Alas Poor Father by Joan Fleming
Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)
Brigadier Basil Patricott has retired from a spy agency. He runs a greenhouse business in the English countryside. He’s a widower with two young sons. The older is rather plodding but the younger is smart, curious, and fearless. The boys make friends with an Irish eccentric who believes keeping and racing pigeons will equip the boys with all the skills they need to get on in life. The brother of the eccentric, however, warns him to keep the kids away lest their nefarious plans go ahoo. Patricott’s younger son makes his way past a series of locked doors. The ending rocks, though with not as many fireworks as I like in a thriller. This was published in 1973 but has aged pretty well. Keep a grain of salt the size of brick handy, however, when the English discuss the national characteristics of the Irish.
