Irvin Vella is still studying to get his private investigator's warrant, but he's already as busy as the best PI pros, working unabatedly and successfully at solving unsolvable mysteries. So, when a free trip around the Mediterranean comes along, on Malta's very own first cruise ship, MV Ġgantija, he's very much deserving of the holiday.
Holiday? Did we just say holiday? There is no rest for the wicked, as they say. No sooner has the ship set off, that an elegant, sophisticated Neapolitan Baroness finds her priceless gemstone neckless missing. Who better than Irvin, with the help of his cousins Luca and Laura, to solve the crime on board the confines of a ship? The result is a whodunit full of hidden clues, action, suspense and a good dose of humour.
Irvin Vella: Il-każ Stella Maris is the fourth in the detective series written by John A. Bonello and published by Merlin Publishers.
It follows Irvin Vella: Il-Każ Manduca, Irivin Vella: Il-Każ tas-Serqiet Strambi and Irvin Vella: Il-każ tal-Gżejjer tat-Teżor - all of which are perfect for children aged nine upwards.
Children love the character because they can easily identify with him - Irvin loves his family, his Twistees, his tea and biscuits, and above all he is touchingly grouchy.
The main inspiration for the character was an old television series called Detective Columbo. "I used to watch the series with my grandmother," recalled Bonello, an award-winning author of fantasy novels for young adults and adults.
A particular episode always intrigued him more than others. "The scruffy detective sails on a cruise ship with his wife and ends up investigating a murder on board. There's no murder in my story, but I wanted to explore the concept of an investigation within a limited space and disconnected from the rest of the world," Bonello said.
The Irvin Vella series is the first detective-fiction in Maltese, written specifically for young readers and have been so popular that the first title, Il-Kaz tas-Serqiet Strambi, has sold out and has had to be reprinted twice!
The book is illustrated by internationally-renowned artist Lisa Falzon who uses black and white incisive drawings to capture the investigative mood brilliantly.
The Irvin Vella novels mark Bonello's first foray into children's literature and there's no stopping the young private investigator - in fact, the author is busy penning the fifth adventure in the series. Meanwhile, his Il-Logħba tal-Allat trilogy has a popular cult following, and two books in the trilogy won him the Best Young Adult Fiction award at the National Book Awards. His most recent fantasy novels for adults are Fil-Mergħat tal-Impossibbli and its sequel Jien, wieħed minnhom.
'Irvin Vella: Il-Każ Stella Maris' is available from all bookshops, or directly online, with free postage and package, from merlinpublishers.com
John A. Bonello
illustrations by Lisa Falzon