THE CASE OF THE TWO MASKED ROBBERS

Another entertaining I Can Read, this time a mystery with a clever twist at the conclusion, from veteran Hoban. Two masked detectives (raccoons) disguise themselves as the two masked burglars who have stolen Mrs. Turtle's eggs from the bank, hoping to catch the real culprits--and find two sets: the crows, and, in a smart manuever, the turtles themselves, who this year have absconded with their own eggs before the crows could find them. Well sprinkled with such easy but enthralling words as hold-up and shootout, plus a nice bit of parent-child interplay: ""'. . .will [they] be angry because we sneaked out?' ""'Maybe. . .at first. . .but when they hear how we found the eggs, they will be very proud.'"" A solid contribution to the easy-reader shelf.