Lunch Boxes Stripped Of Everything Except Fruit

Peter Rozovsky over at Detectives Beyond Borders is currently plugging one of our favourite reads of the year so far, Eoin Colfer’s Half Moon Investigations, the opening paragraph of which runneth thusly:

My name is Moon. Fletcher Moon. And I’m a private detective. In my twelve years on this spinning ball we call Earth, I’ve seen a lot of things normal people never see. I’ve seen lunch boxes stripped of everything except fruit. I’ve seen counterfeit homework networks that operated in five counties, and I’ve seen truckloads of candy taken from babies.

Quoth Peter:

"A child who reads that may just develop an affectionate attachment to crime fiction. Adults may like it, too. I do."

Ditto. Quoth the Crime Always Pays reviewing elves:

"Colfer is obviously a fan of Chandler et al, and he has distilled essence of the hardboiled style here, with the emphasis very much on style. Writers will read it and weep; less self-conscious readers will be wearing a smile throughout."

Just don’t get the elves started on his Artemis Fowl books. We’ll be here all night …