Should a mystery story have a solution, or can it simply be a collection of obscure clues, going nowhere in particular? 

These questions were asked when Gary Crew and Steven Woolman’s picture book The Watertower came out in 1994, and ten years later they still apply to its sequel Beneath the Surface. 

“But what on earth is it about?” will also be asked this time as Steven Woolman’s confronting illustrations seem to have little connection with Gary Crew’s text.  Spike, one of the key characters from Watertower, is back in town trying to figure out the secret of the tower, or is it the water?  That much is clear from the first few pages.  Then he has a dream, and text and pictures go their separate ways.  The words describe Spike’s activities, while the pictures skip all around the world. 

There are hints scattered through the pictures, eyes, water, a logo, but if there is meant to be a logic or a trail that the young Sherlock Holmeses (at whom the book is aimed) can follow, it is very well hidden.  An ending that screams out “Another Sequel Coming!!” leaves it all hanging anyway. 

And that “Sequel Coming!!” raises another issue.  The young readers who were so intrigued by Watertower in 1994 are now in their 20s.  Can they wait?  Ten years might not be long for an adult writer, but it is a lifetime for a kid. 

A mystery story needs to be solved. A few drip-fed hints and a vague pattern of similarities, by themselves, simply create obscurity, not a challenging intellectual exercise leading to a believable solution.  I think that Crew and Woolman could have done much better for their audience.

Other books by Gary Crew:
Edward Britton (Lothian, 2000)
The Grandstand (Lothian, 1999)

Review by David Beagley

© 2004 David Beagley