The Case of the Smuggler’s Curse (The After School Detective Club, #1)

Lucy, Max, Charlie and Joe aren’t looking for new friends – they have too many of their own problems to worry about. But when the four of them, and Charlie’s faithful dog, Sherlock, spot a phantom figure on Southwold beach one winter’s night, they are thrown together to unravel a mystery that none of them expected.

Just who is the ghostly spectre that walks the sands of Southwold with a lantern in his hand? What is the connection to the ancient curse that hangs over the town? And is the respectable Quentin De Havilland everything he pretends to be?

The deeper they dig, the bigger the adventure becomes – motorboats and tracking devices, bedroom breakouts and daring sea rescues are all in a day's work for the After-School Detective Club. But when their investigations lead them into trouble with the police, there is only one thing left to do – they must go undercover for a final showdown with a ruthless gang of smugglers who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

If the five friends can learn to work together, they might just solve the mystery – if only they can stop arguing with each other first.

The ‘After-School Detective Club and the Case of the Smuggler’s Curse’ is the first in a brand-new series of adventure stories for kids that brings together the best traditions of Enid Blyton, Jacqueline Wilson and David Walliams.