The Secret Of Shark Reef

The boys accompany Mr Andrews up to Santa Barbara, where he is working on a story involving the crime writer John Crowe, who is organising a protest against an oil drilling rig near to Santa Cruz island. Crowe also has his own mystery, which the boys help him with - his fuel is being depleted, as if someone is smuggling and using his boat to accomplish it. With some vivid set-pieces (the storm and the submarine, especially), a great sense of location, some nice background work with environmentalism and a cracking pace, this works well as a mystery even if it is a bit too convoluted for its own good. Although not the best Arden book, this is probably a fitting end (to my mind anyway) to the ‘proper run’ of books (Hitchcock died shortly after this was published) and, as such, is well worth a read.