The Falcon's Malteser is a witty, fast-paced, and hilarious mystery-adventure novel that acts as a brilliant pastiche of classic detective fiction, especially the hard-boiled genre. It is the first book in the Diamond Brothers series, featuring the perpetually hapless narrator, Nick Diamond, and his older brother, Tim Diamond, who fancies himself as a highly professional private investigator but is, in reality, clumsy and completely broke. The story begins when a strange man carrying a seemingly ordinary box of chocolates, "The Falcon's Malteser," arrives at Tim's office and then promptly dies. The chocolates turn out to be a macguffin for something far more valuable and sinister: a missing, invaluable diamond necklace. The two brothers are immediately sucked into a chaotic and dangerous case involving a cast of eccentric and memorable villains, including the glamorous but deadly Fat Man and the psychopathic assassin, the Colonel. Horowitz delivers a non-stop barrage of slapstick humor, clever wordplay, and thrilling chases throughout the streets of London. The book is a joyous romp that is both a loving tribute to and a sharp parody of the detective genre, establishing the Diamond Brothers as the most incompetent and therefore most entertaining duo in children's mystery fiction.
