Book Information
Author: John Bellairs Adaptations: The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes (1980) Awards: 1983 - Maude Hart Lovelace Award Nominee (Minnesota) Year: 1978
Plot Summary
Anthony Monday's parents are in serious need of money and Anthony is desperate to help. So when Ms. Eells, the elderly librarian of Hoosac Public Library, offers him a job, he takes it. After work one day, Anthony trades in a coin he has gotten at work for money with a particularly nosy banker. Anthony hears about the wealthy Alpheus Winterborn, who also lived in Hoosac and died some years ago. He is determined to find Winterborn's treasure. Trying to take Anthony's mind off the treasure, Ms. Eells brings him to an auction. Anthony sees a mirror that is identical to the one that is supposed to be a clue to the treasure. However, a nosy banker who is also Mr. Winterborn's nephew wants the mirror himself. In the end, though, Ms. Eells gets it. On the back of the mirror, there is an envelope that has a strange clue in it. Anthony learns from a magazine article how to break into houses. He decides to break into the Winterborn mansion that night. Anthony is scared by a stray dog, however, trips while he is walking and breaks his arm. After a few days, Ms. Eells comes to visit Anthony with bad news. The person who has bought the mansion has found something of value in the walls, which Anthony believes to be the treasure. He gives up on finding the treasure ... but not for long. Hugo Philpotts, the Monday family's financial advisor, asks Anthony to come to the bank, supposedly to talk about the Mondays' finances. Because Mr. Philpotts is in charge of the Mondays' account, he demands that he get the mirror that Ms. Eells has purchased, or he will do something terrible with the Mondays' money. A little later, there are warnings of a serious flood in Hoosac. While Anthony packs, he suddenly realizes where the treasure of Alpheus Winterborn is hidden. Quickly he phones Ms. Eells and excitedly tells her about his idea. Ms. Eells agrees to go with Anthony to the library where he thinks the treasure is. When Ms. Eells does not show up, Anthony goes to her house to get her. It turns out that something has happened and she is not in her right mind. Anthony drags her up to the library and looks for the treasure on his own. When he gets to the trap door that leads to the treasure, Anthony sees Hugo Philpotts climbing through the trap door. Hugo has also figured out where the treasure is. Hugo makes Anthony get the treasure for him, but Anthony has other ideas. He makes very loud noises and gets the police. In the end, despite Hugo's protests, Anthony gets a $125,000 reward for finding the treasure, which is a Sumerian sculpture. Mr. Philpotts does nothing to the Mondays' money, and now Anthony and his family are a whole lot wealthier.
Trivia
- This is the first book in the Anthony Monday series.
- This is Bellairs's only young-adult book not to feature any supernatural items.
- Unlike Bellairs's other young-adult novels, this was the only one published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, as opposed to Dial.
- While Edward Gorey did not illustrate the 1978 hardcover edition of the book, Gorey was contracted to create the 1980 Bantam paperback cover, possibly to give all the Bantam paperbacks a uniform look and style.
- The preview page found on the first page of the 1980 Bantam paperback incorrectly reads: "Johnny read the strange message he discovered, written by the late Alpheus Winterborn...."
- Features one of the few instances where characters in Bellairs's fiction swears: Anthony [x] and Miss Eells [x].
