"My name is Fletcher Moon and I am a private detective. I've seen a lot of things that normal people never see. I've seen lunchboxes stripped of everything but fruit. I've seen counterfeit homework networks that operate in five countries, and I've seen truckloads of candy taken from babies. Up for a challenge?"
Half Moon Investigations is a novel by Eoin Colfer, which has also been adapted into a BBC children's television series.
Meet Fletcher Moon.
Half-pint schoolboy and fully qualified private investigator. Since graduating online, he has solved all sorts of minor mysteries at school and at home. It was only a matter of time before things got serious...
These are strange days in the town of Lock. There has been a spate of odd crimes, including the theft of something very special belonging to one April Devereux. Fletcher investigates – and the finger of suspicion is soon pointing firmly in the direction of the notorious Sharkey brothers, Herod and Red.
It looks like an Open-and-Shut Case.
But nothing is quite as it seems. And, as Fletcher delves deeper, it‘s not long before the hunter becomes the hunted...
Contains examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: 13 episodes in the series, only one of which dealt with some of the book plot.
- There's also new characters, particularly girl journalist Mia Stone, who joins Fletcher and Red to make a team of three.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Herod to Red.
- Ascended Extra: Hazel Moon, and Herod and Genie Sharkey are this to an extent in the show. Also, April Devereux.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Fletcher and Red to almost an extreme point because of Fletcher's small stature.
- Broken Pedestal: Gregor and Fletcher for May, the former for the lengths he went to help her win the talent show, and the latter for the way he exposed the truth.
- The CSI Effect: Comes this close to referring to it by name. CSI is name dropped a lot, and Fletcher is fed up of having people assume that's what he does.
- Didn't Think This Through: Mercedes' prepared speech has the boys shaking at how brilliant it is. Spoken to an actual adult woman, it's ineffective and confusing.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Fletcher "Half" Moon.
- First-Person Smartass: Fletcher, in keeping with the traditional Private Eye Monologue.
- Intrepid Reporter: Mia in the live action adaptation.
- Kid Detective: Fletcher Moon is a 12-year-old detective. Somewhat strange is that Fletcher is a certified Private Eye, as in certified in the US (he took an online course), even though he lives in Ireland, where Private Eyes don't need a license.
- Knight Templar Parent: May's father, to the point of committing crimes to get rid of anyone who placed above his daughter at a talent competition.
- Mama Bear: Do not threaten Fletcher in front of his mother.
- Nonuniform Uniform: The Alpha Bitch and her crew wear enough pink in school to be called "the pinks", despite the uniform colours being blue and green.
- Pink Means Feminine: April Devereux had a "Pink Club", which turned out to be a cover for a club determined to get girls a good education and will go to any measure to do so.
- Popular Is Dumb: Red is popular, in his own way. And also one grade behind in school.
- Scotireland: An unusual case, Colfer is Irish and set the book there but the series was made in Scotland by The BBC.
- Shout-Out: The name "Art Fowler" sounds familiar...
- Splash of Color: Used extensively in the TV version for scenes showing how the Crime Of The Week was actually commited (black-and-white otherwise), most notably with spot colour on the pink clothes worn by the Pinks and a yellow jacket that was a Clue. Never two different colours in the same scene, though.
- Straw Feminist: Some of the villains are a group of elementary schoolgirls who worship some important woman and try to get as many boys as they can expelled from their school. They also are violent and not afraid to do illegal things. You don't want to be a elementary schoolboy near them.
- Teacher's Pet: April and her gang. This factor helps their plan along
- Temporal Theme Naming: April and May, who are cousins.
- Title Drop: At the end of the book, Fletcher and Red are discussing names for their team. It stops just short of actually being this, but it's set up so the reader knows the title will be the next line Fletcher speaks.
- Troubled, but Cute: According to Fletcher's narration, Red falls under this trope for most girls.
- Two Guys and a Girl: In the show we get Fletcher, Red, and Mia. And refreshingly, no Love Triangle in sight.
