Escape from Big Muddy

E. Jane Philipps is head of the Biology Library at Queen’s University
in Kingston.

The 15th page-turner in Eric Wilson’s Liz Austen Mystery series is
presented as a flashback and features a 12-year-old Liz on her first
case. Dedicated to “the memory of master storyteller Robert Louis
Stevenson and intended as a tribute to Treasure Island,” the novel’s
fast-paced, action-packed plot captures the reader’s imagination in
the same way that Stevenson’s classics do. Wilson cannot match the
literary style of his 19th-century counterpart, but his simple sentence
structure, vocabulary, and lively narrative technique make his work
appealing for reluctant or less-skilled readers.

While on vacation in Saskatchewan with her Aunt Melody, Liz becomes
embroiled in a suspense-filled search for a missing treasure: a golden,
jewel-encrusted statue known as the Sacred Egyptian Cat. The villains in
the piece include the murderous members of the Death Machine biker gang,
a weak-willed distant cousin, and the cousin’s greedy, unscrupulous
neighbor. The author employs the intriguing device of a high-tech,
encoded computer disk that, when used in conjunction with geographic
positioning software, provides a map to the treasure. The map’s code,
derived from historical events, places and people, allows the clever and
courageous heroine to investigate the history and culture of the
province en route to solving the case.

Wilson has succeeded once again in fashioning an exciting adventure
that simultaneously informs and enthrals. Recommended.