Johnny Delgado: Private Detective

Brooks’ contribution to this series of readers for teenagers with a reading age of 8+ is an unlikely but highly readable story about naive but enterprising 15-year-old Johnny Delgado and his plans to become a Private Detective. He is hired by two of the most brassily attractive girls on his estate to follow Lee Kirk, a psychopathic criminal who one of the girls claims is cheating on her. Despite warnings from his friend Marcus, Johnny sets out to do the job, only to be framed for a brutal murder.

The breathtaking pace of the end of this popular book, now reissued, brings it to an energetic conclusion, but it is the subtext of compassion, loyalty and justice which ultimately gives the book its resonance.