An original, fast-paced mystery featuring a strong message about inclusion.
In the West Texas town of Marfa, trouble brews between humans and monsters when the monsters’ prized crown is stolen and chupacabra Calvin Shadevale disappears.
Detective Price seems sure that Cal took off with the sacred crown that the monsters use at the annual Marfa Monster Festival to honor the Monarch of Fright. There are many humans, including the mayor, who are ready to use the crime as an excuse to shut down Vince Vance’s Vintage Trailer Park Inn for Monsters. But 13-year-old Elvira, Vince’s daughter, doesn’t believe Cal is the culprit; she insists he’s a victim. The situation becomes even more suspicious when more monsters go missing. Elvira, who has a racially ambiguous human dad and a siren mom, wishes everyone could get along. Eager to solve the mystery and calm tensions, she joins forces with her human friend (and secret crush) Emilio Salinas, and chupacabra best friend, Maribel Akecheta—together they’re “the best sleuths in Marfa.” Their investigations take them to a mausoleum, the mayor’s office, and a ghost town as they encounter colorful witnesses and suspects, including a banshee, a vampire, a jackalope, and decidedly unfriendly ghosts. As they hurtle toward the finale, the trio discover a duplicitous villain and an unlikely ally. This compelling story offers food for thought about discrimination. Elvira’s humorous and engaging first-person voice flows easily.
An original, fast-paced mystery featuring a strong message about inclusion. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780063348578
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Breathless action and engaging puzzles make this a page-turner.
In this follow-up to The Mystery of Locked Rooms (2024), young escape artists rashly accept a mysterious game designer’s offer to get a sneak peek at a challenging new set of escape rooms.
Worried by announcements of a new, high-tech fun house that might drive their employer, the Delta Game, out of business, middle schooler Sarah and her friends Hannah and West jump at the chance to give Mystery Mansion a try before it opens to the public. More’s at stake than they suspect, but Currie dispenses with the backstory in a perfunctory way at the end. Her real focus—and the chief appeal here—lies in the set of fiendishly clever escape rooms that she’s devised for the trio and the team dynamics that carry them through: Hannah is the reckless thrill seeker, West is the observant brainiac, and anxiety-prone Sarah has a knack for making correct choices. The story cranks up the suspense, and the Deltas call on all the courage and smarts they can muster, sweeping readers along as they work urgently against the clock to complete the course. Hannah is cued white, West is described as dark-haired, and narrator Sarah isn’t physically described.
Breathless action and engaging puzzles make this a page-turner. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781464234941
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans.
Only children, rejoice! A cozy mystery just for you! (People with siblings will probably enjoy it too.)
Debut novelist Cornett introduces the One and Onlys, a trio of mystery-solving only kids: Gloria Longshanks “Shanks” Hill, Alexander “Peephole” Calloway, and narrator Paul (alas, no nickname) Marconi. The trio has a knack for finding and solving low-level mysteries, but they come up against a true head-scratcher when the yard of a resident of their small town is covered in rubber ducks overnight. Working ahead of Officer Portnoy, who’s a little on the slow side, can Paul, Shanks, and Peephole solve the mystery? Cornett has a lot of fun with this adventure, dropping additional side mysteries, a subplot about small businesses, big corporations, and economics, and a town’s love of bratwurst into the mix. Most importantly, he plays fair with the clues throughout, allowing astute readers to potentially solve the case ahead of the trio. The tone and mystery are perfect for younger readers who want to test their detective skills but are put off by anything scary or gory. The pacing would serve well for chapter-by-chapter read-alouds. If there are any quibbles, it’s the lack of diversity of the cast, as it defaults white. Diversity exists in small towns, and this one is crying out for more. Hopefully a sequel will introduce additional faces.
Delightful fun for budding mystery fans. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3003-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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