Half Moon Investigations

I'm listening to this for the second time because I *love* it, even though it's a children's book. (An earlier reviewer called it "pathetically 'kiddie'" but it's a children's book -- it should be "kiddie.")

Hilarious main character, Fletcher Moon, a detective who earned the title online and has a badge to prove it, settles various playground disputes and then is hired by a classmate to solve a real crime.

7 hours and 17 minutes. I have a hard time paying attention to audio books, but this one I loved and had no problem focusing on as I cleaned around the house.

I was planning to get round at last to reading the author's Artemis Fowl and somehow ended up with this book in my hands instead. 12-year-old Fletcher Moon, nicknamed "Half" because he's small, is obsessed with the notion of being a detective. There's a crime wave hitting his school, and he's commissioned by one of the "pink girls" to solve the mystery of a stolen lock of a pop star's hair, bought from eBay and now purloined. Following clues, he discovers this theft is part of a much larger and far more alarming picture; to solve the case he has to ally himself with Rod Sharkey, the unrecognized honest member of the local petty-crime lords.

The first score or so of pages of this book are electric, Colfer catches the Chandleresque tone show more very nicely indeed as he introduces Moon and the situation. But then he strips back the style to something more serviceable, clearly feeling the hardboiled voice would get in the way of the storytelling. I'm not sure he made the right decision. Even though the tale rattles along very nicely and I was never bored, it was those half-dozen instances later on where the PI verbal whipcracks re-emerged for a page or two that I really sat up and enjoyed myself. Colfer must be given full credit for making this a real mystery that it's important be solved, despite its being set largely among schoolchildren.

All in all, I found this plenty of fun but a bit lighter weight than it needed to have been. show less

Where Colfer fans once read about a twelve-year-old genius on the wrong side of the law, now they can read about a twelve-year-old genius on the side of truth and justice. Half-Moon Investigations is a whole lot of fun, and fans of Artemis Fowl won’t be disappointed at all. There may be no gunfire or trolls to contend with, but Colfer’s trademark wit and snappy direct speech remain, along with the wonderful quick-thinking of his main characters. When Fletcher finally saves the day, readers will, once again, be gaping about how clever his methods were.

Writing a fully-fledged crime story with characters aged from ten to twelve-years-old would certainly be challenging, but Colfer has pulled it off stunningly and made it look easy. The show more ages of the detectives and suspects do not hold the novel back at all – if anything, they improve it! Colfer has painted a wonderfully cheeky picture of a schoolyard, where junior-school students have their own social hierarchies and unwritten rules for dealing with their problems, right down to what the different types of schoolyard fights are, and how to win each type. The character of the principal, Mrs Quinn, an obsessive, intimidating woman with two huge guard dogs, adds wonderfully to this ‘school through the eyes of a child’ take on writing. It’s not strictly realism, but it’s unrealistic in a good way – an intentional exaggeration of dog-eat-dog junior-school life – and it is one of this book’s strongest features.

Of course, with any mystery novel, the inevitable question is: ‘is it predictable?’ In the case of Half Moon Investigations, the answer is ‘definitely not.’ This is one of those fantastic books where most of the evidence is there for readers to study and guess the perpetrator, but very few people will actually guess correctly. If you enjoy trying to predict endings, then this is the book for you.

If you loved The Supernaturalist, Artemis Fowl, or even if you just like to watch CSI, then you are sure to enjoy Half-Moon Investigations. Another highly-recommended thrill-ride from our favourite crime author. show less

At the beginning of the book, I wasn't particularly enthused with my listening choice - this book is a primary school interpretation of a crime noir private eye story (playground instead of barroom brawls, stolen organizers instead of jewels and riches). It was cute, but detective stories aren't my usual preferred genre, and I just wasn't in the mood when I set out. The beginning was pretty slow, the gradual unfolding of the set-up and initial clues took longer than I expected or would have wanted. Still, I kept at it, and by the point where Fletcher and Red team up, and start uncovering what's really going on with the kids of their town, I was hooked in. I guessed at some of the solutions, others surprised me, and some red herrings show more were presented really effectively. The language and writing is a kid-accessible yet very clever send-up of the genre, and it's mostly pretty plausible, even if the kids usually act a little older and smarter than their 10-12 years. Fletcher (Half) Moon was an engaging narrator, but it's really Red Sharkey who stole the show for me - very sympathetic and believeable character. Overall, a very smart, young, and modern take on a well-worn genre, and an engrossing read once you get to the meat of the story. show less

Fletcher Moon has always been different. At the tender age of three, he unknowingly started his detective career. He led the caregiver to her missing engagement ring in Mary Ann's diaper which also yielded three marbles, a plastic dinosaur, and two sets of car keys. Fletcher later learns Mary Ann was suffering from the Magpie Syndrome. Now he's in seventh grade and he's Half Moon because of his small size. His classmate April Devereux hires him to track the thief of her prized possesion, a lock of her idol pop star's hair. The clues lead him to suspect a conspiracy but before he catches the ringleader, he gets framed. Now he has to run from the police and pair up with Red, a member of the town's most notorious crime family, the show more Sharkeys. He has twelve hours to find the culprit or he is the criminal. Colfer's vivid descriptions of the characters and Moon's disguises; and his graphic narration of how the crimes are covertly solved keeps you laughing all the way to the end. I can't shake off the picture of Doobie, his eight-year-old, snot-nosed snitch who always has green yo-yo's hanging from his nostrils that he snorts in and out. So hilarious! show less

Fletcher Moon has never been like other kids. For one thing, he has had to suffer the humiliating nickname "Half Moon" because of his short stature. But the real reason Fletcher is different is that ever since he was a baby, he's had a nose for sniffing out mysteries. And let's just say, it's not a skill that has been appreciated by many people, including his own family.
That doesn't bother Fletcher, though. After graduating at the top of his Internet class, he is officially certified as the youngest detective in the world. He even has a silver-plated detective's badge to prove it. Everything is going along fine until two things happen: a classmate hires him to solve a crime, and his prized badge is stolen. All signs point to the town's show more most notorious crime family, the Sharkeys.
As Fletcher follows the clues, evidence of a conspiracy begins to emerge. But before he can crack the case, Fletcher finds himself framed for a serious crime. To clear his name, he will have to pair up with the unlikeliest of allies and go on the run from the authorities. Fletcher has 12 hours to find the guilty party, or he is the guilty party. show less

My review is based on the first chapter because that's as far as I read. Strip away the humour and the detective theme, and what you have is a basic schoolyard story with all the usual suspects - bullies, outsiders and nasty girls. Dull stuff.