South by Southeast

Anthony Horowitz is one of my favorite authors. The Alex Rider books are among my favorites. This book, South by Southeast, is a Diamond Brothers Mystery. Tim Diamond, the world's worst private detective and his brother, Nick, are the main characters. As is typical in the other Diamond Brother Mysteries, the brothers are broke. They get themselves involved in another crazy mystery. A stranger, Jake McGuffin, offers Tim $50 for his old raincoat. McGuffin says he must disguise himself - a gunman is after him. A short while later they find the stranger, almost dead in a phone booth. The stanger is able to whisper a few words which sound like "south by southeast". The brothers take the information to Chief Inspector Snape. Snape investigates, but all the evidence is gone---no dead man, no phone booth. He promptly throws the Diamond Brothers in jail. Tim does have a clue though. In the dead man's coat there is a key for room 605 at the London Internation hotel. As soon as they are released from jail they head to the hotel to look for clues. It turns out the world famous assassin, Charon, killed McGuffin. His next target is Kusenov, a famous Russian diplomat. If he is killed it is feared that it will create an internation incident and nuclear war will break out. Of course, the Diamond Brothers are in the thick of it. Read this funny, yes funny, fast-paced mystery and see if the brothers can solve the mystery!