The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon - plagiarism or a parody?
As many fans have noticed there are some similarities between The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon and The Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure. 1. The beginning when Jupe is thinking of how to make a perfect crime. 2. The crime with the tunnel and the bankrobbery. 3. Strange creatures to scare someone. (gnomes and a dragon, though the dragon also serves other purposes.)
But perhaps it is not only plagiarism. Perhaps Nick West had a special sense of humour, and perhaps Coughing Dragon is partly a parody. Many parts of the book and the similarities are exaggerated, exactly like a parody.
As Philip Fulmer writes on his site (see links) some of the villains in the books of Robert Arthur weren´t true villains or at least not that dangerous - Stephen Terrill in Terror Castle, Mr Claudius in Stuttering Parrot, Professor Freeman in Whispering Mummy, Mr Won in Green Ghost, Mr Rhandur in Fiery Eye. Arthur Shelby is an extreme variant, a caricature, of that kind of character.
Then we have the whole idea of a dragon, a tunnel and a bankrobbery, which could be a parody of the theme in The Vanishing treasure. The absurd scene with the projektor and the ants could be a parody of the Green Ghost.
Nick West also has a particular humour when he describes Jupe. For example - when Jupe fell in the stairs Mr West gave him time to think some really qualified thoughts. That is a sense of humour very close to a caricature of Jupe´s character.
As an act of compassion Jupe, Pete and Bob did not report the robber Mr Shelby to the police, and I guess that is a criminal act, although I personally find it very merciful. It is true that Mr Shelby returned the stolen gold, but he did make a criminal action which should have been reported. I guess that the hole in the wall is still a mystery in Seaside. In the books of Robert Arthur You can also find this kind of compassion for people in need, but in Coughing Dragon it becomes almost a parody.
Arthur Shelby was a joker. But perhaps Nick West was the real (true) joker.
Jonny