Secret Circle Mysteries #10 - The Secret of Spaniards Rock

Back in 2008, while in Toronto, a good friend (Bill!!!!!) introduced me to a series-that's-not-a-series of children's mysteries called the Secret Circle mysteries.  These books, written by various authors, are all set in different areas of Canada, and each book has a different set of protagonists (some brothers and sisters, some just friends, etc. - but there's always more than one). Published between 1962 and 1965, the 11-book series features 10 hardcovers with dust jackets published by Little Brown, while the last book was published only in paperback.  I picked up 8 books out of the series relatively easy from used book stores in Toronto, and later, from eBay.  The last two hardcovers I needed, though - The Mystery of the Missing Emerald and The Secret of Spaniards Rock - seemed to be impossible to find, and I have spent the last five years keeping an eye out for them.  Well, surprise, surprise! While in Arizona a couple of months ago, I came across The Secret of Spaniards Rock (in dust jacket!) at a Half-Price Books for only $3.00.  Needless to say, I didn't hesitate to buy it. This past week, I finally had a chance to read it.

Like the other Secret Circle mysteries, The Secret of Spaniards Rock is set in Canada, this time out near Vancouver.  Featuring Bob and Sue Channing, a brother and sister team, the story centers on the mysterious goings-on around Spaniards Rock, a small isle just off Galiano Island where a retired lighthouse keeper and his wife live. Her nephew and his scientist friend are currently living with the couple, performing experiments on sea water that are very hush-hush. They are very protective of their secret experiments, and it seems Bob and Sue are the only ones who question the secrecy. Perhaps that's because one night they witness the two men chasing a third man onto the jetty, and then hear gunshots. As Bob fervently tries to row their tiny boat home, a speeding cruiser nearly runs them down, knocking them both into the water!

From that point on, Bob and Sue knows that something fishy is going on - but the problem is, their parents won't believe them, and the scientist seems to have an answer for everything. When Bob and Sue find a bag filled with thousands of dollars in $5 bills, their curiosity grows even more - and when the scientist stakes a claim on that money, even going so far as to confirm his ownership by reciting the serial numbers of the bills, Bob and Sue know for sure that nothing is what it seems. A morse code signal for help from the lighthouse on Spaniards Rock move Bob and Sue into action, as they realize the retired lighthouse keeper and his wife are in danger. But what can two teenagers do?

 Author David Gammon gives readers a pretty exciting story, which surprised me, as most of the books in this series, while having somewhat interesting mysteries, have had consider exposition that was difficult to get through and made reading some of the books a real chore. But not this one! Gammon kept the action going, kept the mystery intriguing (although not really so difficult to figure out, particularly once the kids found the money), and provided some well-written characters who acted naturally and actually made you care about what happened to them. Makes me wish that Gammon had written all the books in the series (he actually only wrote two of the - the first one, The Mystery of Monster Lake, and the tenth one, this book).

If you are going to read any of the books in this series, this is definitely the one to read!

RATING:  9 weird, greenish-glowing lights out of 10 for writing a young adult mystery the way it should be written!