The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves 1: Egypt's Fire
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Hilarious, non-stop adventure, a mysterious jewel heist, and a detective team like no other make this a must-have middle grade series starter. Perfect for fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events and Enola Holmes.
After twelve-year-old John Boarhog’s mom dies, the last thing he wants is to be schlepped off to the Jersey Home for Boys, where kids are forced to make skinny jeans for hipsters and are fed nothing but kale. Instead, he makes himself a snug home in the ceiling of the New York Museum of Natural History, where he reads anything he get his hands on and explores the artifacts afterhours.
But when a rare Egyptian ruby—the highlight of the museum’s new exhibit—goes missing, John is accused of the crime. That is until the unpredictable Inspector Toadius McGee sweeps in to wrestle control of the case, certain that the true culprit is a notorious criminal he’s been tracking for years.
John quickly becomes the Watson to Toadius’s Holmes as they race from Broadway to back alleys to a speak-easy that only serves root beer. And along the way, John uncovers secrets about his own past, including that he’s a lot more involved in this web of endearing ne'er-do-wells than he ever could have imagined.
A love letter to classic middle grade, Egypt's Fire introduces a remarkable new duo that will steal your heart as surely as it leaves you begging for their next grand adventure.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Phillips's rollicking debut features 11–year-old John Boarhog, a clever orphan who lives in the ceiling of the fictional New York Museum of Natural History. After nearsighted museum director Victor van Eyck mistakes John for a museum custodian, he gives him an access code to the new Egyptology exhibit. Though John usually spends his nights reading books and avoiding detection, he begins browsing the artifacts, and when the exhibit's crown jewel, a ruby of extraordinary beauty called Egypt's Fire, is swapped for a fake, John is blamed and detained. He's eventually released into the reluctant custody of the world's best detective, Toadius McGee, and John—playing Watson to McGee's Holmes—joins him in hair-raising escapades as they hunt for the real gem. Their investigation takes them from center stage at a Broadway musical to a speakeasy filled with purple-clad patrons, and their adventures are populated by a large, flamboyantly rendered cast (many of whom are described as having brown skin), which includes intrepid reporter Jaclyn Star and Pickles, an actor with a secret. Though abundant jokes sometimes overwhelm at the expense of plot, this laugh-out-loud caper, reminiscent of Lemony Snicket's work, sits well among its madcap mystery cohort. Ages 8–12.
