On my visit to Ireland earlier this year, I picked up three British children's mystery books at Charlie Byrne's bookstore in Galway. They were not part of any particular series, but I did want to bring home some kind of book souvenir from my trip, and I did rather like the cover art on the three books, as well as the titles. I was not really sure what to expect with any of the three books, so deciding which one to read first was a bit of a quandry. Ultimately, I decided to read them in order of the least interesting titles - and, thus, this one became the first one I read!
The Three Spaniards, by its title alone, does not sound like much of a mystery. As a friend commented, if there are three Spaniards, how come there are only two kids featured on the cover? Where's the third? Well, that, indeed, was the question I was wondering as I opened the book to begin this latest adventure. Right off the bat, I noticed the difference between this and American vintage children's books. This story opens with a three-page prologue of an unnamed man in his sailboat at night, when a giant barge comes along and crashes into his boat, sending him into the cold, dark waters of the Thames...
Here, I must interrupt the narrative to describe how the author interrupts himself (or herself) quite often in the story to shift points-of-view and scenes. The narrative at first seems to focus on Elizabeth and Anthony, but within a couple of chapters, the point-of-view changes to that of Captain Waters, as readers learn he is working for Mr. Grieves at the new pottery not far from the cottage, and that Mrs. Waters is concerned about whatever is happening there. The narrative shifts again, and readers discover what happened to the man that was capsized in the Thames and how Mr. Grieves unwillingly rescues the man and sees to it he is taken as far away as possible from the pottery (leading the reader at this point to understand that something untoward is going on at the place). Although the story then brings us back to Elizabeth and Anthony, it continues throughout the rest of the book to switch back and forth, so that readers get bits and pieces of what is really going on, although not enough to know the full story until the revelations at the end.
Early in the story, readers discover the man who fell overboard in the prologue is David Welch, a well-known ornithologist who went missing just before Elizabeth and Anthony left for Marsh Cottage. It is some time before he and the kids actually meet, but readers do get to follow his line of adventure, as he purchased an older craft and begins working to remodel it and get it back up to shape for sailing. He faces his own difficulties with Mr. Grieves, who wants him away from the area (clearly afraid he will see something he is not supposed to!). The author is really crafty in weaving the two stories - the children's adventures and Welch's adventures - into a single thread, as they join forces to find out exactly what is going on at Prospect Inn and the old pottery and why Mr. Grieves is so intent on keeping everyone away from there.
The children do meet a new friend over the course of the story. Jefferson Civardi, known simply as Jeff, is an American boy their age who is visiting relatives at a nearby house. He has his own racing boat, christened 'Miss America,' and he challenges Elizabeth and Anthony to a race. When the kids first meet Jeff, he comes across as boastful and conceited. As the story progresses, however, and particularly after Jeff loses his boat in an accident, his demeanor changes and the three become great friends. He is even instrumental in helping Elizabeth, Anthony, and Mr. Welch solve the mystery surrounding the pottery.
As this story was written in England, there are some terms that are different than what we use in America, and the author does a nice job of integrating those differences into the story. The American 'cookie' versus the British 'biscuit" is discussed (p. 78), as well as the American 'kerosene' as opposed to the British 'paraffin' (p. 97). There is also the use of the word "ass" on page 69, where Anthony refers to Jeff as a "silly ass" for the careless way he handles his boat. Such an expletive would have never been used in an American story of the same time period (although I can't necessarily say the same for the more modern stories written today).
And, in case you are wondering where the title of this book comes from, as the story does not seem to have any reference to Spaniards at all - well, the kids manage to find a clue that makes references to 'three spaniards." At first, they assume it refers to three men, although they don't recall ever seeing any Spanish men working or hanging around the pottery or the Inn. They eventually discover that the Three Spaniards are actually three buoys out in the river way, which are used as a guide for the barges bringing in the stolen goods for smuggling.
On a final note, this book has some similarities to a Canadian mystery of similar name - The Secret of Spaniard's Rock (the next to the last Secret Circle mystery). Both stories feature a brother/sister team who are vacationing near a site where there are mysterious happenings. Both involve smuggling of a sort, and both have Spaniard references that hold clues to solving the mysteries. Both stories also feature a flashing light as a code for the crooks. The Three Spaniards was published in 1954 in Britain, while The Secret of Spaniard's Rock was published nearly a decade latter in 1963 in Canada. Children's mysteries are rather well-known for their coincidences, which more often than not help the protagonists solve the mysteries, but one does have to wonder if the author of Spaniard's Rock had not read this book and some of the plot elements stuck with him.
In any event, this book does offer up a fairly decent story, and I'm glad I picked it up.
RATING: 8 slabs of Terry's Bitter chocolate out of 10 for providing a dangerous and adventurous tale of smugglers on the river that offers up a few unexpected twists at the end.
