The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time  (English, Paperback, Haddon Mark)

Winner of multiple awards including Book of the Year, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time tells the story of a 15 year old autistic boy who discovers the body of his neighbour’s dog in the garden, apparently killed by someone, and then sets about trying to solve the crime.

Summary Of The Book

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is set in Swindon, Wiltshire, and is narrated in the first person by its young protagonist, Christopher John Francis Boone, a fifteen year old boy who suffers from a form of autism, and lives with his father, Ed Boone. He mentions that his father once told him that his mother, Judy, had died of a heart attack a couple of years ago.

Christopher’s condition often leaves him with behavioural difficulties. He does, however, remain keenly interested in two things, Mathematics and Sherlock Holmes detective novels.

One day, Christopher makes a gruesome discovery in his neighbour Mrs. Shear’s garden. He finds her pet dog, a black poodle named Wellington, laying dead, with a garden fork stabbed right through him. As the police are called in to investigate the dog’s death, suspicion falls on Christopher.

Christopher takes it upon himself to solve the mystery of the dog’s death. Despite his father’s warnings, ordering him not to interfere with matters not concerning him, he starts off his own investigation, maintaining his notes in a book he calls a murder mystery novel. Although limited by his condition that presents some difficulties interpreting things and people around him, Christopher, in the process of solving this case, meets many people who provide him with information that not only helps him find out who killed the dog, but also uncovers some answers to hidden truths of his own.

Mark Haddon's novel of a young boy’s self-discovery, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, was very well received, and went on to be picked for the coveted Whitbread awards for Book of the Year and Best Novel, as well as the Commonwealth Award and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.

About Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon is a British poet, illustrator, screenplay writer, and award-winning novelist.

He has written many novels including Gilbert’s Gobstopper, Agent Z And The Penguin From Mars, Secret Agent Handbook, The Ice Bear’s Cave, and Ocean Star Express.

Mark Haddon was born on 26 September, 1962. He studied at Uppingham School, and went on to study English at Merton College, Oxford. At the start of his career, he dabbled in many different occupations. He worked as an illustrator and cartoonist with magazines, working with people with disabilities and painting abstract art. Primarily a writer of children’s books, he self-illustrates many of his books. He currently lives in Oxford, with his wife and two sons.