The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

12 year-old Ted has Asperger’s Syndrome, this means his brain runs on a different operating system to the rest of us. While he can effortlessly keep track of facts and figures, knows obscure and complicated weather phenomena, and traces weather patterns and shipping forecasts to rest his mind, small talk really throws him and takes him out of his comfort zone. Ted and his family live in London and while they all love Ted to bits they know that when it comes to a crisis, he is not a person you can rely on.

Ted and his older sister Kat haven’t seen much of their cousin, Salim, but out of the blue the family receives a letter from Salim’s mother, Aunt Gloria, saying they are moving to New York and have planned a family visit in London en route. When asked what he’d like to do, Salim, who loves a good view, opts for experiencing a spin on the London Eye. The two mothers opt to have a coffee while Ted, Salim and Kat queue to ride in the London Eye, a huge ferris wheel that allows those locked in the glass-and-steel capsules to see for miles in every direction.

While in the queue a random stranger offers them a free ticket, as Salim is only in London for one day Kat and Ted let him take the ticket. Ted and Kat see Salim enter the capsule and follow his ride, but to their shock, when the capsule returns to the ground half an hour later, Salim is not on board. Salim has gone – but how could he have got out of a locked capsule with no way out once the ride has started? The police are investigating and Ted is intrigued with the mystery. He and Kat decide to investigate as well as Ted has plenty of theories, well nine of them anyway. Can Ted with his differently wired brain, really see connections that everyone else has missed? Kat is willing to give him the chance so Ted has to work with his sister and overcome some of his personal challenges in order to find his cousin.

 A compelling story with plenty of twists and turns, dead ends and red herrings which add up to a great mystery. Ted is an endearing narrator, and it is so interesting to follow his lines of reasoning and trying to catch a dropped clue that will help figure out what has happened to Salim.

A very enjoyable read.