Mysteries at Sea
1936. We rejoin the characters in The Royal Jewel Plot, the sequel to A.M. Howell’s first nautical adventure for 8-12-year-olds. Here, we re-meet Alice and Sonny who have inherited the yacht, the Lady Rose, from their jealous grandfather. The children are warned that the new paying guests include none other than the young King Edward VIII and his guest, the glamorous Mrs Wallis Simpson – and the King is looking for privacy; it’s important that nothing goes wrong. Alas, the press is already aware of the King’s notorious guest, and when the hapless stewardess Margery drops a drinks tray, allowing the glasses and ice to slide off the tray and shatter on the floor, it seems that all the captain’s careful arrangements are doomed to go awry.
And that’s just the first chapter.
My first gripe is that the author is ignorant of naval etiquette and the first officer, who should be addressed as Officer or ‘sir’, would never, at that date, ask to be called by his first name, ‘Andrew’. The author needs a copy of Debrett’s Correct Form.
Then there are far too many characters vaguely related to Alice and Sonny, and it’s not easy to work out who’s who, or how they are related – and, more importantly, what’s at stake? Too much is going on. The precious opal, the disappearing octopus, and which creatures are poisonous and which are dangerous, cause yet more confusion.
The beautiful jewels the king plans to give Mrs Simpson sound wonderful, and I can understand Alice’s gasp of amazement, but I lost patience with the muddled story-line and began to lose interest. If it hadn’t been for the lively stories of various minor characters turning up where they have no business to be, I’d have given up.
