Sylvia the “Sleuth for Hire” is up to her gumshoe tricks again in this third Sly mystery. As always, Sly only takes on cases that her cat, Taxi, would approve of, and her friends are her best (and only) customers. In the first case, Sly must discern why there is a cache of junk food in the bushes and uncover the reason behind her pesky neighbor Brian’s fish-breath. In the second, Sly is hired by Kate to determine why Princess is sabotaging her cooking club by bringing all the wrong food. Jack hires her, in the third case, to uncover the mystery behind his disappearing oranges. Occasional line sketches embellish the text. Throughout the story, readers learn about some disagreeable health food, the danger of arsenic in seeds and food allergies. Once again, the cases lack tension making it mild reading for the chapter-book set and leaving the reader feeling as though the real mystery is human nature. Not so spicy but, as Sly puts it, these cases serve up some “food for thought.” (Fiction. 7-9)
