Agaton Sax and the Criminal Doubles

Agaton Sax #6

by Nils-Olof Franzén, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

When master criminals Octopus Scott and Julius Mosca go to Bykoping to put paid to ace detective Agaton Sax at the same time as their doubles, Charlie MacSnuff and Absalom Nick go to beg Sax to help them, trouble is bound to follow. Is Swinging Susie, the singer at the Civic Banquet, really Smiling Sandra Smith, ruthless criminal? Is Inspector Lispington from Scotland Yard chasing Scott and Mosca or MacSnuff and Nick? Can Agaton Sax trap the real criminals?

Genres: Crime, Novels, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a warm blast of childhood nostalgia. I remember a phase of borrowing Agaton Sax books from the library in the late 1970s. Having not seen them since, I was astonished to find that the irrepressible moustachioed Swedish detective is as much fun now as he was then and so familiar. The names of his arch-nemesis foes Julius Mosca and Octopus Scott rolled off the tongue as if their fiendish plots had been thwarted only yesterday. Even the names of some of their henchmen, such as Ernest Fingers Dodge were instantly familiar after not having seen them for 45 years. A curious thing, the human memory.

[Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The joy of this, and in fact all, Agaton Sax book is both the simplicity and sheer joy of the writing.
It has no pretensions, it is just a fantastical tale of a genius Swedish detective/newspaper editor whi defeats bungling crooks at every turn.
Great to discover it has stood the test of time.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story, a few twists and turns with such great names. I’ll definitely look out for the others!

[C.A. A. Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story I read a long time ago. I have just downloaded a Wallander story on Kindle. Suddenly my memory was jogged back to my childhood in the school library. The Swedish Detective Agaton Sax and the Criminal Doubles. It was one of the first books I read. Not the absolute first, but probably third or fourth. I remember being rather pleased with myself and enjoying the yarn very much. This is a fine book for children of around 8 to 11 in my view. A dashed good kiddie yarn.

[Katsuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still pretty decent, but by this point I'm starting to understand why these books aren't being read as widely these days. It gets a bit repetitive.