The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan: Sticky web of mystery
The Treasure Hunters Club is Tom Ryan’s first adult novel jam-packed with much-loved crime caper mystery tropes and a diverse ensemble cast. Read my review.
Publication: Grove Atlantic, October 2024
Genre: Mystery, Crime-Detective, Historical, Thriller, Action-Adventure
The Treasure Hunters Club Publisher Synopsis
WELCOME TO MAPLE BAY, NOVA SCOTIA
For nearly a century, people have ventured to the idyllic seaside town of Maple Bay in search of a legendary lost pirate treasure, but locals know there’s more than just gold buried in the sand. As the paths of three strangers converge in Maple Bay, the truth is about to be blown wide open. But not before the bodies start to pile up.
Peter Barnett is rapidly approaching 40 with little to show for it when a mysterious letter invites him to Maple Bay and the mansion his estranged family has called home for generations.
Seventeen-year-old Dandy Feltzen is isolated and adrift following the death of her beloved grandfather, until his final request and a tantalizing clue sets her on a mission to solve the mystery he spent his entire life chasing.
Cass Jones has given up on her dream of being a successful author when an unexpected opportunity lands in her lap: a housesitting gig in remote Maple Bay, where she stumbles on the perfect subject matter for her breakout book—and the handsome sailor who might be just the person to help her research it.
Peter, Dandy and Cass have never met, but they’re on a collision course with each other and the mystery that has defined Maple Bay for two centuries, and none of them are prepared for the shocking truths that may or may not still be buried there.
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My Review
I had not read any of Tom Ryan’s earlier novels, but with The Treasure Hunters Club being marketed as Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (one of my top reads in 2023) meets The Goonies (a much-loved movie from my childhood) I could not pass up the chance to read it.
In terms of the nostalgic feel I was hoping for, Ryan has delivered in spades; weaving so many well-worn crime mystery tropes plus a healthy serving of pop culture references into this story. The similarities to Nancy Drew (the TV series) are hard to miss in many respects, with gutsy teenager Dandy, for me the most well-developed and compelling character in this novel.
I typically love multi-character alternating narrative perspectives and epistolary elements. For the most part, Ryan employs these constructs quite ably in The Treasure Hunters Club. They certainly kept me turning the digital pages. However, the character voices were not as distinct as I would have liked, and they are not clearly signposted. At the beginning of some chapters it took me quite a few paragraphs before I was sure whose viewpoint I was reading. In their otherwise positive review, Publishers Weekly referred to this ‘herky-jerky pacing‘ also.
Complex puzzle
This puzzling mystery is then further complicated by the relatively long interlinked character list, particularly when you include the many references to actions by more than one generation long dead.
That said, Ryan’s small town setting for The Treasure Hunters Club, Maple Bay, is evocatively depicted. Within that microcosm he has conjured up ample intrigue and suspense, an ambitiously sticky web of deceit, and some great red herrings. Perhaps I am over thinking it, but I noted self-deprecating authorial humour woven through the metafiction elements too.
So sure, there were clear weaknesses in execution. But overall, I enjoyed this novel. The Treasure Hunters Club is an entertaining historical mystery thriller that reboots the nostalgic spirit of a classic 1980’s family adventure movie while brutally demonstrating the ageless and pervasive consequences of greed.
My Rating
Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3.5 / 5 — Overall 3.75
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* My receiving a pre-publication digital copy of The Treasure Hunters Club from the publisher for review purposes did not impact the expression of my honest opinions above.