The Whisper in the Gloom
Nicholas Blake
1954
4/5 stars
Twelve-year-old Bert, known as "the Brain" to his friends, is about to sail his toy boat in Kensington Gardens when a dying man thrusts a message into the hull. Two men try to take his boat, and realizing he is in danger, he attaches himself to a strolling stranger, who happens to be Nigel Strangeways. Strangeways helps him get away safely, but Bert runs off without giving his name or any details. Realizing that the dead man was murdered for the information he now has, and fearing to trust any adult, Bert and his fellow Martian Society members, Foxy and Copper, try to solve the mystery themselves. In the meantime, Nigel, making the connection between the unknown boy and the murder, tries to find the boy and help Scotland Yard find the reason behind the assignation.
This was not a typical Strangeways novel, as it is more adventure than mystery. The attentive reader will recognize the guilty party early on, and the rest of the story is a race to see who will find Bert first, Nigel or the bad guys, and if either Bert or Nigel will correctly interpret the coded message. The boys were nicely written and their part of the story was thoroughly enjoyable. Nigel's actions played a minor role, but still made a good tale. On the whole, this is one of the best of the series that I've read so far.
