The London Eye Mystery

What absolutely sold me on The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd was the voice of the main character, Ted, a twelve year old boy with probably Asperger’s Syndrome, although it is never defined as such. Ted just tells us that he has a different brain from other people. When Salim, a cousin comes

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to visit and disappears while riding the London Eye, it is up to Ted and his older sister, Kat to solve the mystery as they blame themselves for the disappearance. By developing theories that they step-by-step eliminate, along with Ted’s unusual way of looking at things, they are eventually able to put the pieces together. But even then, something is still not quite right, Salim is still missing and as the clock ticks down, Ted and Kat must once again put their heads together and figure this out.

This is a great YA mystery that I think would fully draw in kids between 10 and 12, but it is still an enjoyable read for any age. I think the author’s respect for both her target audience and the mystery genre itself shines through the pages, and she is able to deliver a fresh, dynamic story with a unique narrator.

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In this missing-person mystery, Ted and Kat's cousin Salim seems to disappear while riding the London Eye. With a killer combination of Ted's brain (which is rather different than the usual - perhaps Asperger's?) and Kat's energy and chutzpah, the siblings solve the case. An excellent kid-power

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book, narrated by Ted, who is charming but would never recognize that.

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Here's a wonderful variation on the locked-room mystery: how can a boy seen to enter a pod on the famous London Eye wheel disappear when the pod docks again half an hour later? Salim's cousins, Ted and Kat, are left baffled, as are his estranged parents and Ted and Kat's parents, not to mention the

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police. But by coming up with hypotheses for that disappearance and evaluating them, and by some clever underhand sleuthing, Ted and Kat slowly inch towards a solution; the worry is that, as time goes on, finding him will come too late to save him.

On the surface this sounds like a run-of-the-mill adventure story where children prove more than the equals of the police in solving a mystery. But The London Eye Mystery is not your average juvenile crime novel: there is a grounding in reality, in the hopes and fears of family life, in the recklessness that sometimes typifies adolescence, and in aspects of the mental processes someone on the autism spectrum may go through.

Ted Spark has what used to be called Asperger Syndrome, sometimes referred to as high functioning autism, but the boundaries are blurred and the terms even disputed (Asperger's is no longer an official designation in psychiatry), while those on the spectrum are often apt not to see it as a disorder but typically call themselves neurodiverse. However we view Ted, he displays many traits of those on the autism spectrum, from difficulties with social interaction, anxiety (often manifesting as repetitive behaviours, or stimming), sensory overload (from distracting noises and activities) and so-called 'special interests' (in Ted's case, climatology).

His obsession with patterns and logical thinking earns him the respect of Detective Inspector Pierce when he starts to join the dots, though he has a hard time persuading his family of his suspicions and conclusions. Aided and abetted by his older sister, Kat -- though she is not without her doubts as to his reasoning -- he works out what happened at the London Eye and why, and then what happened next. The famous (though often misquoted) dictum of Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of Four -- "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" -- is ever Ted's principle, and luckily Kat is prepared to race across the capital to chase up Ted's insights.

This is a lovely novel with satisfying outcomes. Despite overtones of Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple in the meme of the amateur arriving at the solution, this is as much an exploration of family dynamics and individuals within them as it is a classical mystery. Robin Stevens' introduction for this edition gives us the background to the novel, published in the year of the author's premature death from cancer; all the royalties from The London Eye Mystery go to the Siobhan Dowd Trust which helps bring books and the joy of reading to disadvantaged children, including those in care.

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A young boy gets on the London Eye alone and doesn't get off when the ride is over, much to the surprise of his cousins, who are waiting for him below. Siblings Ted, who has Asperger's snydrome, and Kat work together to solve the mystery of where Salim went. Reader's will work to solve this

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intriguing mystery alongside Ted and Kat.

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What goes up must come down – unless you’re Ted Sparks’ cousin Salim.

Aunt Gloria and her teenage son Salim are preparing to move from Manchester, England to New York City. Before they leave for the United States, Gloria wants to visit her sister and her family in London. Salim has never been

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to London so his cousins Ted and Katrina are eager to show him the sights.

They decide to visit one of Ted’s favorite places, the London Eye. The London Eye, also called the Millennium Wheel, is the tallest ferris wheel in Europe. When they arrive at the Eye, there’s a long line for tickets. After a stranger approaches Ted, Kat and Salim to offer his ticket, the kids decide that Salim should take it and "fly the Eye" on his own. Ted and Kat track Salim's capsule during its half hour ride, but when the capsule comes down and people file out, Salim is nowhere in sight. Was he kidnapped? Did he run away? Did he spontaneously combust (one of Ted's eight theories)?

After their parents contact the police, Ted and Kat decide to launch their investigation into their cousin’s disappearance. Ted has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism. Since his brain works on a “different operating system”, Kat and Ted think they may have an advantage over the police investigators. Can Ted’s unique perspective help them find Salim before it’s too late?

I found The London Eye Mystery to be an interesting, fast read. It is not without some flaws, however. Ted and Kat withhold vital evidence from their parents and the police (such as Salim’s camera and information about the stranger who gave Salim his ticket). I couldn’t get past my disbelief that they withheld so much evidence when their cousin was in a dangerous situation.

Some of the British slang used throughout the book may be challenging for young American readers. I had no trouble with it, but a glossary like the one included in Louise Rennison’s Georgia Nicholson series would have been a nice touch for the American edition.

Where The London Eye Mystery really shines, though, is in the character of Ted Sparks. Ted is a fascinating, sympathetic character. His Asperger’s Syndrome was well-portrayed and consistent with what I know of Asperger’s. Dowd did an effective job of showing how Ted deals with his social challenges. Dowd also showcased the positive aspects of Asperger’s Syndrome: Ted is extremely intelligent, honest and free of prejudice. It's obvious that a lot of research was put into his character. The London Eye Mystery was worth reading for Ted’s characterization alone.

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When Ted’s cousin disappears while riding the London Eye, he and his sister Kat work together to find him. Kat’s people skills and Ted’s brain make them the perfect team. Will they be able to discover the truth before its too late? This book keeps you guessing. I couldn’t put it down.

Kat and Ted's Aunt Gloria is coming to London to stay with her sister Faith on her way to New York. She has her son Salim with her, and they decide to take Salim to ride the London Eye, the giant Millenium wheel. The queue is very long and they jump at the chance when they are offered a ticket that

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enables Salim to get on the ride almost immediately. While the mothers have a coffee, Kat and Ted watch Salim's capsule rise into the air. The ride takes exactly 30 minutes and when the passengers get off, Salim is not amongst them. How can he have disappeared?

This story is told through Ted's eyes. We know right from the beginning that Ted is a little different. He has some sort of syndrome, his family says his brain is like a super computer, and he is preoccupied with facts and figures and the weather. Ted asks the questions that others won't ask, sometimes because it would be impolite, but Ted always wants to know why things happen. True to form Ted comes up with nine theories about how Salim disappeared. The adults aren't much interested in Ted's theories particularly after the police are involved. But in the long run it is Ted who works out by his own peculiar logic what has happened.

I read this book because of a recommendation on one of the lists I belong to. It was only as I began reading that it dawned on me that it isn't adult crime fiction, but a book written for teenagers, and probably the younger end of that spectrum. That doesn't mean that an adult won't enjoy it though. It reminded me of Mark Haddon's THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME. Like that book, THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY, sends the reader away feeling that you have a better understanding of young people like Ted.

My rating: 4.2

You might remember the other day that the book sent me scurrying off to research Millenium Wheels. A gem that I gleaned then was "Unlike the London wheel, passengers will be able to board from both sides of the Beijing attraction. " The fact that passengers leave and enter the capsules through the same door on the London Eye is an important clue.

When I went to research the author Siobhan Dowd, I found that she has 4 published novels:
A Swift Pure Cry (2006)
Solace of the Road (2007)
The London Eye Mystery (2007)
Bog Child (2008)
A PURE SWIFT CRY was nominated in the Carnegie Medal Best Novel category.

At her website I also found this :
Siobhan Dowd passed away on Tuesday 21st August 2007.
A trust has been set up in Siobhan's name to manage all the proceeds from her literary work. The aim of the Siobhan Dowd Trust will be to help disadvantaged children to improve their reading skills and experience the joy of reading. It will offer financial support to: public libraries; state school libraries (especially in economically challenged areas); children in care; asylum seekers; young offenders and children with special needs.
Her 5th book SOLACE OF THE ROAD is due to be published in February 2009.

Read the first chapter of THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY online.

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The mystery of "The London Eye Mystery" is the disappearance of a 13-year-old boy who gets on the London Eye and never gets off. In the end, the resolution isn't so mysterious, though it does keep you guessing. What really makes this book a good read, though, is the narrator, Ted, who has

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Asperger's syndrome. Although his disease is never named, it is pretty clear that he views the world through a different lens. Ted's charming, awkward interactions with family and police bring an added depth to this quick mystery.

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Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off–except Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are

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having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery. This is an unput-downable spine-tingling thriller–a race against time

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When Ted's cousin Salim disappears after riding the London Eye, everyone is frantic. Ted comes up with several theories and sets about investigating them with the help of his older sister Kat. When the adults can't find Salim, it just might take the efforts of a boy whose brain runs on a different

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operating system and his angsty older sister.

I am generally not a fan of mysteries, but I loved this unique tale. Ted's voice is really different and the mystery was pretty believable. I also loved the rich London setting and all the British slang (I'm so glad they kept it when they released the book in the US). Hand this to fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and young Anglophiles.

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A wonderful mystery that holds you in suspense and doesn't fail to deliver a satisfying ending. Perfect for younger readers to experience the joys of the genre without being too scared, and offering a perspective that is intriguing in and of itself. Relying on Ted's narration forces we readers to

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put on our thinking caps and make the most of the descriptions he provides us with. A great story told with affection and consummate skill (this novel demonstrate's Dowd's extraordinary versatility as a writer), we are provided with a tremendous insight into what it is to live with Asperger's Syndrome.

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I really didn't expect this book to be a great read. It was okay. A bit of mysetery, and of course, associated with the London Eye. That is really the only reason I read it. One disapointing thing about the book is that the autistic boy whom the story is told through continues to make statements

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that infer that he is 'normal' once he begins to have the ability to tell lies. Isn't that a shame? Other than that it was an okay story. Two siblings in search of their cousin who has disappered. It didn't take me long to figure out where he'd be found.

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An excellent read that keeps you gripped to the end. How did Salim disappear from a pod on the London Eye? Read it and find out. The mystery is solved by Ted, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, but that doesn't stop him from analysing the clues and finding out what really happened to his cousin.

This book is so different from Bog Child, but equally good. Ted has Asberger's Syndrome and lives with his family in London. His aunt and cousin come to visit on their move to New York, and the cousin, Salim, really wants to go up in the London Eye. When he does, he disappears. Ted and his older

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sister Kat try to solve the mystery, but there are successes and challenges due to Ted's condition. For instance, he can't read body language, but sometimes words people say will trigger something in him that gives him a clue. The novel is told through Ted' voice, which makes the book very interesting. It's a pity Dowd has died - her books are so diverse, but rewarding. I would have loved to have read another book in Ted's voice.

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I bought this for my 11 year old son, and as it was lying unread, I thought I might as well read it myself. I enjoyed the story, the characters seemed real to me and I also enjoyed the main character Ted's interest in the weather, and his way of comparing aspects of life with meteorology. The story

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is told by Ted, who describes his brain as 'running on a different operating system', and I assume from this and the characteristics he describes, this means that he has autism or aspergers. I don't recall that his condition was named, and I don't really know whether the depiction was accurate, or how much this matters, but what I did find it touching was how he was trying really hard to understand things that he couldn't actually perceive and his own means of doing so.

Nothing in this book irritated me, the storytelling was convincing and I kept turning the pages - towards the end really wanting to know what happened.

Recommended.

I will be interested to see what my son thinks of this - if he manages to read it.

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I can still hear Ted's voice. Finished with The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd for over a week now and the protagonist's unique viewpoint stays with me. Ted is a child with Aspergers who attempts to piece through the mystery of his missing cousin Salim as the adults around him fall apart a bit.

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His brain is a different type of processor than most, and his ability to see past the emotional content of life that often leaves him baffled puts him in the unique position of seeing the material facts of the mystery stripped bare. It is easy to lose track of the fact that Ted is a child as his thoughts are occasionally profound.

That's when I realized that there are two kinds of knowledge: shallow and deep. You can know something in theory but not know it in practice. You can know part of something but not all of it. Knowledge can be like the skin on the surface of the water in a pond, or it can go all the way down into the mud. It can be the tiny tip of the iceberg or the whole hundred percent.

This mystery may not be satisfying for all ages. All is tidily wrapped up at the end but the reader would have been hard pressed to solve this puzzle based upon the evidence presented. It is the process of looking at the evidence that is interesting here, the thought processes behind the conclusions. Interesting that the minds of children sometimes possess greater clarity than those of adults.

For all of you that enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, you will most certainly enjoy this as well. Haddon's protagonist was a gifted mathematician whereas Ted's interest lies in meteorology, but there are more similarities between the two novels than not. Rumor has it that the books were originally scheduled for release at approximately the same time, but then it was decided that The London Eye Mystery's release would be postponed given the stark likenesses.

Fast and interesting read for everyone, adult or child, that explores both the life of a particular mind and some telling and insightfully presented family interactions as well.

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Very good book and intresting it has a lot of action too

4Q, 4P It was fascinating to read a story from the perspective of an autistic narrator, Ted. The details of precise times and numbers that Ted notices while struggling to understand metaphors is enlightening in reminding readers that not everyone thinks the same way, regardless of whether or not

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they have a diagnosis. I refuse to say disability because a diagnosis does not have to be disabling. This story can also be enjoyed by a wide range of readers. It is fast paced, autisim is well known if not familiar, and London/the London Eye are also well known even for people who have never visited.

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The annotation and jacket did not do this book justice. The author did a wonderful job of writing the story from an autistic boy's point of view. The mystery was well thought-out and a very compelling read. Recommended to fans of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Marcello in the

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Real World.

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Young adult book about an autistic boy, his family and the disappearance of his cousin. I loved how British this book is! I felt the author treated autism with respect. Although it is clear Ted has Asperger's, she doesn't come out and say this. His quirks are mentioned, but in a realistic and

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non-patronizing way. The dynamic between him and his sister was interesting. Overall, I felt she treated the issue of autism much better than other fiction books I've read.

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One sentence separates this from being a elementary read. Revealing glimpse into autism through first person narrative.

Ted knows he is hard-wired a bit differently from other people. He has had to have someone teach him to read emotions on other people's faces; he doesn't understand jokes; he never lies; he loves systems and patterns. In fact, Ted wants to be a meteorologist, where he can use patterns to predict

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weather. Kat, his sister, is completely different. She is impetuous, adventurous, and not always honest. However, the two must work together when their visiting cousin disappears while on the London Eye, a Ferris wheel-like ride with enclosed capsules. Their cousin goes up but never reemerges. Kat's determination and willingness to break the rules allows Ted to gather enough clues that with his acute understanding of patterns and probability, he is able to solve the mystery.

The mystery element is solid. But beyond the mystery, the book is successful in its presentation of character and family dynamics as well. Told in first person, the book allows the readers to see the world through Ted's eyes and get a sense of his limitations and his talents. Even with his more limited ability to read emotions, we can also see his family's frustrations. In addition, we also see the issues his cousin, Salim, faces as a result of his parents' divorce and his mother's self-involvement. This is a satisfying mystery and an insightful look at issues many families face. This book is appropriate for grades 5 to 8.

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Engaging mystery told from the perspective of an autistic boy. When his cousin, Salim, visits for the first time in years, Ted and Kat decide to show him the famous London Eye. Unfortunately, they can only buy one ticket, and they kindly give it to Salim. They see him board, but when the ride is

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over, he's nowhere to be found. What happened to Salim? And can Ted figure it out even with his "differently wired" brain?

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Ted and Kat's Aunt Gloria and their cousin Salim come to visit them in London right before their planned move to New York City. They decide to take a ride on the London Eye. Due to strange set of circumstances, the kids end up with one free ticket and they send Salim up in the ride by himself. Ted

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and Kat watch him board into the sealed capsule, but then he never comes down.

The adults and police do not seem to be making much headway in finding Salim, so Ted and Kat start their own investigations. Ted has Asperger's Syndrome and his different type of thinking which he self-describes as "having a different type of operating system" helps him to notice and see what others don't and figure out what happened. His sister, Kat, helps him to understand the people around him and what they are really saying and their body language and expressions.

This was such an enjoyable kids' mystery. The story was puzzling and compelling. I wanted to figure out how Salim disappeared. Ted was a great narrator, and I loved his visualizations of idioms that he struggled to understand such as "the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife," and "it's no skin off my teeth." He was kind of fixated on the weather and knew a lot about it, so there was a lot of weather information in the story as well. It was an interesting look at how Asperger's Syndrome can affect a person's thinking.

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