GETTING LINCOLN'S GOAT

This comic mystery introduces a refreshing teen detective, Elliot Armbruster, a slightly nerdy 15-year-old who longs to be like his TV hero, Dangerous Dan McGrew. When his high school's billy goat mascot disappears shortly before the big game against Hamilton High, Elliot vows to recover the goat, which everyone assumes has been kidnapped by their opponents. Help comes from local P.I. Devlin McCray, Bruno Maros (favorite reading material: Soldier of Fortune magazine), and quiet Francie Raines, who turns out to be a judo whiz. They flush out the truth but not the real goat, dead of natural causes; their school's coach didn't want the team to be demoralized by such a portentous event. Goldman (Money to Burn, 1994, etc.) has a snappy, comic style, dead-on for the genre; with a suspenseful plot, totally credible and fun characters, and enough romance to oil the works, this novel is simply a hoot. (Fiction. 10+)