Reviewed by Rod McLary
It is not often that I review books from the YA genre; but this one – We Saw What You Started – caught my attention. It was well worth the read and here we are with my review.
Teenage detectives are not uncommon in YA novels – think Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys – so there is no new ground being broken here. But what is new and refreshing about this novel set in the fictitious Australian town of Red Sands is that the teenage protagonists are engaging, articulate and energetic; and there is not a swear word to be seen or heard in the entire novel.
The key players are Otto straight from California with a mysterious backstory, Milly and her twin brother Jasper, his best friend Alex, and the resident bad boy Cooper and his off-sider Leo. Then there are the outsiders – brothers Wyatt and Bailey – now in Red Sands for the surfing championship in which all the teenagers are competing. The adults – and there are a few around – are usually the parents and play their parental roles admirably. And there is the local police officer Sergeant Brad Thomas who has his own role to play as the narrative unfolds.
The novel opens with the sentence You have ten minutes to escape a wildfire [1] as Otto well knows from his previous life in California. A fire starts in the bush behind Hawkes Bay where fires are banned. Not particularly unusual in Australia but a second fire starts at the local swimming pool and Otto was seen at both places around the time the fires started. As the non-local, he has immediately seen as the guilty one even when there is no real evidence to support this view. Then there is a third fire – this one at Alex’s mother’s medical centre. Again Otto is seen in the vicinity and again comes under suspicion.
But the author has cleverly structured plausible plot devices which explain [perhaps] why Otto is seen at the three locations. And these devices go some considerable way to convince Milly and subsequently Jasper to realise that Otto can’t be responsible. That realisation of course begs the question: if not Otto, then who? Milly is determined to find out and she plays amateur detective – by herself at first but soon ably supported by Jasper.
The unfolding events are suspenseful and at times threatening as Milly moves closer and closer to unmasking the perpetrator. The scene where this takes place is one which will have the reader on the edge of their seat with their heart in their mouth. There is no dénouement in the manor house library in this story.
We Saw What You Started is a fine book with engaging characters, a suspenseful and fast-moving narrative, and an emerging love interest. What more could you ask for in a YA novel? Interestingly, the inside cover contains one-sentence reviews from readers aged from 11 to 15 – the target demographic. Words used by these readers included ‘action-packed’, ‘fascinating’, ‘suspenseful’, ‘thrilling’ and ‘mysterious’ – all of which are correct But the one that I liked best was from Lucy aged 11: ‘the characters felt so real’, and this is what is so good about the novel – it is real.
We Saw What You Started
[2025]
by Carla Salmon
Pan Macmillan
ISBN 978 1 76156 679 0
$19.99; 329pp