The Night Thief

January 15, 2015
A sneak thief poses an unusual series of moral dilemmas for a Canadian handyman/farmer in rural Madrid County.At first, Cedric Elvis "Rick" O'Toole thinks his organic vegetable garden is being raided by a hedgehog or a rabbit. But the ingenuity the thief shows in evading the traps Rick sets and the traces he's left of a camp nearby point to a human. Oiling up his shotgun, Rick stakes out the garden and catches a 10-year-old with a strange accent who refuses to identify himself. Dubbing the thief Robin Hood, Rick takes him in and shields him from Constable Jessica Swan, Sgt. Hurley, and the tender mercies of Children's Services, a bureaucracy with which Rick's already tangled on his own. It's an uphill battle. Robin can't read, can't count and has never even held a pencil. He's more than willing to help Rick with chores around the farm, but he seems to be sneaking out every night. One morning, Rick heads off to the woods himself and discovers a young woman whose eyes are as blue as Robin's but who has one feature Robin lacks: a bullet hole in her side. Enlisting his mother's aunt Penny to help Robin nurse the girl they decide to call Marian, he sits out Robin's cryptic hints about Marian's identity and waits for enlightenment from some other quarter. At length, it arrives in the form of an American with Alabama license plates, a short temper and a gun. Child psychologist Fradkin (None So Blind, 2014, etc.) supplies a promising setup and a touching conclusion but not much of a story in between.

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February 15, 2015
Rick has laid all manner of traps for the night thief, the animal who is raiding his vegetable garden. He is quite surprised when he discovers the thief to be a bedraggled young boy. Rick names him Robin, since the boy refuses to answer any questions about his identity. Rick wants to help Robin, but the boy disappears daily, taking food and other supplies along with him. What secrets is Robin hiding? Robin, in fact, has many, including one that will place him, Rick, and others straight into the path of a killer. Rick is an engaging character at home with a good mystery to solve but very ill at ease when it comes to talking to the female police detective. Like other amateur sleuths, his presence often irritates the authorities, but ultimately Rick's help closes the case. This third installment in the Cedric O'Toole mysteries is written to appeal to struggling adult readers looking for a fast-paced mystery story, but it would work equally well for young-adult readers and adults who are simply overscheduled and lack time for reading for pleasure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)