Fans of humorous mysteries, particularly those who enjoy a good hardboiled detective story will get a kick out of Scott Bywater’s debut novel Captain Zooba To the Rescue. This is a hugely humorous mystery that pokes all sorts of fun at the PI genre and is filled with clever turns of phrase, pithy observations and a quirky irony that is quite simply a delight to read.

When Sam Chauvel loses the latest in a string of jobs he casts around for a new profession and, after reading his fair share of Chandler, Hammett and Ellroy, comes up with the possibility that private detective would be a great job. In preparation he "Practiced shortening sentences. Using clipped dialogue. Steely gazes. Dozed." By all accounts Sam Chauvel was ready for his first case.

So Sam sits in his brand spanking new private detective’s office, hoping against hope for the arrival of a gorgeous femme fatale who will walk in and throw herself at him, begging him to help her find a lost loved one. He’s only a little disappointed when it’s a phone call that he receives. But things are still looking up, the caller is a woman and she wants a surreptitious meeting at a tram stop. Already, he feels as though he’s right on top of this cloak and dagger stuff.

His prospective client’s name is Hope and she wants Sam to track down Wil Dreamworth who enjoyed fleeting fame as a rock and roll performer who went under the name Captain Zooba. So the hunt for 70s rock star Wil Dreamworth begins in earnest, but leads are rather thin on the ground with the most solid being that he has been seen somewhere in Melbourne. Although Hope claims she is Wil's half-sister, Sam has his doubts, but hey, she's attractive and she's paying him so what does he care, he's not going to pass up his first job as a PI.

As inevitably happens when a PI begins looking for a missing person, Sam’s investigation causes him to stumble upon a secret that could prove very dangerous to his health but, at the same time, could blow another case wide open. Somehow Captain Zooba will save him but not in any way that you or I could imagine.

With uncommon candour, Sam freely admits to his shortcomings as a private investigator, relying almost completely on luck, coincidence and circumstance to land in his lap. So what does a raw private detective who is woefully out of his depth do when he runs out of leads? Why, he asks for help from anyone he can get his hands on. Plus, the addition of a couple of colourful characters helps to add a bit of depth to the story while accentuating Sam’s shortcomings.

The first source of help is his best friend Rex, an arguably sane member of the ETCAA (that’s the Extra Terrestrial Contact and Approach Association of Australia of course). Now Rex brings a great deal to the investigation and some of it’s even useful too. Mostly, though, he is used to provide a great deal of comedic mileage out of the fact that his dog is also named Rex, with ambiguous statements about where Rex’s nose is at any point in time (and you could take your own pick about which Rex was being referred to at any point in time).

The second source of assistance comes from Lena, a fellow private investigator, who Sam meets in very fortuitous circumstances. Lena is also on the trail of a missing person, although she is much more experienced and savvy. Sensing the chance to gain some valuable detecting experience, Sam offers to help her to find her man. Also the fact that Lena is a bit of a looker doesn't hurt and you never know...

Captain Zooba is not about in-depth characters, it’s not about torturous self-examination of the psyche and it’s not about serious crime or serious criminals. It’s a completely amusing light-comedy that parodies the hardboiled detective stories that Chauvel read to inspire him to become a detective himself.

Filled to the brim with unexpected coincidences and humorous verbal exchanges and spiced with a dash of a real mystery, Sam Chauvel is taking on the bad boys of Melbourne in a thoroughly entertaining book. If you’re after a whimsical detective mystery and are prepared for a laugh, then Scott Bywater delivers in fine style.


Recommended: Yes