Malamander (An Eerie-on-Sea Mystery)

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Mrs. Fossil tells the children about the legend of the malamander. She says the creature lays an egg and then “devours it.” Since the egg has the power to grant wishes, she explains, many people have sought it. However, she tells them, “Every single one of them . . . gobbled up by the beastie!” In Herbie’s lost and found system, if red lines are crossing out a name, that means “the owners were declared dead.” Violet’s parents’ entry is crossed out in red, and Herbie apologizes while giving Violet her parents’ lost belongings. Mrs. Fossil receives treatment for her wound and reports that she “can already move [her] fingers again.” 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. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma’s parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger…

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.” Boat Hook Man corners Herbie and Violet in the fish shed. They try to escape using a rope, by jumping from the window to a suspended fishing net. Herbie misses the first opportunity for release and is left “dangling, four stories up.” He thinks, “At this point, I can let go of the rope and probably break both my legs, or I can stay dangling where I am and be filleted like a small lemon-flavored herring in a Lost-and-Foundery’s cap.” Do you remember how you felt when you saw the beautiful front cover by George Ermos for the first time? What do you feel his artwork brings to the story? Mermonkeys, monsters and magic, oh my! Malamander is a brilliantly plotted mystery swirling with secrets, myths and the enigmatic residents of one unforgettable sea-side town. - Jennifer Bell, author of The Uncommoners

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. When Boat Hook Man is arguing with Eels, Eels says, “Don’t you wave that hook at me.” Boat Hook Man then warns Eels that the malamander will kill him if he goes after its egg. Later, Herbie watches as “Eels brings his fist down on the desk.” Malamander is the first in a series of stories about the ‘Legends of Eerie-on-Sea’, in which we meet Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and his friend Violet Parma, who is lost and wants to be found. It’s a story about friendship and belonging, about out-of-season seaside towns and bewildering weather, about mysteries, mischief and monsters. Oh, and fish ‘n’ chips! Herbie notices in the museum, “Above us the skeleton of a whale hangs suspended, and in the cabinets all around, stuffed and desiccated sea creatures peer out at us through glass eyes.” 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.

After hugging Herbie, Violet “looks a bit embarrassed and tries to hide it by punching [Herbie] on the arm.” Eels tells Boat Hook Man, “It’s not my fault you didn’t have the wit or the will to use the egg properly.”

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. Boat Hook Man sees Violet on the beach and “grabs Violet by her collar, lifting her in the air.” She has a hard time speaking because of where he grabbed her. She is left “clutching her throat.” Eels tries to get the egg from Violet. Eels “grabs the egg with one hand and punches Violet in the face with the other.” She falls into the cold water. Herbie dives in after her and wonders “for a moment if I’ve died without noticing” due to the “cold and dark.” When he finds her, “she gasps and coughs.” Mrs. Fossil explains that the town doctor has prevented her from “languishing in a hospital bed somewhere, pumped full of goodness-knows-what.”