The mysterious mystery and the red herring Googles

April 4, 2006 7:58 AM

What is this young adult fiction I read in the mid-1980s about some papers read in a public square giving clues (and red herrings) eventually leading to some sort of inheritance?

There was a clock tower in the square, with the clock striking during the reading, which one of the characters takes to obscure something important. In fact, there was nothing read during the silence at all, so the supposedly interrupted sentence in point 3 of the reading actually refers to point 4, which is what's read once the clock stops striking. (nevermind all the impracticalities about this; it's a light and fairly whimsical bit of children's fiction.)

The clock tower figures into the story later--another clue, if I remember right, towards the end of the story.

One of the documents had the phrase--and I thought this was exact, as in a Beatles quote, but I haven't been able to confirm that--"Half of what I say is meaningless." And, indeed, half of the clues in the papers are red herrings.

I can't remember if the protagonist/amateur gumshoe was male or female, or even if there was more than one of them (I think so; I seem to remember two people cooperating. But I read it 20 years ago, so there you go).

This is not a Nancy Drew story, which most of my searches have been pointing towards. It's also not sci-fi/fantasy. It's set in the supposedly real world, except a safe/secure child's view of it: little danger, adults a distant concern, and an apparent mystery the main focus.

I've been able to find other books I read long ago (Into the Dream, The Great Brain at the Academy) using a combination of Google and Amazon, but this one has me stumped. So any tips about search habits for half-remembered books would also be appreciated.

posted by Tuwa to media & arts (13 comments total)

gah. "Nothing read during the strikes at all."
posted by Tuwa at 8:00 AM on April 4, 2006

Is it The Westing Game?
posted by unknowncommand at 8:04 AM on April 4, 2006

Yeah, The Westing Game was the first thing I thought of.
posted by blueshammer at 8:05 AM on April 4, 2006

It is indeed the Westing Game, but it's not a public square. All the residents of an aparement buidling are gathered for the reading of a will.
posted by cosmicbandito at 8:11 AM on April 4, 2006

And it wasn't a clock striking, it was a character yelling out something as a joke, and the fact that the sentence was never completed is kind of glossed over.

(if it is in fact The Westing Game we're talking about.)
posted by Lucinda at 8:14 AM on April 4, 2006

Would it be The Three Investigators story The Mystery of the Dead Man's Riddle? I'm not finding a plot summary online, but it had a will with a very complicated multi-part riddle that a lot of people were trying to solve to find the dead man's treasure. The protagonists were three adolescent boys. I don't remember it well enough to remember whether there was a bell ringing during the reading.
posted by agropyron at 8:42 AM on April 4, 2006

The Westing Game sounds familiar, though I didn't remember a murder in it. My library has a few copies of the book; I'll post back about whether that's it.

agropyron: that's also a possibility; I did read a lot of the Hitch-branded books, though mostly in suspense and horror. I'll see if I can get an ILL on it.

Thanks for the leads, everyone.
posted by Tuwa at 10:28 AM on April 4, 2006

If it's not the Westing Game, I'll eat my hat. Let's look at the clues:

I didn't remember a murder in it
Ah, because that was the gag. There was a will but no dead body.

...so the supposedly interrupted sentence in point 3 of the reading actually refers to point 4
The reading of the will went like this, reading down numbered bullet points:
"Third. ... will be the one who finds the -"
"Ashes!"
"...Fourth."

"The one who finds the fourth" turned out to be another clue.

"Half of what I say is meaningless." And, indeed, half of the clues in the papers are red herrings.
Mmm... close. The key clue was "It's not what you have, it's what you don't have that counts." All the players' clues were song lyrics, and put together, the missing words were the answer.

I can't remember if the protagonist/amateur gumshoe was male or female, or even if there was more than one of them (I think so; I seem to remember two people cooperating. But I read it 20 years ago, so there you go).
There were at least a half dozen main characters, so that makes sense.

Even if it's not the book you're looking for, it is one of my all-time favorites, and I'd recommend it anyway.
posted by Sibrax at 11:51 AM on April 4, 2006

The Westing Game is all about pairs cooperating, too. It's almost certainly what you're looking for.
posted by booksandlibretti at 1:47 PM on April 4, 2006

This - "the supposedly interrupted sentence in point 3 of the reading actually refers to point 4, which is what's read once the clock stops striking." - makes me certain that it's The Westing Game. A childhood favorite, indeed.
posted by youarenothere at 8:27 AM on April 5, 2006

No eating of hats required. That's the book. I recognized the cover, with the house made of dollar bills, and for some reason the name Wexler and the first scene of Chris looking down on Theo and Turtle talking about the house on the hill.

It's amazing anyone recognized the book based on my description, which was wrong in as many things as it was right. I'm not sure where the town square and the bell tower came from--maybe some other book I read at about the same time.
posted by Tuwa at 11:07 PM on April 6, 2006

Ah. and where are my manners? Thanks, everyone; it's much appreciated.

agropyron, I have that book ordered on ILL, so even though it's not the one, I'm looking forward to some quick, fun reading. :-)
posted by Tuwa at 3:43 PM on April 7, 2006

At the end of the book I expected a wind vane--maybe that's where the clock tower came from; I'd had this rather clear (and incorrect) memory of a bronze rooster with arrows below it, perched on a high building. No idea where that came from....

But yes, I'd remembered parts of the ending and that was definitely the book. Thanks again, everyone.
posted by Tuwa at 5:17 PM on April 15, 2006