Marvin (no, really, Marvin) seems like your typical 17 year old boy, but he’s actually America’s bestselling author of teen fiction under the pen name Mack Slate. Everyone is crazy about his latest series, The Mystery at Silver Spring, and desperate to know who killed his heroine, Ann. But Marvin is kind of a dork (who wouldn’t be with that name? Sorry Marvins of the world), even if he is at pains to let us know he’s actually quite handsome, in the right light. He’s totally hung up on Shelly, his dream girl, who he managed to go on a date with a year ago and who seemed interested too…until her boyfriend Harry committed suicide, putting a dampener on Marvin’s love life. For shame.
No one knows his real identity, or so he thinks. But then he gets letters postmarked locally saying ‘I know who you are”, and Shelly asks him to investigate Harry’s death because she thinks he was murdered. Throw in a last book he hasn’t started writing yet that’s due NOW, alcoholic parents and an adorable little sister, Marvin has a lot on his plate. Can he finish his series and get the girl?
Again, this was a fave back in the day. I really didn’t ask a lot of questions back then. First off, the timeline of Marvin as an author drives me crazy. I know it’s a novel but come on! He started writing at 13, took about a year to get published. So first book out when he’s 14/maybe 15, and he’s now 17, soon to turn 18. And he’s written and published at least five books, the ones in the series (that he started writing A YEAR AGO. Five books published in a year. Insanity.) But he’s written more because he mentions others in passing. That many books in 2-3 years? Through a major publishing house? I can maybe accept him being a published and successful writer that young but the sheer volume is hard to take seriously. He also writes the final book in about four days and sends it off to his editor. After a spellcheck of course. You publish your first drafts, Marvin? What are you, a total genius? Gah.
Then there’s the actual murder plot. It doesn’t make sense to me. SPOILERS from here on out. Shelly thinks Marvin killed Harry, because the plot of his series matches a lot of what happened with Harry and she’s figured out he’s Mack Slate. She thinks he did so because he was so in love with her and jealous of Harry and wanted him out of the way. Even though she had gone on a date with Marvin the weekend Harry died and seemed really into him? So she uses Triad (seriously, Triad. Pike, these names…) to make Marvin jealous and drives him to recreate Harry’s death. And since he does she’s all ‘GOTCHA!’, but Marvin couldn’t have set up Harry’s death that way a year ago because HE WAS ON THE MOTORBIKE WITH SHELLY AT THE TIME. Harry was trying to kill Marvin. It’s nonsense.
Also, Marvin figures out how Harry died (while waiting to kill Marvin and Shelley) and instead of going on with his life decides the plan was fabulous and will use it to kill Triad. Because he’s going out with Shelley and Marvin lurves her. Triad might be dumb and annoying (as a person called Triad would be), but he’s done nothing wrong at this point except accept Shelley’s affections. But sure Marvin, you’re the hero of this story, it all sounds perfectly valid.
So Shelly thought Marvin was a murderer, he was gonna be a murderer (just not for the person she thought) and she ends up probably being a murderer…and they drive off into the sunset? This book is way more nuts than I remember.