Malamander (An Eerie-on-Sea Mystery)

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When the Boat Hook Man comes looking for Violet in Herbie’s Lost-and-Foundery, he “shoves [Herbie] against the wall as he pushes past.” Captain K, also known as Boat Hook Man, wished to “live forever” and the egg granted that wish. The egg responds, “But if you lose [the egg], your wish shall become your curse.” Captain K’s “wounds closed up as soon as they opened, and his injuries healed.”

The malamander resurfaces. “In its claws it is holding the broken body of Boat Hook Man.” Herbie recognizes Boat Hook Man is not dead, but “he has clearly lost the fight with the monster” as his “face is white and awful”. Jenny, the bookstore owner, explains how Sebastian Eels and Violet’s father knew each other. They were both authors interested in the malamander, and at one point “they went monster hunting together.” Mrs. Fossil receives treatment for her wound and reports that she “can already move [her] fingers again.” Mrs. Fossil, a beachcomber, thinks she has some “beach finds” which would “suit a young man looking for something for that special someone in his life.” She assumes Violet and Herbie are romantically involved. Malamander is in many ways the culmination of an ongoing project to turn beachcoming into books. It’s a project I didn’t even know I was pursuing until I was joined on my lonely foreshore walks by a boy called Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and his curious friend Violet Parma. And with them came Lady Kraken, Mrs Fossil, Dr Thalassi, and all the quirky residents of a mysterious town called Eerie-on-Sea. And behind us all, lurking in the mists, keeping pace with us in the shallows just beyond view, we were followed by a creature out of legend – the unctuous and creeping malamander itself.Violet discusses the legend of the malamander, including its annual move “near the town to hunt” and lay its egg, which it then “devours.” The word malamander sounds very similar to salamander, which is derived from ancient Greece. Did the ancient Greek myths influence your writing at all? How did you decide on a name for the mysterious creature in the story? Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Mrs. Fossil explains that the town doctor has prevented her from “languishing in a hospital bed somewhere, pumped full of goodness-knows-what.” The egg can vaguely communicate telepathically with its holder. “In the captain’s wondering mind, a thousand voices seemed to whisper as one: I can make your dreams come true.”

Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, knows that returning lost things to their rightful owners is not easy - especially when the lost thing is not a thing at all, but a girl. This book introduces a diverse new detective duo in Herbie and Violet, and is told with such neat storytelling and surprising phrases it would be a joy to read aloud Lady Kraken calls Herbie an “incorrigible dunderbrain.” She also asks if he has “cloth for brains.” Oh yes! I’m revising the second book right now, and plan to start writing the first draft of Book III later this year. Now that we’ve met Herbie and Violet, and discovered the town of Eerie-on-Sea, it’s time to go on some more adventures there.

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Violet then uses the egg to make the malamander “miraculously whole again,” raising it from the dead. Eels calls the behavior of the malamander “pathetic” and asks, “doesn’t it just make you want to puke?” He also adds, “But also, how very unsurprising that a softy like Peter Parma would be the one to discover such a ridiculous fact.” Boat Hook Man exists today as half-man, half-water. He arrives in the form of a “cloud of mist” which gathers into a shape. Many of the characters use names such as weasel, fool, stupid, and creep. For example, Herbie calls Mollusc a horrible, hideous man, though not to his face.