OLIVE OAKES AND THE HAUNTED CAROUSEL

An 11-year-old self-appointed sleuth has made it her mission to solve any mystery her small town has to offer—so what if folks call her nosy?

It’s summer vacation, and Olive Oakes and her cousin Eli are bored out of their minds. Crestwood Hollow, it turns out, is short on mysteries, but when Olive’s parents, who sell historic properties for a living, bring the kids along on a work trip to picturesque Whispering Woods, Olive hopes her luck will change. When the pair are left to their own devices, Olive drags Eli along to investigate the strange carnival that comes to town once a year. Eli points out that imaginative Olive sometimes jumps to conclusions when it comes to mysteries, but this time she’s on the right track: Research at the local library indicates that the carnival may be tied to the disappearance of two children nearly 30 years ago. The mystery plot tips its hat to 1970s cartoons (complete with a line about meddling kids), and the frights are more campy than chilling. Family scenes are suffused with warm humor; the heart of the story is the bond between Olive and Eli, who has joined the Oakes household after the death of his parents. Eli and Olive are cued Black; often unnamed characters in Whispering Woods are identified by hair color.

A rollicking adventure with a tenacious amateur gumshoe.