Phyllis Wong And The Forgotten Secrets Of Mr Okyto

A junior Jonathan Creek-style mystery in which the clever and resourceful young magician, Phyllis Wong, helps solve numerous crimes including the thefts of a missing diamond necklace and the most valuable painting ever to come to the city.

Phyllis Wong, a clever and resourceful young magician and amateur sleuth, finds herself embroiled in a mystery nearly as old as time when she discovers one of her great-grandfather's conjuring secrets! Someone has sold a number of incredibly valuable first editions of Shakespeare's collected plays at the antique auction house The House of Wendlebury and Chief Inspector Inglis suspects foul play. These rare First Folios are in mint condition, but are not forgeries. Where on earth could they have come from? Has a crime been committed? Luckily, Phyllis Wong is on the case. Having recently discovered the secret of Transiting, she travels back to Shakespeare's day to find out who is responsible. But when a famously lost Shakespearean play is scheduled to be auctioned back in the 21st Century, Phyllis suspects villainy. How can she convince Chief Inspector Inglis what's going on? Surely this is something that has to be seen to be believed? Phyllis Wong, that keen young magician with a talent for sleuthing and getting to the bottom of the strangest mysteries, is back!

A brilliant first novel of profound depth, startling originality and breathtaking talent. A child is imprisoned in a house by her reclusive religious parents. Hester has never seen the outside world; her companions are Cat, Spoon, Door, Handle, Broom, and they all speak to her. Her imagination is informed by one book, an illustrated child`s bible, and its imagery forms the sole basis for her capacity to make poetic connection. One day Hester takes a brave Alice in Wonderland trip into the forbidden outside (at the behest of Handle `turn me turn me`), and this overwhelming encounter with light and sky and sunshine is a marvel to her. From this moment on, Hester learns the concept of the secret, and not telling, and the world becomes something that fills her with feeling as if she is a vessel, empty and bottomless for need of it.

Is it possible that one of the greatest and most powerful beings from ancient mythology could still actually exist in the 21st century? Is it possible that Neptune F. Bone, that dangerous and deluded evil genius, knows of his whereabouts? Is it possible that Cairo Jim, that well-known archaeologist and little-know poet, and his friends Doris the Macaw and Brenda the Wonder Camel find themselves faced with another mystery of history, and a trail of gold, greed and gruesomeness?