Knightley & son by Rohan Gavin

Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408838914.
(Age: 10-12) Themes: Memory loss, Detectives, Crime stories. Darkus Knightley is an unusually intelligent thirteen year old boy detective who likes to wear tweed clothes, models himself on Sherlock Holmes and has an inbuilt 'catastrophiser' an ability to interpret and analyse difficult situations. Whilst his father Alan Knightley a former crime expert for Scotland Yard has been in a coma for the past four years, Darkus has memorized all of his private father's case files. This proves extremely useful when his dad wakes up with only a limited memory and is needed to solve a new wave of crimes.
People across London are being influenced to commit felonies after reading a popular self-help book The Secret. A criminal organisation the Combination is responsible for unleashing so much destruction 'both great and small, in towns and cities across the country . . . and possibly even the world.'
With Uncle Bill from SO42, father and son set out in a super-modified London taxi to investigate how foil the criminals with Darkus's intelligent deductions and brilliant plans assisting them.
This novel is suited for readers from 10 - 12 years, it does takes some determination to follow the plot's development and to warm to Darkus and the cast of characters.
Rhyllis Bignell