Singapore in the 1940s and a Japanese attack is close. Lizard has become a city kid who survives through small crimes and cunning. A local gangster called Boss Man Beng asks Lizard to steal a teak box belonging to the business man Sebastian Whitford Jones from the famous Raffles Hotel. He offers more money that Lizard has ever seen in his life.
Lizard finds the room and the box but:
"Something nagged at him, telling him things weren't quite right. Best to get out quick, then, he thought. He shoved the box into his satchel and closed the secret drawer. As he slipped out from under the desk and moved towards the open window, he realised what was wrong. The ceiling fans in the bedroom. Why would they be on if no one was in?"
Georgina Amelia Whitford Jones confronts Lizard. Her parents arrive home and Lizard escapes but not before Georgina tells Lizard he must return tomorrow night.
Lizard is living in a cubicle above a tailor shop. Lily lives in the tailor shop with her father. But there is much more to Lily - she is not just an ordinary school girl living in Singapore. She is training to work in espionage with Maximum Operations Enterprise.
These three - Lizard, Lily and Georgina, need to discover the truth about the code book they find in the teak box. Boss Man Beng is dead and our three heroes are in danger as is the whole city if a Japanese invasion is successful. The tension in this story is brilliant and is sure to keep you reading from the beginning to the end in one sitting.
You can hear Weng Wai Chan, who lives in Auckland, talking about her book here in an interview with Radio New Zealand. Here is Q&A where she talks about her inspiration and childhood.
I would follow Lizard's tale with a very old book - Duck for Danger by Ann Grocott.
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