The Case of the Somerville Secret

Andrew Tillet, Sara Wiggins & Inspector Wyatt #3

by Robert Newman

Andrew and Sara help an inspector from Scotland Yard uncover the identity of a murderer and a monster associated with Lord Sommerville, an Assyriologist.

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade

184 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mr. Newman, who was born in Manhattan, began his career as a writer for radio shows. In 1944, he was in charge of the radio portion of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's re-election campaign. He also wrote ''Search for Tomorrow'' and ''Peyton Place'' episodes for television.

From 1973 to 1988, he wrote books for young people, including ''The Case of the Baker Street Irregular,'' published by Atheneum in 1978, and many novels.

Reviews

[Roderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong mystery, with a surprise (or 3) at the end. I especially loved Sara for seeing what the males don't: she is a valiant defender of the vulnerable and Andrew intelligently automatically backs her up. They're a fantastic duo (with Wyatt making it a terrific trio). So engrossing that I forgot all about Sherlock, who is entirely absent (& not even mentioned) here.

[Schuyler]

Tickled to remember parts of the mystery from years ago as I went along. Parts of this are probably politically incorrect, but the mystery is tighter and more exciting than book 2, and Sarah's brave compassion shines on the page. Also, Pierre is the most precious boy.

[Susan A Horton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another mystery from Robert Newman showcasing Andrew and Sarah, smart and intuitive young people with very good sleuthing skills. Their friend Inspector Wyatt leads the way through it all.

[Ella Tañada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it as a kid. I still remember how I felt that night while reading this. Great book. Sherlock fan.

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little let down by this book because on the title page it says The Case of the Somerville Secret -- A Sherlock Holmes story but Sherlock Holmes isn't in this story. They don't even mention him during the course of the story.

Alright gripping aside the Mystery itself was pretty good if somewhat predictable. Then again this book was written for children. And Child without too many mysteries under their belt might not find it predictable at all. I think that this is also a very good story for children because the main child characters are very well portrayed. They are intelligent and caring and unlike a lot of other youth mystery series they do their investigating safely and without sneaking around behind the athorities backs.