The Dark Skies Mystery

Hicks, Deron R. The Dark Skies Mystery: A World War II Thriller
July 30, 2024 by Clarion Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Henry Hamilton lives in Asheville, North Carolina in 1942. His father is a maintenance supervisor at the Biltmore Estate, and doesn't quite understand Henry's desire to be an investigative journalist or reporter like Edward R. Murrow. Henry works on the newspaper at Claxon Intermediate School and tries to make the exacting teacher who oversees it, Mr. Johanssen, happy. When a friend overhears that the local sports phenom is going to join the Navy rather than play football for Notre Dame, Henry thinks he can get the scoop turned in, but freezes when he sees an adult reporter swoop in. He's mad at both Willard Presley and himself that he doesn't have any story to turn in. It's even worse when his rival on the paper, Celie Parker, is made an air raid warden, and he has to go to the meeting to cover her story. His dad takes him, and there is so much information that Henry forgets to take notes. On the way home, his father gives him a scoop; Jack Hamilton is in charge of the local blackout drills, and no one else knows this. Henry writes an article for the Claxon paper that Mr. Johanssen says is the best student writing he's ever read. Even Willard Pressley is impressed, and the two talk and start a tentative professional friendship. When Henry has to collect scrap metal and get it to the collection center, he gets distracted by a baseball game and shows up late. Luckily, Ray Jeffries knows his dad, and takes pity on him, helping him sort the hundred pounds on metal. Henry is late for dinner, so stops by the local hotel to ask to use the phone to call home. His mother says his father will come to get him, which will take a while. Henry sees the white Biltmore van out on the street, and marvels that his father got to him so quickly, but when the can doesn't stop, he realizes that his father isn't driving. Not wanting to blow another scoop, he follows the fan. He sees Mr. Jeffries and several other men with military looking guns load crates into the van! He blocks an exhaust pipe to buy himself more time to investigate, but when he opens up a crate, he falls in and the van takes off. The van is full of artwork, including Rodin's The Thinker, and Henry is very worried. When the crate is unloaded, Henry realizes that he is at the Biltmore. Soldiers are also there, as is his father. It turns out that the National Gallery sent art to the hotel to keep it safe. The government men think that Mr. Hamilton told his son about the project, which would endanger national security. He convinces them that he did not, but Henry is banned from the estate. He ends up working with another warden, Mrs. Blakely, who is very exacting. When the first blackout drill is held, the local cathedral has ALL of its lights turned on! Henry sees men running away from the area and gives chase. He follows them  on his bike out into the woods and comes across quite a mystery. He does a lot of research in the local library, and even requests a book about Rodin from another library, marveling that he can get the information he needs in just two to three weeks! He works a bit with Mr. Pressley, especially since President Roosevelt is visiting for one of the drills, and Henry feels that something is going on. When he is followed by a car and run off the road, this feeling intensifies. He finally figures out what is going on, but when he tries to tell his father about it, gets himself into even more danger. Will he be able to warn his father before the artwork, as well as the Biltmore, is targeted?
Strengths: I think I need to travel to Ashville, North Carolina so that I can see the Biltmore Estate. This is at least the third middle grade novel that has mentioned it, and Hicks does a fantastic job of describing the town surrounding it as well. Henry is an interesting character, and it makes perfect sense for a tween during World War II to want to go into journalism. There are a lot of details about the blackout drills, and I learned a lot about painting car bumpers white, and using reflective paint, that I did not know. The system of wardens, the scrap metal collecting, and the details about the artwork being stored at the Biltmore (which actually happened), all add to the WWII feel. I don't want to ruin the twists at the end, but this got VERY exciting, and involved some spies and things I did not see coming! Jack Hamilton was rather interesting; he could have his own adult novel, I think! He's probably 35-45, so might have served in World War I. There's a rabbit hole to go down... men of that age on the home front during WWII. 
Weaknesses: I kept thinking that Henry's deaf dalmation, Bee, would take a larger role in the story, or that Celie Parker would get involved, but they didn't. The book is a little on the long side, so it's just as well, but they were both intriguing. The cover could have been more like Osborne's Winter Bullet, as the illustration makes this look like a book for younger readers. That seems to be the current style, though. 
What I really think: This is a great fictional mystery that pairs well with Seiple's Nazi Saboteurs: Hitler's Secret Attack on America; the inept Nazis are even mentioned in the book! I'll purchase a copy for fans of Parker's Edenville Owls or Elliott's Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves, but it might take a bit of hand selling because of the cover.