YA Review: The Falcon's Malteser, by Anthony Horowitz
Title: The Falcon's Malteser: A Diamond Brothers Mystery Author: Anthony Horowitz Publisher: Philomel Books, 1986 Source: Library Publisher's Summary: When the vertically-challenged Johnny Naples entrusts Tim Diamond with a package worth over three million pounds, he’s making a big mistake. Tim Diamond is the worst detective in the world. Next day, Johnny’s dead, Tim feels the heat, and his smart younger brother, Nick, gets the package—and every crook in town on his back! My Review: This is a pretty good mystery/thriller, with one foot in comedy and one foot in mayhem. The body count is high, making it definitely YA, not children's, and if it weren't for the somewhat cartoonish nature of the whole thing it would have been too violent for my taste. It might be, anyway. What's awkward is that the writing level feels more like it's for 10- or 11-year-olds. Maybe today's kids are used to corpses from the video games? Nick Diamond is a pretty sharp kid, u