents or their relatives. In volume four he investigates a theft of money from the school secretary's desk, the theft of a girl's secret diary, and creepy medium and clairvoyant.
The Hangman's Lair involves the theft of a large sum of cash from Mrs McEwan's desk in the school office. Strangely Bob Thompson, St. Egbert's frightening school bully, comes to Saxby and admits he was the one who stole it. Bob now appears to be sorry he did it and wants to return the money. Unfortunately he can't. He wanted to join a gang of young thugs and stole the money to prove he could do it and now the gang have stolen the money from him. Can Saxby help him to recover it? With Izzy and Muddy's help he works out a very well constructed plan to achieve his task, embarrass the gang, and the ultimately not quite so penitent Bob Thompson, and return the money to Mrs. McEwan. The best story of the three in this volume.
Diary of Fear brings Amy Parsons, or Parsnip to her friends, to seek Saxby's help. She has lost her top secret diary, or perhaps it has been stolen? The problem is Amy is a little too honest when writing her diary entries and is fearful that if it falls into the wrong hands most of her friends will become her ex-friends. Needless to say low-down rat Harry Lovecraft is involved. A brief school drama neatly plotted.
In Whispers from the Dead Izzy tells Saxby she is worried about a man called Godfrey Frye. Izzy's uncle and aunt run a small hotel and pub and put on nightly entertainment's for the customers. Frye has a stage act as a medium and clairvoyant. Izzy believes he is a complete fake but her uncle is so gullible that she fears Frye may be fooling him to steal his money. Saxby and Izzy set about unmasking the person they are determined to prove is a crook. It is a good story but spoiled as Saxby's dialogue becomes more and more adult as it progresses.
April 28, 2018
Morgs aged 7 says “it is the really good because of the questions it asks you as you’re reading”.
August 16, 2016
That ungrateful, obnoxious Bob Thompson! Saxby helped him and he repays by snatching the found money and returning it to the Herbert Street bullies?!? Fat change!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews