First edition: 1953
Illustrator: Bruno Kay
Category: Secret Seven
Genre: Mystery/Adventure
Type: Novels/Novelettes
Book No: 5
In this fifth adventure, the Seven are having some shadowing practice.
When a sinister-looking man gets George in trouble with the police, the Secret Seven are outraged! Spying on him, the gang are certain he's bad news, but what exactly is he up to? They need to investigate, and solve the mystery, once and for all.
The story takes place during the Easter term and is concerned with dog stealing, a theme that was to re-occur.
The Seven have not had a mystery to tackle so Peter despatches them on various errands to keep them practised and alert and they make discoveries that have a later bearing on the adventure they become embroiled in. Susie twice attempts to join the Seven, once at the start of the story reminding Peter a meeting is overdue, and later when George is forced to resign ("of all the cheek!" says Jack) but, apart from that, every incident in this excellent story has relevance to the plot.
Once again the background is of a town setting with a hotel and a dead-end alleyway alongside a warehouse leading to a manhole cover featuring prominently. When the three boys remove the manhole cover and crack their heads together as they simultaneously try to look down, Peter asserts his authority over Colin and Jack. "I get to look first," he says. "I'm the chief." So the others acquiesce.
There are some well-drawn villains here, though the minute Colin observes that Mr Taylor, the young man at Starlings Hotel, has thin lips, you know that is Enid speak for identifying a villain! Overall, though, like the previous story, this is a realistic and enthralling tale.
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