Who Killed Darius Drake?

A boy with enemies, a thug for hire, a creepy old house, a man with a melted-looking face, a missing diamond necklace worth a fortune, and a note written in blood asking, "Who Killed Darius Drake?" They are all part of Philbrick's absorbing mystery. Narrator Arthur Bash is approached for protection by school outcast Darius Drake after Darius receives the threatening note. Arthur is a tough-guy at school, a boy who has perfected a mean scowl, though he tells readers from the start that he's not as tough as he looks, and he's happy to work for Snickers bars. Darius's investigation into who sent the note expands to include: the deaths of his parents in a car accident when he was three; a shifty mill owner and an unscrupulous financial mogul; and a dangerous search for long-missing treasure. Philbrick's lean prose is richly descriptive (an abandoned house "looks so Halloween, with a roof peaked high like a witch's hat, and the windows boarded up, and a saggy old porch melting into the dirt"). The short novel is big enough to contain an engaging mystery, thought-provoking reflections on class, and satisfying character development. dean Schneider