Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #140893 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent as always!
I'd loved everything I'd read by Eoin Colfer so I was intrigued to find what I hope is the start of a new series. It lived up to expectations and I raced through it, loving every minute. Eoin Colfer's style of writing just keeps me gripped and Half Moon Investigations was no dissapointment. I really hope it is the start of a series cause I can't wait to get stuck into the next case!

Half Moon, only Half-Decent.
I picked this up because I enjoyed Artemis Fowl, and was interested to see how Colfer would do a detective story. While I wasn't expecting fairies and super-villians, I was at least expecting a decent plot.

Unfortunately, it never quite lives up to expectations. Although this book is aimed at children in the 9-11 age group, I would have expected a little more imagination than Fletcher being hired by a 10-yr old girl to find a missing lock of hair! A good novel is one that creates a decent lead character and then creates a lot of conflict for that lead to deal with. I find it hard to get excited about someone trying to find a lock of hair - it just doesn't have the level of conflict I would expect. Why should I care about a lock of hair? I don't!

Ok, Master Moon does find himself up against a few problems, although none of which is particularly threatening, and he meanders through various set pieces (which are logical enough, I suppose) until the denoument. The ending is a logical conclusion, but you reap what you sow. If you have a very average story, then you can hardly expect that the ending will set the world on fire.

The style is ok and it's easy to read. Colfer tries to make Fletcher funny yet only succeeds rarely. Ultimately, my feeling is one of 'must try harder' if Colfer wants to buld on the success of his other work. I'm sure that Half-Moon investigations will develop a committed fan base, but I think that will largely be down to association with Artemis Fowl.

I'll give this a three star rating, although I think I'm being generous. It's a reasonable read but very very average.

Excellent, but sadly lacking fairies or magic!
I really enjoyed "Half Moon Investigations." All the Colfer hallmarks are there: a fast pace, humour, and imagination. It just seems very ordinary compared to the Artemis Fowl series! But that's a compliment to Colfer. I'm sure the Half Moon series will appeal to those who aren't so keen on magic, heavily armed fairies and criminal masterminds.