Author(s): Lisa Thompson

Mystery and Detective Stories

In this riveting debut, a boy struggling with OCD is uniquely qualified to solve a kidnapping.

Matthew Corbin suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. He hasn't been to school in weeks. His hands are cracked and bleeding from cleaning. He refuses to leave his bedroom. To pass the time, he observes his neighbours from his bedroom window, making mundane notes about their habits as they bustle about the cul-de-sac. When a toddler staying next door goes missing, it becomes apparent that Matthew was the last person to see him alive.

Suddenly, Matthew finds himself at the center of a high-stakes mystery, and every one of his neighbors is a suspect. Matthew is the key to figuring out what happened and potentially saving a child's life... but is he able to do so if it means exposing his own secrets, and stepping out from the safety of his home?

Kathleen's review - None of the neighbours like that he's watching them and Matthew gets plenty of flak for it, but he notices the behaviour of the man next door  and he notices the light in the window across the road. He's perfectly suited, therefore, to becoming an amateur sleuth when the next door little boy goes missing. Except he can't bear to leave his room, and he gets driven mad by the girl who decides he and she are a team and invades his space.

A difficult theme with his obsessive-compulsive behaviour, but an excellent novel.