Fergal Bamfield collects cans, which seems to be a rather dull hobby until he finds a finger in one of them. After he meets Charlotte (another can collector who has found an ear in one of hers), the pastime becomes more interesting. Another can reveals a plea for help, and the kids' investigations eventually lead to Fergal's stint as a laborer in a pet-food factory. Despite the somewhat grisly plot elements, the overall tone here is light. The team of Fergal and Charlotte comes off as a nerdy, adolescent version of Nick and Nora Charles. Readers won't be distracted by the British references (mushy peas make an appearance), though they may be disappointed in the account of Fergal's rescue, which lacks suspense and is a little too easily accomplished.

This macabre mystery may make readers give up canned foods. Fergal Banfield, an eccentric English lad with the peculiar hobby of collecting unlabelled cans from supermarket bargain bins, discovers a gold ear stud in his latest acquisition. The mystery deepens when he next discovers a severed human finger in another can. Fergal meets Charlotte, a fellow can-collector, who finds a human ear in one of her cans, and it goes with the gold stud. Fergal's investigation leads him to a pet-food factory owned by Mr. and Mrs. Dimble-Smith. Fergal makes the grisly discovery that the factory is staffed by enslaved young children from Africa and Asia, who become ingredients of the pet food when they grow old enough to resist captivity. Pressed into service and fearing for his life, Fergal gets a message to Charlotte on a can label about his situation and location, but no one believes her story. So it's Charlotte to the rescue! The grotesque elements of the story are more suggestive than descriptive, and Shearer's delightfully droll, dark humor makes for many light moments. Readers with a taste for the bizarre and gross will find this tale most tasty. (Fiction. 9-12)

Fergal Banfield collects cans. Not the every day can, mind you, but the ones found in the supermarket's bargain basket of cans whose labels have fallen off. His parents, not sure what to make of this obsession, believe it is because he is "clever." His peers would most likely describe him as weird. As Fergal's collection grows larger, his parents give him an ultimatum, telling him that he must open one of the cans he has before buying any more. Fergal agrees, but when he finds a pierced earring in the can, he is spurred on to purchase another. The content of this second can is downright creepy, a human finger. When next at the market, Fergal meets Charlotte, who shares his fascination for cans. They quickly become friends and decide to meet and discuss the contents of their cans. Charlotte has had the same experience as Fergal, with the contents of her cans revealing different body parts as well as more jewelry. And so, the mystery of the cans begins. Whose body parts are in these cans and where are they coming from? The author writes a novel whose characters might be simple and a bit underdeveloped and whose premise is quite gruesome, but the plot is entertaining, enough to compel this reviewer to read on to its conclusion. Middle school boys and girls would enjoy this likeable pair of detectives and probably look forward to another adventure in the future.-Janet Scherer.