Uncle And His Detective

Uncle #3

by J.P. Martin

Uncle is a millionaire elephant who has a B.A. and wears a purple dressing gown. He lives in a labyrinth of skyscrapers connected by water chutes, lifts and railways, and littered with oil lakes, walls of sweets and towers of treacle. He and his followers amuse themselves by exploring his home and falling into adventures with its inhabitants, a collection of lunatics, dwarfs and ghosts. Uncle also frequently fights with the inhabitants of neighbouring Badfort, among them the repulsive Jellytussles (a quivering blob) and the cowardly Hitmouse.

Genres: Fiction

172 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

J.P. Martin (1879-1966) was born in Yorkshire into a family of Methodist ministers. He took up the family vocation, serving when young as a missionary to a community of South African diamond miners and then, during the First World War, as an Army chaplain in Palestine and Egypt, before returning to minister to parishes throughout the north of England. He died at eighty-six from a flu caught while bringing pots of honey to his parishioners in cold weather. Martin began telling Uncle stories to entertain his children, who later asked him to write them down so that they could read them to their own children; the stories were finally published as a book in 1964, when Martin was eighty-four. The jacket to the first edition of Uncle notes that “the inspiration for these stories seems to come from the industrial landscape that [Martin] knew as a child….He still likes to take his family and friends on walks through industrial scenes. He also enjoys painting the wild and beautiful landscape where he lives. It is not enough to say he loves children; he is still continually visited by them.”

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s more of an overall story arc and fewer Quentin Blake illustrations in Uncle and His Detective, the third in J.P. Martin’s series, but it’s still classic Uncle.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started with Uncle in 1974 and never looked back. It's difficult to describe and genre-set Uncle as JP Martin was a one off and the stories are so unusual. Uncle and his Detective might be the most satisfying Uncle book with it's singular plot but all of them are under appreciated - if known at all classics. Dahl was very fine but Martin was his unsung equal. Please read.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see the appeal of the style but it was a bit boring to me. I liked this bit though:
"I wonder if you could have a word with Arthur? He has a great affliction. He seems compelled to tell lies..."
"I'll do what I can," said Uncle. He walked over to Arthur and said:
"How are you getting on, Arthur?"
"I do like to tell a lie now and then," said Arthur cheerfully.
"There you are!" cried Dr Lyre in deep distress. "His very first sentence to you is a lie! He does not like to tell lies. He has told me so in his calmer moments."

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially read years ago as a small child and a very pleasant discovery in the charity bin at the supermarket. Uncle is his usual benevolent self although there is far too little action on the Badfort front for my liking. Beaver Hateman is far too delicious a villain to ration.