Days of Odd by Robert Howells

Days of Odd is philosophical black comedy that introduces us to two young teenagers, Patricia and Raphael, as they navigate many adventures while musing on modern life, family and friendship.

It’s not easy growing up in the winter of a seaside town but these two teenage friends invent strange games and solve random mysteries to help them escape the pressures of school and home.

For Patricia, home is a daydreaming mother who burns every dinner and a father who blunders through life with a job he loves as much as his customers loathe him. Patricia’s best friend Raphael struggles to find his place in the world where his father is lost in the past and his mother is lost to the sea.

And there is plenty of laughter to be had through the mysteries they solve like the immortal wedding cake in the local bakery, a sunken car in the lake, a pier without end, and a mission to save a soft toy owl from a derelict toyshop that is falling into the sea.

Along the way they encounter a host of local oddball characters including a wig wearing policeman searching for a runaway clown, an anarchic teacher trying to liberate his pupils from social constraints, a disappearing pet rabbit, a part-time tramp and a human cannonball who is considerably shorter than the image on his poster.

It is an opportunity for Patricia and Raphael to become something more than their parents, and to transform their lives and the lives of those around them.

And then there is one last mystery to solve and that is the biggest mystery of all.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It's funny, has engaging characters and is peppered with off-kilter insights that bring the text to life.”
Scott Dorward (Author and Freelance Editor)