Well, I started my reading year with a cracker here. The boys are on a buying trip with Aunt Mathilda when they run into Java Jim, who desperately wants an old chest belonging to Angus Gunn. He had a house on Phantom Lake and it was rumoured he’d buried treasure on the property, but no-one has ever found it. Taking in a ghost town, a trip to (real locations, I discovered, in) Santa Barbara and several cases of mistaken identity, this is a cracking adventure, told with flair and originality from start to finish. There’s good interplay between the boys (including a couple of comedy moments), it’s a good mystery, there’s a great atmosphere (the use of Christmas lights, plus the weather) and there’s a nicely spooky sequence amongst the cypress trees on Cabrillo Island. Very much recommended.
