Djuna and his dog Champ go to Stony Harbor to spend what he thinks will be a quiet and uneventful holiday in a seaside village. But little does Djuna know what is in store!
First he meets Billy Reckless and his dog Alberto. Then there's the mystery which enshrouds Djuna's Aunt Patty. Things begin to happen! Djuna has a grand time with his newfound friend, lobstering, sailing, and exploring, until Aunt Patty's motorboat, the Patagonia, mysteriously disappears.
Ellery Queen Jr. has created a likeable character in Djuna the junior sleuth, not forgetting, of course, his black Scotty, Champ. Their adventures are told in clear, bright language, and they hold interest from start to finish.
Ellery Queen is a pseudonym used by two American cousins from Brooklyn—Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay (1905–1982), and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee (1905–1971)—to write detective fiction. In a successful series of novels that covered forty-two years, Ellery Queen served as both the authors’ name and that of the detective-hero. The cousins also cofounded and directed Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, one of the most influential English crime-fiction magazines of the twentieth century. They were given the Grand Master Award for achievements in the field of the mystery story by the Mystery Writers of America in 1961.
Traber Burns worked for thirty-five years in regional theater, including the New York, Oregon, and Alabama Shakespeare festivals. He also spent five years in Los Angeles appearing in many television productions and commercials, including Lost, Close to Home, Without a Trace, Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, and others.