Run Afoul (Joan Druett, Allen & Unwin, $22.95 pb, ISBN 9780312353360, January 2008) ****

This is the third book in the Wiki Coffin series of adventures written by New Zealand maritime historian Joan Druett. The dashing protagonist Wiki Coffin is half Maori and half American, having moved to America with his father when he was 12. He is the linguist and letter-writer on the 19th century US Exploring Expedition and also carries a certificate giving him the powers of a sheriff while with the fleet. Under the command of the feared and unpredictable Captain Wilkes, the ship that Wiki is sailing in embarrassingly collides with a Boston trading ship as it enters the port of Rio de Janeiro. This is just the beginning of the problems and turmoil Wiki will encounter on arrival in Brazil. He is faced not only with the strange politics of the county, but also with trying to solve the murder of two of the expedition’s eccentric scientists, being unexpectedly reunited with his father and then having to prove the innocence of his father, Captain Coffee, when he becomes the main suspect in the second murder. Filled with fascinating historical details, insights into the scientific work of the time and a mystery well-solved, this book will appeal to fans of Patrick O’Brien and to anyone with a love of well-written historical fiction featuring action on the high seas.

Susan Watt is manger of The Next Chapter Books, Wahroonga

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker