The Secret of the Marabu Code
Tajemnica Szyfru Marabuta
by Maciej Wojtyszko
The silence of the night is disturbed by loud knocking on a door. In his hurry, the little librarian has forgotten about the doorbell... His friend the producer has been kidnapped, and the librarian needs help! He has come to the right place: two famous detectives are sure to help. Having told them his story, the exhausted little librarian falls asleep, and the two detectives start on a case that is to be called The Case of the Secret of the Marabu Code...
This is a detective tale, and I think it could well rival the famous Mummin Troll books by Tove Jansson, only this one is less "northern". There is a cartoon after the book, too, yet I would say the book is much better. It is full of adventure, and strange (yet ordinary and homey) beings, and fun, and deep wisdom along with the most childish simple-mindedness. The two detectives trying to solve the case - as well as the good citizens helping and... well... "helping" them - are misled at first, because the Enemy is an exceptionally cunning and very dangerous criminal. He can deceive anyone, and he does much harm to the whole neighborhood ("Our Neighborhood" the inhabitants call it): everyone begins suspecting everyone, and no one is sure whether one`s friends are really friends, anymore... But the brave detectives and a handful of their faithful companions solve the mystery and prove that trickery will out!
The book is written in Polish and well worth translating!
© Dodo